[HN Gopher] The Two Milan Kunderas
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       The Two Milan Kunderas
        
       Author : apollinaire
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2023-12-08 19:29 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (drb.ie)
 (TXT) w3m dump (drb.ie)
        
       | fiforpg wrote:
       | Yeah, well. The Dvoracek affair is certainly a serious
       | allegation. Yet not something the general public can be a judge
       | for. Given that the Czech authorities and courts did not pursue
       | it, the rest of us can't either, if only for the lack of
       | information.
       | 
       | As to the rest of it -- authors routinely revise their works. The
       | very notion that readers (or critics) get any say in this strikes
       | me as bizarre. They get to observe the process and decide which
       | version they like better, but nothing more. _Ne supra crepidam._
        
       | kazinator wrote:
       | Funny coincidence; two or three weeks ago I was browsing some
       | books for sale at a Japanese centre, just looking at titles. On
       | the spine of one paperback I see Cun Zai noNai erarenaiQing sa
       | (Sonzai no taerarenai karusa). I'm like, existence's unbearable
       | lightness ... what? ... Ohhhh! That must be Kundera, wow. Looked
       | closer; yup.
        
       | throw_pm23 wrote:
       | There is also the "Dating without Kundera" essay by idlewords,
       | although I found him a bit unfair (but still hilarious) here:
       | 
       | https://idlewords.com/2005/11/dating_without_kundera.htm
        
       | asta123 wrote:
       | So there is assumption that 20 something year old, living with
       | information propaganda portraying West as class-divided, colonial
       | enemy, should somehow know the 'enemy' spy was a good guy?
       | Especially considering this Dvoracek case was in the 50s with
       | communists just emerging victorious against horrors of fascism
       | making it quite easy to sell the story of social unity and
       | equality. I imagine many young Czeck people would have bought
       | into this way of life during the early communist rule before
       | oppression became more obvious. Can we judge them for it?
        
         | TeMPOraL wrote:
         | FWIW, a good chunk od western intellectual elite bought into
         | communism as well, and this state lasted for half a century or
         | more, way into 1950s.
        
       | Scea91 wrote:
       | Between Kundera and Havel [1] I am picking Havel 7 days a week.
       | If you have a bit of time give read to Havel's timeless 'Power of
       | the Powerless' [2] which challenges Kundera's world view.
       | 
       | [1] https://reason.com/2023/07/14/milan-kunderas-eternal-feud-
       | wi...
       | 
       | [2]
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20120107141633/http://www.vaclav...
        
         | slibhb wrote:
         | Depends on the rubric. Kundera was a much better writer.
        
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