The Joke

De: Milan Kundera

Narrado por: Richmond Hoxie

All too often, this brilliant novel of thwarted love and revenge miscarried has been read for its political implications. Now, a quarter century after The Joke was first published and several years after the collapse of the Soviet-imposed Czechoslovak regime, it becomes easier to put such implications into perspective in favor of valuing the book (and all Kundera 's work) as what it truly is: great, stirring literature that sheds new light on the eternal themes of human existence.

The present audio edition provides English-language listeners an important further means toward revaluation of The Joke. For reasons he describes in his Author's Note, Milan Kundera devoted much time to creating (with the assistance of his American publisher-editor) a completely revised translation that reflects his original as closely as any translation possibly can: reflects it in its fidelity not only to the words and syntax but also to the characteristic dictions and tonalities of the novel's narrators. The result is nothing less than the restoration of a classic.

©1967 Milan Kundera (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Another depressing Russian type novel

At least I could listen to this while walking my dogs instead of forcing myself to spend precious time reading it.
Story is circular, sort of predictable and the main character is a pathetic narcissist. Book is misogynistic and most of the men are weak. So all in all it deals with the underbelly of mankind. No bright spot, none of the characters are likable . I wish I had not had to even pick this book up but I completed it because of a commitment to my book club .

Great, start to finish

A heartwarming and terrifying look into the life of everyday people in communist Czechoslovakia, surprisingly gripping ordinary lives intertwine in a shockingly human way. Great effect of changing narrator to view from all angles the tragic-comedic and finally very human story.

Adder Sowing Thorns in the Garden of the Soul

I was impressed, surprisingly so, with the depth, accessibility and enjoyability of this novel, which Kundera wrote in 1965 and it was published in 1967 (and apparently played a role in the Prague Spring that year).

In the early 1950s Czechoslovakia, Ludvik Jahn, a university student with a great sense of humor, was a strong supporter of the Communist regime after World War II. Attempting to show his girlfriend a bit of charm and a sense of humor over the summer when they are on break from classes, he wrote in a postcard to her: "Optimism is the opium of mankind! A healthy spirit stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!" The commies had zero sense of humor, expelled him from the "party," kicked him out of the university and forced him, as a dissident, to do two years of hard labor in the mines.

Although he eventually gains decent success in his scientific profession, he harbors a grudge against party members who were responsible for his fall from grace. When he sees an opportunity to exact revenge on Zemanik who led the charge against him, Ludvik seduces Zemanik's wife and the joke may be on him, with the wife a "civilian" casualty.

I love the structure of this, Kundera's first novel, with three narrators. I'm not a big fan of, as in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, his carrying the reader through his writing thought processes about the possibilities as he becomes a part of the novel as "author," not just narrator, which ruins my ability to temporarily suspend disbelief.

For me, this novel was outstanding at revealing the truth of the human condition that "redressibility" of wrongs against us is just not possible, and others, including the perpetrator of the wrong, will have forgotten the misdeed anyway by the time you think you've gotten to the point of revenge. Thus one carries the poison of resentment around, as Oscar Wilde put it, as an "adder in one's breast" to "rise up every night to sow thorns in the garden of one's soul."

For this and other reasons, forgiveness is one major key in life's symphony of peace and joy. "...[T]o live in a world in which no one is forgiven, where all are irredeemable, is the same as living in hell." The Joke

A melancholy duet

"Because to live in a world in which no one is forgiven and all redemption is impossible is to live in Hell."
- Milan Kundera, The Joke

"And that is the Joke: a melancholy duet about the schism between the body and the soul."
- Milan Kundera, preface to The Joke

I liked it. It wasn't my favorite Kundera, but a really strong freshman book and in parts, I loved it. There were chapters and paragraphs that definitely hit hard. There are parts of Communist Czechoslovakia that feel a bit like late-stage US capitalism: the cancelling of enemies, the superficiality, the corruption of religion and ideology, and how people feel both lost and abandoned.

But still, this book is also, according to Kundera, a love story so we can't forget about that. And like all Kundera novels it floats in zones between spirituality and corporality, between mysticism and rationalism, between philosophy and emotion.

Not done. But done enough.

It's not funny anymore

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

My mind wandered a lot. I can see why as the Author's Afterword complains the earlier translations (#1-4) edited and streamlined the original. Despite Kundera's protests, it needed revision. It's far too sprawling and disjointed. It turned tedious early on and rarely engaged.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I am taking on a revisit to Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" as a reminder of quality literary fiction.

Did Richmond Hoxie do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He tried. He has an avuncular style similar to George Guidall. But for the females, he could not modulate his delivery much. For the protagonist, he sounded too boorish and gruff.

Was The Joke worth the listening time?

A toss-up. While it did give you an insight into Moravian folkways and music, it lacked the detailed impact of, say, how working in a mine would feel for one sentenced to a "black insignia" unarmed contingent of politically suspect comrades in early 1960s Czechoslovakia,

Any additional comments?

This confirms my unease with Milan Kundera's work. While "The Joke" by some is considered a debut (1965-7) second only to "Unforgettable Lightness of Being," I am annoyed by his seemingly slapdash manner of plot. Yes, he weighs in with the philosophical musings early in his career, but this novel frankly merited at least some of the excisions he predictably decries. The 7-part structure is promising but the results are verbose and dull.