I didn’t laugh. And it was quickly forgotten.
Kundera knew how to write. (I speak in the past tense because he is now 90 years old and I wonder how much writing he’s doing nowadays.) But he chose to write about things I find it very hard to care about. In this, more than in Unbearable Lightness, he glorifies sex frequently as a rite of passage, and goes on at great length about its incredible significance. The characters are all so literary. So avant-garde, and in this day and age, cliched. There is a lot of political drama too. But hasn’t everything in the book been done before, and done by Kundera specifically? Yes, the characters were witty, but that was about the extent of their depth in my opinion.
I understand if you enjoy his polished sentences and pithy remarks. There’s satire and humor and possibly some heart. I won’t argue with you about his skill. But I’m usually looking for a different brand of literature.
L. S. Popovich 