This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
Book can be found in:
Collection = The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
Book Club Event = Book List (11/08/2025)
2) To Cooperate Or To Defect?, 3) The Persecuted and The Persecutors, 4) War for Your Attention, 5) Capitalism, Socialism, their Alternatives and Critiques,
Watch Short Review
Review
Is This An Overview?
There is a laugher that is orderly, and a laughter based on
absurdity. A journalist writes an
article, that breaks no laws. An article
that the authorities acknowledge did no harm.
Yet, deprives the journalist of a job and opportunities. The authorities represent order, which
justifies their desire to forget the person who the article was based on. The authorities agree that nothing serious was
done as the article used a pseudonym, and collected negligible fees. Yet, the journalist becomes an unwelcome
entity in society. An absurd
situation. What happened to the
journalist and what is humorous about the situation?
Questions to Consider while Reading the Book
•What is the raison d’etre of the book? For what purpose did the author write the book? Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•What are the different types of laughter?
•Who is Mr. Kundera?
•Who is the journalist?
•Who is the narrator?
•What article did the journalist write?
•What did the authorities think of the article?
•What did society think of the article?
Book Details
Translator: Aaron Asher
Original Language: French
Translated Into: English
Publisher: Perennial Classics [HarperCollins Publishers]
Edition ISBN: 9780063290693
Pages to read: 20
Publication: 2023
1st Edition: 1978
Format: eBook
Ratings out of 5:
Readability 5
Content 2
Overall 2
