A.S.M Masudul Islam reviews the book by Milan Kundera
THIS
novel, published in 1979 in France, by Czech writer Milan Kundera
explores the basic human nature of how people tolerate the torture and
suffering of which they have no control. People tend to forget their
past and we learn nothing from history. This novel even alludes to our
Liberation War in 1971 and the torture unleashed by the Pakistani junta.
Actually
this book is not a novel but collection of some short stories which
have been consolidated according to a common theme. The novel is divided
into seven parts. Each part has a unique story of its own. Part one
(entitled Lost Letters) deals with the life of Mirek before his
imprisonment. Mirek was a supporter of the recently toppled government
and has been pursued by the police for his previous activities. It tells
us how Mirek had an affair with an 'ugly' woman named Zdena and
persuaded her to get the love letters which he wrote to her. Part two
(entitled Mama) outlines consensual extramarital affairs of Karel with
Eva. When Karel's mother paid a visit to Karel and Marketa, she almost
catches three of them on the act but bypassed this as Eva reminds her of
a girl from Karel's childhood. This new found information adds fuel to
Karel's affairs with Eva. Part three (entitled The Angels) tells us the
story of a horoscope writer. Some critics say it is Kundera himself (as
he uses code name R.). The story follows after the Russian Invasion of
Czechoslovakia. Part four (entitled Lost Letters) describes Tamina's
desperate attempt to recover her love letters and diaries which she left
behind in Prague. To retrieve her love letters and diaries she got
involved in a brief relationship with her customer Hugo. Part five
(entitled Litost) portrays Kristyna's relationship with a poetry
student. This part describes many literary nicknamed figures such as
Voltaire, Goethe and their trivial arguments over trivial matters. This
part titled 'Litost' cannot be translated in other words, it's very
difficult to define. But it can be read as someone's weakness at which
one cannot take action. Part six (entitled The Angels) is the
continuation of Tamina's story whom we met in Part four. Here she has
been marooned in an island where she befriended many children with whom
she engaged in sensual relationship but gradually it turns out to be
hostile relationship. The children united got together and revolted
against Tamina. Ultimately she tried to escape but was chased by the
children and she drowned in the sea. She heard a laughter before she
died. Part seven (entitled The Border) outlines Clevis's family and
their debauchery. It appears that Kundera is portraying the truth with a
tint of fiction. This novel's characters Mirek, Tamina, Clevis are from
our evertyday life. Laughter and forgetting have been brilliantly
sketched by Kundera with a tint of satire.
