Laughable Loves
I was at the bookstore this past week, to
pick up a book about AJAX (the software techniques, not the cleansing agent!)
and I decided to pick up some light reading as well. Browsing the shelves, I
saw a Milan Kundera book I had not recognized,
Laughable
Loves.
Kundera remains one of my most favorite authors.
This book, a collection of short stories, continued to strengthen my admiration
of his writing strengths. He's a non-conventional novelist, as he doesn't
follow traditional plot lines, instead favoring a diversion into essays and
commentary. I love his ability to turn
toward the reader with a direct comment about
the story, or about his writing of the story. This is not easy to pull off; in
the hands of lesser writers, its is sure to be
hackneyed.
Continuing his usual themes, the Laughable Loves stories are highly emotional and erotic. They touch themes deep in the human sole. One of the best of the stories that I liked is The Hitchhiker Game, where a couple on vacation (trying to mend their tense relationship) end up pretending to meet randomly, and the man picks up the girl on the street side, and the girl pretends to be a loose woman. Except, the pretending goes to far, and both parties realize they can't stop the act until its conclusion, revealing their own alienating relationship. "If this had not been a game and they had really been two strangers, the hitchhiker could long ago have taken offense [for being treated like a whore]; but there's no escape from a game."
Other stories deal with fading eroticism -- the playboy in his waning years, or the older lady who suddenly finds a younger man attracted to her. Not earth-shattering, politically revealing themes, of course, but nevertheless they strike a chord in the readers soul, and they're funny, poignant, and sad.
Makes me want to re-read The Book of Laughter and Forgetting again, something with more political weight. It's been several years since I've touched that book ...
Continuing his usual themes, the Laughable Loves stories are highly emotional and erotic. They touch themes deep in the human sole. One of the best of the stories that I liked is The Hitchhiker Game, where a couple on vacation (trying to mend their tense relationship) end up pretending to meet randomly, and the man picks up the girl on the street side, and the girl pretends to be a loose woman. Except, the pretending goes to far, and both parties realize they can't stop the act until its conclusion, revealing their own alienating relationship. "If this had not been a game and they had really been two strangers, the hitchhiker could long ago have taken offense [for being treated like a whore]; but there's no escape from a game."
Other stories deal with fading eroticism -- the playboy in his waning years, or the older lady who suddenly finds a younger man attracted to her. Not earth-shattering, politically revealing themes, of course, but nevertheless they strike a chord in the readers soul, and they're funny, poignant, and sad.
Makes me want to re-read The Book of Laughter and Forgetting again, something with more political weight. It's been several years since I've touched that book ...
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Posted: Mon - April 24, 2006 at 10:56 PM
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Published On: Apr 24, 2006 10:56 PM
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Published On: Apr 24, 2006 10:56 PM