Farewell Waltz: A Novel [Paperback]

Milan Kundera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 1998

"It is hard to imagine anything more chilling and profound than Kundera's apparent lightheartedness."'Elizabeth PochodaIN this dark farce of a novel, set in an old-fashioned Central Euroepean spa town, eight characters are swept up in an accelerating dance: a pretty nurse and her repairman boyfriend; an oddball gynecologist; a rich Amrican (at once saint and Don Juan); a popular trumpeter and his beautiful, obsessively jealous wife; an unillusioned former political prisoner about to leave his country and his young woman ward.Perhaps the most brilliantly plotted and sheerly entertaining of Milan Kundera's novels, Farewell Waltz poses the most serious questions with a blasphemous lightness that makes us see that the modern world has deprived us even of the right to tragedy.Written in Bohemia in 1969-70, this book was first published (in 1976) in France under the title La valse aux adieux (Farewell Waltz), and later in thirty-four other countries. This beautiful new translation, made from the French text prepared by the novelist himself, fully reflects his own tone and intentions. As such it offers an opportunity for both the discovery and the rediscovery of one of the very best of a great writer's works."Kundera remains faithful to this subtle, wily, devious talent for a fiction of `erotic possibilities.' "'New York Times Book Review"Farewell Waltz shocks. Black humor. Farcical ferocity. Admirably tender portraits of women." 'Le Point (Paris)"After Farewell Waltz there cannot be any doubt. Kundera is a master of contemporary literature. This novel is both an example of virtuosity and a descent into the human soul."'L'Unit, (Paris)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French, Czech

About the Author

The Franco-Czech novelist and critic Milan Kundera was born in Brno and has lived in France, his second homeland, since 1975. He is the author of the novels The Joke, Farewell Waltz, Life Is Elsewhere, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and Immortality, and the short-story collection Laughable Loves—all originally written in Czech. His most recent novels Slowness, Identity, and Ignorance, as well as his nonfiction works The Art of the Novel, Testaments Betrayed, The Curtain, and Encounter, were originally written in French.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st edition (April 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060997001
• ISBN-13: 978-0060997007
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #677,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Atypical Kundera fare, May 26, 2000

By 

Christopher A. Smith (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Farewell Waltz: A Novel (Paperback)

This is the most readable of Kundera's works, and is handled differently form his other novels. The contrast with "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" is striking; he sticks to the plotline and avoids the philosophical.

Kundera's standard formula is to put the character in a situation that is profound and offers some insight, then step back as narrator and explain to the reader exactly why this situation is profound and what is the insight.

This is not a criticism. Kundera is clearly a master and Unbearable Lightness is one of my favorite novels. It is simply that "the Farewell Waltz" is different; those expecting more standard Kundera fare might be disappointed. I myself was delighted.

The characters were diverse, irreverent, and interesting. Despite the farcical nature of the novel they remain believable. This is a novel that one can read and enjoy for the story, the character mix, the black humor, and the occasional political musings. Kundera does not beat the reader over the head with the philosophical points; these are left for you to discover. A wonderful book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wondrous example of Kundera's brilliance., October 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Farewell Waltz: A Novel (Paperback)

For satire so poignant and caustic that the reader cannot help but to examine his or her own life through the eyes of the narrator, Farewell Waltz is an excellent example of why Mr. Kundera soon will win the Nobel Prize for Literature. --RMJ Duke University School of Law

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING, December 17, 2000

By 

Maggie (san francisco, ca, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Farewell Waltz: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is absolutely amazing. True, it is not like the Unbearable Lightness of Being or Immortality, in which Kundera takes the philosophical aspects of every situtation and magnifies it to the "meaning of life" (how's that for a cliche phrase?) This novel appears to be a lot lighter (no pun intended). It doesn't chew through every philosophical theory, but implies it with the characters' absurd and almost silly actions, which they take so seriously that one cannot help but smile. Believe it or not subtelty is key here as far as complex ideas go, even amidst all the plot twists. The reviewer who thought this novel not as contemplative or polished as Kundera's other and more famous works, certainly missed the point of it. This novel is probably one of Kundera's most structured and polished. Unbearable Lightness of Being and Immortality tend to ramble (not that the ramble isn't absolutely wonderful!) and have a bit of the old author-commentary-through-narrative-overkill. The Farewell Waltz is simply perfect! In fact I think that this novel better evoke, without ever spelling it out, the whole mood, attitude, and meaning (or lack there of) of the state he likes to call "the unbearable lightness of being". Oh, and some great politics and sex too. Any faithful Kundera fan will certainly enjoy!