9780060928414
Slowness
Milan Kundera; Linda Asher
ISBN 13: 9780060928414
Publisher: Harpercollins
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Softcover
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Two tales of seduction, separated by more than two hundred years, interweave and oscillate between the sublime and the comic in this, Milan Kundera's lightest novel. In the 18th century, the marvelous Madame de T. summons a young nobleman to her chamber and gives him an unforgettable lesson in the art of seduction and the pleasures of love. In the same chat at the end of the 20th century, a hapless intellectual experiences a rather less successful night. Distracted by his desire to be the center of attention at a convention of entomologists, Vincent misses the opportunity to be with a beautiful stranger and suffers the ridicule of his peers. A "morning-after" encounter between the two men brings the novel to a poignant close and provides a unique insight into the different mind-sets of the two centuries. As Vincent prepares to speed off on his motorcycle, he has already obliterated the memory of his humiliation. The young nobleman, on the other hand, relives the delicious pleasures of the night as he lies back on the cushions of his carriage. Ruminating on how the pleasures of slowness have disappeared in today's fast-paced, future-shocked world, Kundera explores the secret bond between slowness and memory and the connection between our era's desire to forget and the way we have given ourselves over to the demon of speed. As provocative as it is entertaining, Slowness is Kundera in top form.
Review:
"It's an unusually satisfying little book, all the strands of ideas are neatly woven and come together gratifyingly at the end...rather like an 18th-century fable in its grey elegance and wit."
Philip Hensher, Spectator, 04/13/1996
Review:"His brief novel is a playful envoi from a tender misanthrope, a rant set to music by Mozart. Kundera reprises the themes from his bigger books but the effect is of a writer not repeating but recollecting himself."
Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times Book Review, 05/12/1996
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Slowness: A Novel (ISBN: 0060928417 / 0-06-092841-7) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 1
Book Description: Harper Perennial 4/11/1997, 1997. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 0060928417 New/Unread book that may have remainder mark and minor shelf wear. Bookseller Inventory # Z0060928417ZN Bookseller & Payment Information | More Books from this Seller | Ask Bookseller a Question |
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Slowness Format: Trade PB (ISBN: 0060928417 / 0-06-092841-7) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: > 20
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Slowness (ISBN: 0060928417 / 0-06-092841-7) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 10
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Slowness (Paperback) (ISBN: 9780060928414) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 1
Book Description: HARPER PERENNIAL, United States, 1997. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 205 x 138 mm. Brand New Book with Free Worldwide Delivery. After the gravity of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "Immortality," "Slowness" comes as a surprise: It is certainly Kundera's lightest novel, a "divertimento," an "opera buffa," with, as the author himself says, "not a single serious word in it"; then, too, it is the first of his novels to have been written in French (in the eyes of the French public, turning him definitively into a "French writer"). Disconcerted and enchanted, the reader follows the narrator of "Slowness" through a midsummer's night in which two tales of seduction, separated by more than 200 years, interweave and oscillate between the sublime and the comic. In the 18th-century narrative, the marvelous Madame de T. summons a young nobleman to her chbteau one evening and gives him an unforgettable lesson in the art of seduction and the pleasures of love. In the same chbteau at the end of the 20th century, a hapless young intellectual experiences a rather less successful night. Distracted by his desire to be the center of public attention at a convention of entomologists, Vincent loses the beautiful Julie -- ready and willing though she is to share an evening of intimacy and sexual pleasure with him -- and suffers the ridicule of his peers. A "morning-after" encounter between the two young men from different centuries brings the novel to a poignant close: Vincent has already obliterated the memory of his humiliation as he prepares to speed back to Paris on his motorcycle, while the young nobleman will lie back on the cushions of his carriage and relive the night before in the lingering pleasure of memory. Underlying this libertine fantasy is a profound meditation on contemporary life: about thesecret bond between slowness and memory, about the connection between our era's desire to forget and the way we have given ourselves over to the demon of speed. And about "dancers" possessed by the passion to be seen, for whom life is merely a perpetual show emptied of every intimacy and every joy."Irresistible. . . . "Slowness" is an ode to sensuous leisure, to the enjoyment of pleasure rather than just the search for it."--Cathleen Schine, "Mirabella" "Audacity, wit, and sheer brilliance." "--New York Times Book Review" "Paradoxically, "Slowness.".is the fastest paced of Kundera's novels as well as the most accessible." "--Boston Globe". Bookseller Inventory # AAC9780060928414 Bookseller & Payment Information | More Books from this Seller | Ask Bookseller a Question |
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Slowness (ISBN: 9780060928414) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 1
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Slowness (ISBN: 0060928417 / 0-06-092841-7) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 1
Book Description: Paperback. Book Condition: New. 138mm x 10mm x 205mm. 176 pages. 0.141. Bookseller Inventory # 9780060928414 Bookseller & Payment Information | More Books from this Seller | Ask Bookseller a Question |
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Slowness: A Novel (ISBN: 0060928417 / 0-06-092841-7) Kundera, Milan;Asher, Linda Quantity Available: 1
Book Description: Harper Perennial. PAPERBACK. Book Condition: New. 0060928417 Brand new, perfect condition. Bookseller Inventory # 0060928417T Bookseller & Payment Information | More Books from this Seller | Ask Bookseller a Question |
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