Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Book Review: Immortality by Milan Kundera
Writing Style-7.3
Originality-7.5
Plot-4.0
Literary Merit(whatever that means)-7.0
Overall-6.8
As I was reading this book, my second by Kundera (the other being The Unbearable Lightness of Being), I kept asking myself the question: Is Milan Kundera the smartest living writer that I’ve come across? That is not to say that he is the greatest novelist or that he even writes the smartest novels, but is he perhaps the most intellectually gifted writer? In other words, would he score higher on IQ tests or win in a chess tournament with other writers? Because every page that I’ve read by him, almost every sentence, I am astounded at the complex connections that he makes and the subtle observations on human character.
I was very much befuddled by Unbearable Lightness in its entirety. Though I adored it and found individual stories within it to be enlightening, as a whole it felt like I didn’t have what it took to fully grasp it. Immortality seemed a little easier to get my head around.
Though it’s a complex novel that is very experimental and weaves between two alternate, loosely tied narratives and philosophizing asides that read more like essays than novel chapters, I think the book really boils down to the title… Immortality. Though the book has very little plot and jumps all over the place, it never loses its focus on this central theme. Every single word seems to grasp at man’s struggle with mortality.
What plot there is follows a sort of love triangle between two sisters and one of the sister’s husband. Woven in with this story is the strange love story of Goethe (yes, THE Goethe) and Bettina.
On a blog filled with superlatives you can take the smartest writer thing with a grain of salt, but for my money Kundera is a cerebral god among many giants.
Any serious to semi-serious reader should do themselves a favor and give Kundera a shot. I think that something should ring true with his books. If not the keen observations on human nature then his philosophies, if not the plot then his experimentalism, if not the many great characters then his amazing ability to connect the dots from point A to point Being. Hah! Clever, I am.
Originality-7.5
Plot-4.0
Literary Merit(whatever that means)-7.0
Overall-6.8
As I was reading this book, my second by Kundera (the other being The Unbearable Lightness of Being), I kept asking myself the question: Is Milan Kundera the smartest living writer that I’ve come across? That is not to say that he is the greatest novelist or that he even writes the smartest novels, but is he perhaps the most intellectually gifted writer? In other words, would he score higher on IQ tests or win in a chess tournament with other writers? Because every page that I’ve read by him, almost every sentence, I am astounded at the complex connections that he makes and the subtle observations on human character.
I was very much befuddled by Unbearable Lightness in its entirety. Though I adored it and found individual stories within it to be enlightening, as a whole it felt like I didn’t have what it took to fully grasp it. Immortality seemed a little easier to get my head around.
Though it’s a complex novel that is very experimental and weaves between two alternate, loosely tied narratives and philosophizing asides that read more like essays than novel chapters, I think the book really boils down to the title… Immortality. Though the book has very little plot and jumps all over the place, it never loses its focus on this central theme. Every single word seems to grasp at man’s struggle with mortality.
What plot there is follows a sort of love triangle between two sisters and one of the sister’s husband. Woven in with this story is the strange love story of Goethe (yes, THE Goethe) and Bettina.
On a blog filled with superlatives you can take the smartest writer thing with a grain of salt, but for my money Kundera is a cerebral god among many giants.
Any serious to semi-serious reader should do themselves a favor and give Kundera a shot. I think that something should ring true with his books. If not the keen observations on human nature then his philosophies, if not the plot then his experimentalism, if not the many great characters then his amazing ability to connect the dots from point A to point Being. Hah! Clever, I am.
