Milan Kundera's Slowness

...Er... yeah, I took a longer break than I wanted. The Japanese magical realism will wait a bit, today I'll review something else from a favorite author of mine.

Slowness by Milan Kundera

I once read a comment somewhere in the bowels of the internet (though I can scarcely be bothered to remember where anymore- it was quite a while ago) that the first book one reads by Milan Kundera is the one that will be the best liked. I can understand this perspective for a few reasons- Kundera's style never really seemed to evolve, his books are are very similar stylistically, tonally, and even atmospherically. Additionally, the type of observations he makes are often very similar. However, I can't help but think that Slowness may actually be the exception to this rule.

While Slowness is very much stylistically the same as Kundera's other works, the message is a bit more profound, from my perspective at least. Though written a couple decades ago, it engages the fundamental problem of modernity at its very heart- we have become so obsessed with speed that we often miss life for what it is. While "stop and smell the roses" is a very cliche message, it remains one of my favorite cliches, and I have come to appreciate very much every second of slowness that I am able to capture within my life.

Aside from the message, which is probably Kundera's strongest point, the book is still stylistically interesting. The character exposition is extraordinarily advanced, motivations leaking through the text in the strange subtle way that only Kundera can present them. The atmosphere remains very dreamlike despite its distinctly down-to-earth setting because of Kundera's stylistic choices, weaving the tales together to focus on the message rather than the characters. Ultimately, it is a highly successful technique, and one I will probably never tire of praising authors like Kundera or Calvino for.

OVERALL SCORE: 79/100