Milan Kundera, R. I. P.

 

Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, dies aged 94

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66173059

One of the most influential writers of his age, he was best known for his work 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being', a piece of literature that has stood the test of time. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1929, Kundera moved to France in 1975 and later became a French citizen. He passed away in his home in Paris after a prolonged illness.

(After moving to France:)

He soon secured a reputation as a ground-breaking author with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which told the story of four Czech artists and intellectuals and a dog caught up in the brief period of reform that ended when Soviet tanks rolled into Prague.

The book was adapted for the screen in 1987, starring Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day-Lewis. But Kundera expressed dissatisfaction with the film and with what he perceived as a lack of acceptance of the novel in the modern world.

Kundera was always concerned about that trait of totalitarian mentality: the invasion and destruction of people’s private lives — yes: the walls that listen —, and he reflected that concern in his marvelous readings of Kafka, but above all he was concerned about our relationship with humor and irony. Spaces where there is no room for humor, where irony is frowned upon, seemed to him not only undesirable, but downright dangerous, and one of the worst adjectives in his personal dictionary was a word made up by Rabelais: agélaste, which means “he who does not know how to laugh.” The humorless readings of his novels terrified him above all things, and he always believed in Octavio Paz’s idea that humor, or at least the humor that took shape with Miguel de Cervantes, is the great invention of modern times.

“The Greek word for "return" is nostos. Algos means "suffering." So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return.”

Milan Kundera 

To be a writer does not mean to preach a truth, it means to discover a truth.

Milan Kundera 

The stupidity of people comes from having an answer to everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything

Milan Kundera 

A novel does not assert anything; a novel searches and poses questions. I don’t know whether my nation will perish and I don’t know which of my characters is right. I invent stories, confront one with another, and by this means I ask questions.

Milan Kundera 

I learned the value of humour during the time of Stalinist terror … A sense of humour was a trustworthy sign of recognition. Ever since, I have been terrified by a world that is losing its sense of humour.

Milan Kundera

The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living.

 Viktor Frankl | Man's Search for Meaning 

"There is no perfection, only life."

Milan Kundera 

"To laugh is to live profoundly."

Milan Kundera 

"Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless."

Milan Kundera 

"Man reckons with immortality, and forgets to reckon with death."

Milan Kundera 

Good video:

Jacques Rupnik from Sciences Po Paris, a friend of Milan Kundera, shares insightes on Kundera's life, his legacy, and meaning for Europeans. Rupnik argues that his ideas on small nations can be applied to today's Ukraine's situation, and it helps us to understand current European politics.

Czech-French writer Milan Kundera, author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", has died aged 94, the Milan Kundera Library said Wednesday. The novelist, poet and essayist lived in France since his emigration from Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia in 1975. He was known for dark, provocative novels dealing with the human condition and sprinkled with satire reflecting his experience of being stripped of his Czech nationality for dissent. For an intimate retrospective on the life and legacy of celebrated writer and teacher Milan Kundera, FRANCE 24's François Picard is joined by Kundera's good friend Jacques Rupnik, Professor and Director of Research at Sciences Po's Centre for International Studies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/farewell-to-milan-kundera/vi-AA1dMczA?t=441