Farewell Waltz

by Milan Kundera

Book Overview

"After Farewell Waltz there cannot be any doubt. Kundera is a master of contemporary literature. This novel is both an an example of virtuosity and a descent into the human soul." --L'Unite

Set in an old-fashioned Central European spa town, Farewell Waltz poses the most serious questions with a blasphemous lightness that makes us see that the modern world has deprived us even of the right to tragedy.

In...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060997001
• ISBN13: 9780060997007
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Very Insightful

Amazingly insightful book. Love Kundera's writings to the max. Very easy flow. Fantastically well developed characters.

Among Kundera's best, but...

This is one of my favorite Kundera novels (I've read them all), though it is certainly a bit of an oddball. As other reviewers have noted, it sticks to the story, without commentary from the author. There are also some structural differences, such as the number of chapters (see The Art of the Novel) and such. My only complaint is with this new translation. Perhaps it's just because I first read The Farewell Party, but there were some subtle changes that I just didn't understand. The spelling of one character's name was changed (possibly due to difference in English pronounciation, with the intent of preserving the original sound) and another peripheral character's name was changed altogether. There were others as well. Given Kundera's complaints about overzealous translators in Testaments Betrayed, I suspect he might not have approved. Still, I can't imagine anyone preferring Slowness to this.

AMAZING

This book is absolutely amazing. True, it is not like the Unbearable Lightness of Being or Immortality, in which Kundera takes the philosophical aspects of every situtation and magnifies it to the "meaning of life" (how's that for a cliche phrase?) This novel appears to be a lot lighter (no pun intended). It doesn't chew through every philosophical theory, but implies it with the characters' absurd and almost silly actions, which they take so seriously that one cannot help but smile. Believe it or not subtelty is key here as far as complex ideas go, even amidst all the plot twists. The reviewer who thought this novel not as contemplative or polished as Kundera's other and more famous works, certainly missed the point of it. This novel is probably one of Kundera's most structured and polished. Unbearable Lightness of Being and Immortality tend to ramble (not that the ramble isn't absolutely wonderful!) and have a bit of the old author-commentary-through-narrative-overkill. The Farewell Waltz is simply perfect! In fact I think that this novel better evoke, without ever spelling it out, the whole mood, attitude, and meaning (or lack there of) of the state he likes to call "the unbearable lightness of being". Oh, and some great politics and sex too. Any faithful Kundera fan will certainly enjoy!

Great kundera

Love Kundera...although ususally very cerebral and philosophical, however, The Farewell Party reads very quickly and is very character-based. For anyone who wonders why women and men act the way they do, Kundera is a great source.

Brilliant, sad, funny - cynical - the best of Central Europe

All Kundera's books have a certain sadness in themselves, so typical for every Central European person, especially Slavic. This one is, however, also funny, but not in a way that you'll burst out laughing and roll down on the floor, but in a way that you will feel that special "sting" to your mind which will feel good and bitter at the same time. Look out for the word of a Czech-American "saint" and for the actions the spa fertility doctor undertakes and that is just enough. No other contemporary European author can be so philosophical and funny at the same time as Kundera. I rate this book 10 out of 10, for it is my favourite.