joke

La plaisanterie

* Kundera's first novel
* A life farce that started as a joke and ended as a laxative
* “I don’t like laughing very much. I prefer making others laugh rather than laughing.”
The book comes with custom Milan Kundera-themed stickers to create your own unique collection. A young student, Ludvik, was expelled from the Party and sent to hard labor in the mines for writing a few jokes on a postcard to a friend. During his service, he fell in love with Lucy, an honest and steady woman, whom he viewed as a guide to his dark life. However, Lucy strongly resisted any further development of their relationship, enraging Ludvik, unaware of the situation. Ultimately, Ludvik slapped Lucy out of his life. Fifteen years later, freed, Ludvik returned to his hometown and encountered Lucy, now a hairdresser, who no longer recognized him. Seeking revenge against Zemanek, who had insisted on expelling him from the Party, Ludvik seduced his wife, Elena, only to learn that her marriage to her husband was already in name only...
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The Joke sold 117,000 copies in a few months after its publication in Czechoslovakia, a remarkable figure for a country with a population of less than 15 million. It was subsequently published in France and became a huge success, cementing Kundera's status as a literary figure.
In a 1968 interview with French radio, Kundera explained the title of his book: "The Joke. It's a specific joke—a postcard—but it also refers to the tragic and ridiculous nature of history. We have lived through a huge historical joke. I have always believed that I have written a love novel. Unfortunately, especially abroad, the book has been seen as a political novel. This is completely wrong. Of course, this love was determined by historical conditions, and in my opinion, the circumstances at that time were unique and unprecedented, and these historical conditions raised new questions."

2022-04-30

上海译文出版社

448

9787532789979