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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting: A Novel Audiobook
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(4.00) - 17,113 listener ratings
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""An absolutely dazzling entertainment. . . . Arousing on every level—political, erotic, intellectual, and above all, humorous."" —Newsweek
""The Book of Laughter and Forgetting calls itself a novel, although it is part fairy tale, part literary criticism, part political tract, part musicology, and part autobiography. It can call itself whatever it wants to, because the whole is genius."" —New York Times
Rich in its stories, characters, and imaginative range, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the novel that brought Milan Kundera his first big international success in the late 1970s. Like all his work, it is valuable for far more than its historical implications. In seven wonderfully integrated parts, different aspects of human existence are magnified and reduced, reordered and emphasized, newly examined, analyzed, and experienced.
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"The articulation of "The Border" in this book assigns horrifyingly beautiful images to the nagging recognition of life's utter absurdity and meaninglessnes and the diversions from this recognition that we as humans participate in, in order to forget."
— Clare (5 out of 5 stars)
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Listener Reviews
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" tanks are mortal. pears are eternal. "
— Metaxy99, 2/12/2014 -
" Milan Kundera teaches you about how the world works. Beautiful. "
— Bobby, 2/6/2014 -
" It's a shame I read it after The Unbearable Lightness of Being and I couldn't enjoy it that much. It's good, it's Kundera, it's his style. "
— Dariana, 1/26/2014 -
" It's funny, I've forgotten much of this book. But, I do remember loving it. I'm putting it on my to re-read shelf. "
— Sara, 1/22/2014 -
" i very much enjoyed it at the beginning. it's divided into three stories that intertwine the absolute minimum necessary to call it a "novel." the first three rounds of each story i really liked and was very into the book and going to recommend it and read more by this guy. The 2nd round, he started to lose me but i gave him the benefit of the doubt... until the "main character" - his words not mine, ended up on an island full of children that raped her and watched her drown. there's thirty pages left. never to be read by me. "
— Madeline, 1/22/2014 -
" Long ago enough that I've forgotten it, but -- love Kundera. Love him. "
— Jeff, 1/11/2014 -
" E' il libro che preferisco di Kundera, ha una struttura particolare che a mio parere esalta la sua scrittura ricercata. Lo trovo assai piu' riuscito del piu' famoso "Insostenibile Leggerezza dell'essere": tra i due consiglierei senza dubbio questo. "
— robxyz, 1/9/2014 -
" enjoyed, but not as much as the joke or the unbearable lightness of being. "
— Karl, 12/28/2013 -
" I enjoy Kundera, I must admit. "
— Josh, 12/12/2013 -
" I think I read this. I went through a Kundera phase in college and after a few of them I realized none of them were as fantastic as The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Except for Slowness, which I remember being great and which I have bought again so that I can reread. "
— craige, 12/7/2013 -
" Milan Kundera wrote it. Nothing else needs to be said. "
— Bruna, 11/24/2013 -
" It was confusing here and there, but the imagery was good. "
— Paul, 11/24/2013 -
" I Liked this book. So much of it reminded me of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I haven't decided if that's good or bad yet. "
— Rosie, 11/9/2013 -
" Not as good as "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." No real plot, just "variations," the writing was still excellent though. There was so much imagery that stuck in my mind...The same apologetics for infidelity. "
— Lisa, 10/7/2013 -
" I think this is Kundera's best novel. It is a bit broader than Unbearable Lightness, but doesn't suffer one bit. "
— John, 9/9/2013 -
" The poor man's nouveau roman. "
— Evan, 7/5/2013 -
" My favorite author of all time. "
— Liam, 6/10/2013 -
" Yeah I think its probably accurate that Kundera is misogynistic to some degree. Much of this book has nothing to do with that. It's quite excellent. "
— Molly, 4/10/2013 -
" It's Classic Kundera at his best. "
— Lindsey, 3/10/2013 -
" Amazing novel. Really captures the vast range of human experience. Philosophical in a totally accessible way. "
— Debra, 2/20/2013 -
" It's fun to read Kundera, and this book is no exception. There are several different parts in it which relate to politics, ego, miscommunication and sex. He knows so much, it's humbling... "
— Avital, 1/6/2013 -
" I occasionally impulse buy Kundera. This one was excellent, and very dirty. "
— Matthew, 11/19/2012 -
" I love Kundera, but that aside some of the short stories were just useless "
— Nada, 6/25/2012
About Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (1929–2023) was the author of several novels and a short-story collection originally written in Czech, and works of nonfiction originally written in French. His is best know for the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which was adapted for an Oscar-nominated film.
About Richmond Hoxie
Richmond Hoxie has performed on Broadway in I’m Not Rappaport and off-Broadway in The Dining Room, Vienna: Lusthaus (Revisited), To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, and Landscape with Waitress. On television, he appears frequently in all of the incarnations of Law and Order. His film work includes JFK, Still of the Night, Without a Trace, and For Love or Money.