Ignorance: A Novel (original 2000; edition 2003)

"Me imagino la emoción de dos seres que vuelven a verse después de muchos años. En otros tiempos se han frecuentado, y creen por lo tanto, que están vinculados por la misma experiencia, por los mismos recuerdos. ¿Los mismos recuerdos? Ahí precisamente empieza el malentendido: No tienen los mismos recuerdos; los dos conservan del pasado dos o tres situaciones breves, pero cada uno las suyas; sus recuerdos no se parecen; no se encuentran; incluso cuantitativamente no pueden compararse: El uno se acuerda del otro más de lo que éste se acuerda de él; primero porque la capacidad de memoria difiere de un individuo a otro (lo cual aún sería una respuesta aceptable para cada uno de ellos), pero también (y eso cuesta más admitirlo) porque la importancia de uno para el otro no es la misma." ( )

The ease with which Milan Kundera sets up and writes this wonderful novel is remarkable, and it was a pleasure to return to work by Kundera since I read Die unerträgliche Leichtigkeit des Seins in 1992. The mention of that earlier novel is also of relevance to this excellent novel, Die Unwissenheit.

While the main theme of the former book is the escape and flight into exile, the themes of the latter are return (visit), memories and nostalgia. These themes are explored on a philosophical level, by examining the mythical voyages of Odysseus, and in life by visits, first of Czech people travelling abroad to visit those in exile, and later a return to Prague. The rift is enormous. In forty years, it seems the memories of people in Prague were frozen, while that of the exiles moved on. Where two former acquaintances both lived abroad, the gap seems double as big, and memories, faded or nearly unretrievable.

Beautiful descriptions of Prague and some astute comments on Communism. ( )

Perhaps I ought to read this novel twice, packed as it is with quotable quotes and beautiful language. Again, Kundera writes about love, longing, relationships, past, present, future, eternity and their relations - like no other writer. The only reason why I don't rate this novel as highly as some of his other books is that it feels a bit unfulfilled, unfinished. I want to know more about these characters, the novel is more of a painting than a full story.
Still, I am touched by his writing, and so many passages make me stop and think of what I just read. If you haven't read Kundera, start with some of his other books. ( )

April 1 was Milan Kundera’s 81st birthday. In his honor I read his latest book, from 2000, “Ignorance.” While reading the book I didn’t really understand the title. I kept believing that it should have been “Nostalgia” as that’s the main topic of the book. The author uses razor sharps observations for analyzing the various moods and emotions surrounding nostalgia. His observations revealed that there are many types of nostalgia. He started off with its etymological origins and then went on to contrasting it with homesickness. The rest of the book is made up with evolving examples of nostalgia from the perspectives of the immigrants who can and who cannot return, but also from the perspective of those who stayed home.

But titles of the book do not necessarily need to reflect their main topics. In this case the title helps us to realize that nostalgia often originates and ends up in ignorance. We long for a state of affairs that no longer exists it and maybe it never did. Thus we are ignorant of the past. When we attempt to return to this imagined location, family, situation… of the past we may encounter events and feeling we were not prepared for and face our ignorance of the present. That’s exactly what happened to the woman who returned to Bohemia after spending 20 years mostly in Paris and to her fleeting love interest who returned from Denmark. Their stories and their loved ones’ provide the prism that breaks down the gray of ignorance and nostalgia into a colorful and painful rainbow.

Another interesting aspect of the book is the comparative analysis of Homer’s Odysseus. It is not a literary analysis, but a motivational one. While telling the stories of 20th century immigrants Kundera wonders what made Odysseus and Penelope tick, what kind of feeling they must have had cope with. By reaching to the classic tale, he managed to create and even more timelessness feeling for the whole book. The emotions described and analyzed are proven to be eternal.

As an immigrant this is one of the most important books I read. It helped me think about my own nostalgia and discover in what aspects I am similar to the book’s heroes and what aspects I am not. Thank you Mr. Kundera and happy birthday.

Kundera's Ignorance is less a love story and more a treaty on how our memories work; No two people who have lived through the same experiences will retain the same memories of the events. When a man and a woman return separately to their homeland after a forced absence of 20 years, they find that their memories of their lives, their homeland, and their friend's memories of them, cannot be reconciled. The separate storylines of the individuals overlap towards a heartbreakingly logical climax. This is one of Kundera's best works. ( )