L’Art du roman
Signed presentation inscription: “Paris 86. À Sylvie Genevoix Milan avec toute la sympathie de Milan Kundera.”
Seven texts make up this collection, sharply ironic toward modernism. Kundera describes himself here as a “postmodern” writer, “a kind of antimodern modernist.” Tracing the history of the novel through some of its leading figures — from Rabelais to Musil, from Cervantès to Flaubert — he states his opposition to the Nouveau Roman, which he considers overly preoccupied with form, arguing that the novel must safeguard its capacity to reveal the unknown aspects of human nature as well as the boundless powers of its exploration.
A fine copy with a distinguished publishing provenance: Sylvie Genevoix, a journalist for Le Figaro and L’Express, was literary director at Éditions Albin Michel, which she joined in 1992. She was also the daughter of the novelist and académicien Maurice Genevoix, author of Raboliot and Ceux de 14.