A Paraphrase of the Work of Milan Kundera

A Paraphrase of the Work of Milan KunderaOne of the most famous authors on contemporary literature, Milan Kundera is often credited with having laid the groundwork for the entire field of modern literature. From his short stories, novels, plays, and poetry, he has cultivated a rich body of work that is in itself a blueprint for creating literary masterpieces. The following essay by Milena Kovacevic, the Director of the Taurus International Summer Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is based on Kundera's 'Sample.'Milan Kundera is not a man who can be expected to be telling you of his life, his family, or his professional ambitions with complete straightness. But one would think that the Russian author would be willing to divulge his personal life to his readers if only he was very careful about the subject matter of his samples. This one, from his novel 'V' in Part III, was one of them. This is an ap language and composition essay that take us back in time to the summer of 1973, when K undera was in the middle of writing his classic novel 'The Names,' in which the reader sees some of his family members in different situations as they are recalled.Milan Kundera is calling a novelist. But he is also called 'the third most admired man in Hungary'the author of great achievements.' In any case, when the headmistress of a school where he was doing research visits him to enquire about his experience as a writer, his answer is unsatisfactory. Instead of describing his personal life, he tells her how he writes and teaches in America.His way of putting it makes you think that his mind is not his own, and that he is doing it as part of the work for which he is paid, but that's what he told the headmistress of his school. He then goes on to talk of the literary genre of the American novel, and how it has changed over the years.There are places, Kundera says, that deserve the attention of the best American writers, and one of them is his hometown of Budapest. And he is working on his fiction in order to convey his feelings about the city. He mentions the place that is his muse, but still only in passing, in a part of the essay where he is discussing the new developments in Hungarian literature that have seen his name rise to fame.Finally, in describing himself as an intellectual, Milan Kundera lets the reader know that he has never been able to make up his mind as to which literary genre he wants to concentrate on, traditional or non-traditional. Instead, he lives a 'life of carefree pleasure,' he seems to say, as we turn in our chairs to admire the collage of brilliant ideas and bold style in his Sample.The meaning of the sample will become clear as we go along, especially as we see more of Kundera's early works. Still, it is hard to read through his Sample for more than a few pages without finding ourselves drawn to the comments, to the scenes, to the narratives, to the sentences. It is as if all that Kundera has to offer words. Even the culture and cu stoms of his native land can't holding him from the writing pen.A man who seems to be someone who should be thinking a lot more about his life, his family, and his career is something else again. When he begins to speak of his political opinions, it's as if he is offering us, his readers, only the details of his life, just enough to keep the mystery alive. But that doesn't mean that there aren't hints, some small hints here and there, that can justifiably convince you that this writer does not suffer from self-imposed isolation.