Buy New
 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$7.01 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Fulfilled by Amazon

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
60 used & new from $3.03
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get a $0.25 Amazon.com Gift Card
 
   
Farewell Waltz: A Novel
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Farewell Waltz: A Novel (Paperback)

~ Milan Kundera (Author) "Autumn has arrived and the trees are turning yellow, red, brown; the small spa town in its pretty valley seems to be surrounded by flames..." (more)
Key Phrases: thermal building, medicine tube, torn sweater, Karl Marx House, Doctor Skreta, Mister Bertlef (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
List Price: $12.99
Price: $10.39 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.60 (20%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Tuesday, March 23? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
24 new from $6.48 36 used from $3.03

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Paperback $10.39   $6.48 $3.03

Frequently Bought Together

Farewell Waltz: A Novel + Identity: A Novel + The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Total List Price: $39.98
Price For All Three: $29.82

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Farewell Waltz: A Novel by Milan Kundera

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Identity: A Novel by Milan Kundera

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Identity: A Novel

Identity: A Novel

by Milan Kundera
3.9 out of 5 stars (47)  $9.36
Life Is Elsewhere

Life Is Elsewhere

by Aaron Asher
4.0 out of 5 stars (25)  $11.92
Laughable Loves

Laughable Loves

by Milan Kundera
4.6 out of 5 stars (27)  $11.97
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

by Milan Kundera
4.5 out of 5 stars (60)  $10.07
Slowness: A Novel

Slowness: A Novel

by Milan Kundera
3.7 out of 5 stars (42)  $11.10
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"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)

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French, Czech
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st edition (April 21, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060997001
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060997007
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #299,566 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Aaron Asher
Aaron Asher

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Autumn has arrived and the trees are turning yellow, red, brown; the small spa town in its pretty valley seems to be surrounded by flames. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
thermal building, medicine tube, torn sweater, white sedan
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Karl Marx House, Doctor Skreta, Mister Bertlef, Mister Klima, Nurse Ruzena, Abortion Committee, Saint Simeon Stylites, Hall of the People, Saint Paul, Saint Lazarus
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 7 books:
See all 7 books this book cites
 
12 books cite this book:
See all 12 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Farewell Waltz: A Novel
75% buy the item featured on this page:
Farewell Waltz: A Novel 3.9 out of 5 stars (14)
$10.39
Ignorance: A Novel
7% buy
Ignorance: A Novel 4.1 out of 5 stars (39)
$11.96
The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts
7% buy
The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts 4.9 out of 5 stars (14)
$11.92
Immortality (Perennial Classics)
6% buy
Immortality (Perennial Classics) 4.4 out of 5 stars (70)
$11.69
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 6 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
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
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
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Atypical Kundera fare, May 26, 2000
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.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
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 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!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Love Conquers All, and Kills Some
As in most of Kundera's Czech novels a narrative woven from several strands (with each strand firmly linked to a specific character) forms a structure that allows the author to... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Robert T. OKEEFFE

1.0 out of 5 stars Farewell Schmaltz: Square Dancing Around Nihilism in a Bowler Hat-- Cane Handy, Pinky High and Chin Raised.
Summary: Pietistic Nihilism, Subtle Narcism, Soap Opera Discourse.

The story is simple soap opera fare. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Alaric

1.0 out of 5 stars Worse than disappointing
This is the third of Kundera's books I have read and by far my least favorite. I had previously read The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Immortality. Read more
Published 20 months ago by A. Bonomo

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read from the profound Kundera.
Summary:
"[For] Kundera, the individual is the smallest cell of society, the object, not the subject of history. Read more
Published on June 9, 2007 by Zweigster

4.0 out of 5 stars Not your average Kundera
It is true that 'Farewell Waltz' is among Kundera's lighter novels and does not pack as much of a philosophical punch as some of his other works. Read more
Published on November 27, 2006 by Eddy

4.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly funny... and sad!
It is a strange story .. at the beginning you might think it is one of those books dealing with something that could happen everyday .. Read more
Published on October 13, 2002 by rannoon

5.0 out of 5 stars Lightness of the tragedy?
On the surface this novel couldt be regarded as mystery, but Kundera isn't a crime-writer at all. He keeps the reader always on track what's going on. Read more
Published on March 29, 2001 by Jens Lemcke

5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring the Universal Need for Love
The Farewell Party, 1975: Set against the backdrop of a Central European spa town, Kundera once again orchestrates his polyphonic style to intertwine lives and stories to play out... Read more
Published on February 18, 2001 by Miguel B. Llora

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather dissapointing
After having read the other reviews all praising this book, I felt an obligation to voice my own opinion. Let me say, first off, that I love Kundera. Read more
Published on April 4, 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars The lost art of the farcical novel.
This is quite simply the best of Kundera. Not the most philosophical, although there is that, but the one which introduces readers outside Europe with a very accessible... Read more
Published on April 22, 1999

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:








i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.