Milan Kundera’s sixth novel springs from a casual gesture of a woman to her swimming instructor, a gesture that creates a character in the mind of a writer named Kundera. Like Flaubert’s Emma or Tolstoy’s Anna, Kundera’s AgnÈs becomes an object of fascination, of indefinable longing. From that character springs a novel, a gesture of the imagination that both embodies and articulates Milan Kundera’s supreme mastery of the novel and its purpose: to explore thoroughly the great themes of existence. From Publishers Weekly Kundera (whose novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being has sold more than 600,000 copies in paperback) offers brilliant meditations on 20th-century life as he contrasts a comic love triangle involving Goethe with a modern-day trio of fictional Parisians. This BOMC selection spent 12 weeks on PW ’s hardcover bestseller list. $100,000 ad/promo. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review "Brilliantly mordant...beautifully translated...strong and mesmerizing." -- -- New York Times "Brilliantly mordant...beautifully translated...strong and mesmerizing." -- New York Times "Ingenious witty provocative and formidably intelligent, both a pleasure and a challenge to the reader." -- Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World "Inspired Kundera’s most brilliantly imagined novel...A book that entrances, beguiles and charms us from first page to last." -- Susan Miron, * Cleveland Plain Dealer * "Inspired Kundera’s most brilliantly imagined novel...A book that entrances, beguiles and charms us from first page to last." -- Susan Miron, Cleveland Plain Dealer "Milan Kundera's sixth novel springs from a casual gesture of a woman to her swimming instructor, a gesture that creates a character in the mind of a writer named Kundera. Like Flaubert's Emma or Tolstoy's Anna, Kundera's Agnes becomes an object of fascination, of indefinable longing. From that character springs a novel, a gesture of the imagination that both embodies and articulates Milan Kundera's supreme mastery of the novel and its purpose: to thoroughly explore the great themes of existence. A work in seven parts, Immortality involves four contemporary characters-- Agnes, her husband Paul, her sister Laura, and the sad hedonist Rubens-- as well as the curious historic couple of Goethe and Bettina von Arnim. Through these characters, Kundera reflects with powerful insight on modern life and Western society. But, as always with Kundera, the true theme of the novel is elsewhere; his subject is existential and metaphysical. The cult of sentimentality, its role in our lives and in the history of the West, and the conflict between the individual and his image: here, in an unforgettable scene, we encounter our own Hemingway in heaven with Goethe, discussing the sorrows of immortality, the powerlessness of man before an image of himself over which he has no control. Immortality, intelligent, original, funny, and entirely captivating, is a major novel by one of the most acclaimed writers of our time." -- Publisher's Description
Milan Kundera's sixth novel springs from a casual gesture of a woman to her swimming instructor, a gesture that creates a character in the mind of a writer named Kundera. Like Flaubert's Emma or Tolstoy's Anna, Kundera's Agnès becomes an object of fascination, of indefinable longing. From that character springs a novel, a gesture of the imagination that both embodies and articulates Milan Kundera's supreme mastery of the novel and its purpose: to explore thoroughly the great themes of existence.
In Milan Kundera's sixth novel, a gesture by a woman to her swimming teacher sparks an obsession in the writer's mind--one that will be pursued with vigor and imagination. Reprint. Agnes, her husband Paul, her sister Laura, and a hedonist Rubens explore the themes of existence
