89 Words followed by Prague, A Disappearing Poem

89 Words, published in 1985, is an expanded version of the dictionary of sorts that readers encountered in The Art of the Novel, and comprises a fascinating and rigorous interrogation of what exile, life in another language, and the betrayals of translations entail.

Prague, A Disappearing Poem, dating from 1980, meditates on questions of the culture of the 'small nation' that formed and lends specificity to Kundera's work, and—as in A Kidnapped West—questions the Soviet and Western attitudes towards Czech culture.

Together, these provocative, elegant, and wise essays remind familiar readers of Kundera's presence—his inimitable voice—and for new readers, offer an introduction to his oeuvre: an access point into his fictional universe, characterised by devastating irony and subtlety of judgement.