{"product_id":"89-words-followed-by-prague-a-disappearing-poem-9780063436435","title":"89 Words Followed by Prague, a Disappearing Poem","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo newly translated works from one of the greatest literary writers and thinkers of the modern age, available together in English for the first time.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslating a work from its original language can be complicated; it's a complex art that can easily mar and twist the intent and meaning of a writer's words. Precise translations were of particular importance to Milan Kundera, who did not live to see all his books published in his native Czech language. Words, for Kundera, were the object of constant scrutiny.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fascinating volume includes two Kundera works from the 1980s, originally written for the now defunct French magazine \u003cem\u003eLe Debat\u003c\/em\u003e, which have never been available in in English. In \"89 Words,\" Kundera wryly recounts the many pitfalls in reading his own poorly translated works. When a friend of Kundera's asked him about the words he considered the most--the ones he fretted over and loved--Kundera created a personal dictionary--his \"89 Words.\" This discerning essay, steeped in his signature barbed cheekiness, showcases his casually gutting philosophical reflections on what it means to be a writer in translation--the exile of life and art in another language.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the second work, \"Prague: A Disappearing Poem,\" Kundera writes with a wistfulness and despair for his ever-more-distant home, offering an intimate look at the specificity of his native culture: the richness of a heritage born in a \"small nation\" but whose significance is universal. Here, like in \u003cem\u003eA Kidnapped West\u003c\/em\u003e, we find the double condemnation of \"Soviet civilization,\" which had suffocated and persecuted Czech culture, and of Western Europe, which refused to neither acknowledge Kundera's culture or understand it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrefaced by lauded French historian Pierre Nora and translated from the French by award-winning Matt Reeck, these two texts return us to Kundera's much-missed living presence. Subtle, alive, and full of wit and irony, \u003cem\u003e89 Words followed by Prague, A Disappearing Poem\u003c\/em\u003e is an homage to a literary legend and a reminder of just how prescient his words and insights are today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKundera, Milan:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eThe Franco-Czech novelist Milan Kundera (1929-2023) was born in Brno and lived in France, his second homeland, since 1975 until his death. He is the author of the novels \u003cem\u003eThe Joke\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLife Is Elsewhere\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFarewell Waltz\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Book of Laughter and Forgetting\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Unbearable Lightness of Being\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eImmortality\u003c\/em\u003e, and the short story collection \u003cem\u003eLaughable Loves\u003c\/em\u003e--all originally in Czech. His more recent novels, \u003cem\u003eSlowness\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eIdentity\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eIgnorance\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Festival of Insignificance\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as his nonfiction works, \u003cem\u003eThe Art of the Novel, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eTestaments Betrayed\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Curtain\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eEncounter\u003c\/em\u003e, were originally written in French.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51635517128978,"sku":"9780063436435","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7143e42b-7da8-4241-a0a0-0364b326b1a6.jpg?v=1759240359","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/89-words-followed-by-prague-a-disappearing-poem-9780063436435","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}