L’Art du roman

Seven essays are gathered under this title, sharp and ironic toward modernism. Kundera describes himself here as a “postmodern” writer, “a kind of anti-modern modernist.” Tracing the history of the novel through some of its towering figures — from Rabelais to Musil, from Cervantès to Flaubert — he asserts his opposition to the Nouveau Roman, which he considers overly preoccupied with form. Refusing the role of theorist and claiming only to offer “the confession of a practitioner,” he argues that the novel must remain the guardian of its unique capacity: to reveal unknown aspects of human nature along with the boundless powers of its exploration. Sarraute considered the novel archaic, on the verge of death. Kundera objects, arguing — and demonstrating through this very book — that “the modern current of thought will be the one that rediscovers the individual, proposing an aesthetically valid inquiry into human existence.”
Publisher’s wraparound band preserved.