The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts

Reading THE CURTAIN is akin to what I would imagine it would be like to hear Kundera lecture to a small group about literature. The tone is really quite intimate. His prose incredibly lucid (as always) and his ideas are so clear.

Schopenhauer made the astute observation that the essence of true art is the fact that it conveys an unexpected and original insight into the real nature of our world.Building on that, Hermann Broch considered the novel (literature) as an optical instrument for the reader so that he can discern what he might never have seen in himself without that specific book. He even went so far as to claim that a novel, which fails to reveal some hitherto unknown bit of existence, is immoral.This is also Milan Kundera's viewpoint: `For all we can do in the face of the ineluctable defeat called life is to try to understand it; that is the raison d'être of the novel.'`A novel is purposely a-philosophic, even anti-philosophic, fiercely independent of any system of preconceived ideas, it questions, it marvels, it doesn't judge, nor proclaims truths.'`Its characters do not need to be admired for their virtues. They need to be understood.'And, `novelists should past the frontier of the plausible.'Milan Kundera sketches marvelously the history of the novel: from actions (Cervantes), over psychology (Dostoyevsky, Flaubert) to situations (Kafka, Joyce).He makes also penetrating comments on his favorite writers (Fielding, Broch, Kafka, Flaubert, Musil, Rabelais, Gombrowicz, Cervantes, Dostoevsky, Sterne) and shows their unique place and high originality in the continuing evolution of the art of the novel.This book is a must read for all lovers of world literature.

Book arrived on time and in perfect condition! Excellent!

In this collection of essay by the Czech author Milan Kundera, we are given some of his thoughts on the development and importance of the novel. The works which he looks at come from across the world and one of his main arguments is the ability of writers to transcend, national and cultural boundaries. Blending historical, cultural and philosophical theories Kunderas writing is always interesting. Of particular interst to me was his discussions of his home country, where he raises Masaryk's conception of the 'small Czech nation' which is always on 'the defensive against History'. Writing about the provincialism inherent in both the culture of arts of the 'smaal nation' he also argues that a form of provinvialsism exists in the context of the large nation. It is interesting that as an author who chose to leave the country after the Russian invasion of 1968 rather than to work from within, he became an outsider from his own country, people and culture and in a way this allows him to give greater insights in too a truly global literary discourse. The book is arranged around thematic chapters focusing on certain authors or philosophical issues and is always intersting.I guess this book would appeal to those interested in Kundera's prose and philosophy. However it is also fairly brief at 170 odd pages of very low density text. It is a work that feels as if it could benefit from more detail; but in all fairness his brevity does make it more readable. A previous reviewer wrote that he prefers Kundera's academic and philosophical work to his fiction but I must say I belong in the other camp. I would still reccomend this book to those interested in world literature and central European culture and history as it provides valuable insights into both.

I gleaned a great deal of wisdom from this book of essays. Occasionally I would read passages that would discuss stories I haven't read and my mind would drift but, overall, I came away with a lot to think about regarding my own writing. I have dog-eared many pages, something I am reluctant to do to a book.