The Curtain

Milan Kundera / 董强Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaSep 2022

Rating 4.2
Word count
78K words
Chapters
82
ISBN
9787532789917

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Literary GiantsHumanistic CareSlow ReadingWestern ThoughtIntellectual CommentaryCross-Cultural View

Summary

In The Curtain, Kundera recapitulates his earlier reflections on the art of the novel and, with an even freer hand, explores a world of fiction interwoven with history and lived reality.

Cervantes sends Don Quixote roaming the world, tearing open the "curtain" woven of legend and preconceived interpretation that had veiled the true nature of reality... In a culminating synthesis enriched by his own experiences, Kundera invokes Cervantes, Rabelais, Sterne, Flaubert, Musil, Joyce, Kafka, and other novelists he holds dear, moving among texts such as Sentimental Education, Ninety-Three, The Idiot, and As I Lay Dying. In seven parts—"The Consciousness of Continuity," "World Literature," "Entering the Soul of Things," "What Is a Novelist?," "Aesthetics and Existence," "Torn Curtains," and "The Novel, Memory, Forgetting"—and under numerous subheadings, he dissects such concepts as time, kitsch, the comic, and forgetting. He declares that "once applied to art, the concept of history has nothing to do with progress; it does not imply perfection, improvement, or elevation; it is like a journey of exploration into unknown lands, charting them on a map," that "the novelist is no servant of the historian," and that "the novelist is not someone concerned only with pleasing readers," arguing forcefully for the necessity of bringing the "unpoetic side of life" into fiction.

Editor's review

The Curtain is another collection of essays by Milan Kundera, following The Art of the Novel, that explores novelistic aesthetics and the spirit of European culture in depth. In this work, Kundera does not continue the narrative path of his novels but, in the dual role of seasoned novelist and thinker, draws back a "curtain" through which we examine the history of the novel and the history of civilization. He incisively analyzes the essence of the novel as an art form, arguing that its greatness lies in revealing the unknown dimensions of human existence and that it is a weapon against "the forgetting of being." In the book, Kundera moves through the textual forests of masters such as Cervantes, Flaubert, Broch, and Kafka, comparing and analyzing them and brilliantly explaining what constitutes the wisdom, humor, and complexity of the novel. He pays particular attention to the tense relationship between the novel and history, politics, and kitsch culture. His discussion is full of philosophical reflection and paradox, both a heartfelt look back at the tradition of the European novel and a profound warning about the cultural crisis of the modern world. Reading this book is like following an intellectual guide to rediscover the depth and sublimity of the art of the novel. It is not only literary criticism but also an intellectual memorandum on how to understand the modern world and one's own existence.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. It is suggested that readers first acquire some familiarity with Kundera's major novels (such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being) before reading this book, so as to better appreciate what its theories refer to
  2. Readers may keep pen and paper at hand while reading to note down the writers and works mentioned in the book and its incisive arguments, for later extended reading and reflection
  3. There is no need to finish it in one sitting; it can be kept as a bedside or desk book, to be savored chapter by chapter and its aphorisms and insights revisited

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 第一部分 对延续性的意识
  3. 对延续性的意识
  4. 历史与价值
  5. 小说理论
  6. 可怜的阿隆索·吉哈达
  7. “故事”的专制性
  8. 追寻现时时光
  9. “历史”一词的多重涵义
  10. 生活中骤然凝聚起的密度之美
  11. 琐事的力量
  12. 一次死亡之美
  13. 重复的耻辱
  14. 第二部分 世界文学
  15. 最小的空间中最大的多样性
  16. 无法补救的不平等性
  17. 世界文学
  18. 小民族的地方主义
  19. 大民族的地方主义
  20. 东欧人
  21. 中欧
  22. 两条背道而驰的现代主义反叛之路
  23. 我心目中伟大的七星诗社
  24. 媚俗与粗俗
  25. 反现代的现代主义
  26. 第三部分 进入事物的灵魂
  27. 进入事物的灵魂
  28. 无法根除的错误
  29. 处境种种
  30. 唯有小说才能说出的东西
  31. 思考的小说
  32. 不逼真的边界已不再受到监视
  33. 爱因斯坦与卡尔·罗斯曼
  34. 笑话礼赞
  35. 从贡布罗维奇的作坊看小说的历史
  36. 另一片大陆
  37. 银色的桥梁
  38. 第四部分 小说家是什么
  39. 为了理解，必须比较
  40. 诗人与小说家
  41. 一个关于转变的故事
  42. 喜剧性的柔光
  43. 撕裂的帷幕
  44. 荣耀
  45. 人们杀死了我的阿尔贝蒂娜
  46. 马塞尔·普鲁斯特的结论
  47. 本质性原则
  48. 阅读是漫长的，生命是短暂的
  49. 小男孩与他的祖母
  50. 塞万提斯的结论
  51. 第五部分 美学与存在
  52. 美学与存在
  53. 行动
  54. 不懂幽默的人
  55. 幽默
  56. 假如悲剧性已将我们抛弃
  57. 逃兵
  58. 悲剧之链
  59. 地狱
  60. 第六部分 撕裂的帷幕
  61. 可怜的阿隆索·吉哈达
  62. 撕裂的帷幕
  63. 悲剧性被撕裂的帷幕
  64. 仙女
  65. 深入到一个笑话的黑色深处
  66. 施蒂弗特眼中的官僚主义
  67. 受到侵犯的城堡与村庄的世界
  68. 官僚主义化世界的存在意义
  69. 隐藏在帷幕后的年龄
  70. 早上的自由，晚上的自由
  71. 第七部分 小说，记忆，遗忘
  72. 阿梅莉
  73. 抹去的遗忘，转化的记忆
  74. 作为一个不知遗忘为何物的世界的乌托邦的小说
  75. 结构
  76. 一次被遗忘的诞生
  77. 无法忘却的遗忘
  78. 一个被遗忘的欧洲
  79. 作为穿越多个世纪和陆地之旅的小说
  80. 记忆的剧场
  81. 对延续性的意识
  82. 永恒

FAQ

What are the differences and connections between this book and The Art of the Novel? The Curtain and The Art of the Novel both belong to Kundera's series of literary essays, and both explore novel aesthetics at their core. The Curtain, however, is more focused and in-depth in its discussion, particularly in using specific cases from the history of the novel (such as analyses of Cervantes and Kafka) to explain how the novel reveals existence and what challenges novelistic art faces in the modern world; it can be seen as a deepening and extension of the themes of The Art of the Novel.
Can readers without a background in literary theory understand it? Although Kundera's discussion involves theory, his style is clear and full of metaphors and personal insight; it is not a difficult academic treatise. As long as readers have some familiarity with classic European literature and an open, speculative mind, ordinary readers can certainly draw inspiration from it. It can be read as a master novelist's "notes on creation" and "notes on reading."
What is the core argument of this book? Its core argument is that the novel is a wisdom that probes "existence," and that its value lies in discovering what only the novel can discover—the concrete situations and unknown dimensions of human existence. Kundera criticizes "kitsch" and historical determinism, which simplify the picture of the world, and maintains that novelistic art should uphold its complexity and autonomy; behind this "curtain" lies the rich treasure of the human spirit.

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About the author

Milan Kundera Author · Czech-French · 1929–2023

Milan Kundera (1929–2023) was a Czech-born French writer. Born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, he went into exile in France in 1975, became a French citizen in 1981, and regained Czech citizenship in 2019. Known for his philosophical novels, he placed his characters' lives under the pressure of politics and history, exploring themes such as love, memory, forgetting, and identity. His narratives are interwoven with essayistic reflection, creating a distinctive form that lies between the novel and the essay. His major works include The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Joke, and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, as well as Life Is Elsewhere, The Farewell Party, Laughable Loves, Ignorance, and Identity, along with essay collections such as Testaments Betrayed and The Curtain. His works have been translated into many languages and have had a profound influence on contemporary literature.

董强 Author

Dong Qiang is a Chinese author whose works span a notably wide range of subjects. Public information about him is limited, and no clear record of his birth and death dates, nationality, or educational background is available. The library holds nine of his works, covering categories such as foreign literature, psychological research, essays and miscellaneous writings, medicine, literary appreciation, and travel. Representative titles include Camille, Identity, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (Writer's List Classic Library), and The Curtain, all of which are translations or edited volumes in foreign literature, showing his sustained attention to French literature and Western thought. The Illustrated History of French Literature reflects his approach to literary history and appreciation. In addition, the neurology volume of the Standard Training Course for Physician Assessment points to a medical specialty, while Ecuador: A Travel Diary and A Kidnapped West or the Tragedy of Central Europe touch on travel writing and Central European cultural issues respectively. Given the limited information, his specific career cannot be described in detail, but the existing titles suggest that his writing combines academic popularization with cross-cultural translation and introduction for different readerships.