The Joke[玩笑]

Alltoooften,thisbrilliantnovelofthwartedloveandrevengemiscarriedhasbeenreadforitspoliticalimplications.Now,aquartercenturyafterTheJokewasfirstpublishedandseveralyearsafterthecollapseoftheSoviet-imposedCzechoslovakregime,itbecomeseasiertoputsuchimplicationsintoperspectiveinfavorofvaluingthebook(andallKundera'swork)aswhatittrulyis:great,stirringliteraturethatshedsnewlightontheeternalthemesofhumanexistence.ThepresenteditionprovidesEnglish-languagereadersanimportantfurthermeanstowardrevaluationofTheJoke.ForreasonshedescribesinhisAuthor'sNote,MilanKunderadevotedmuchtimetocreating(withtheassistanceofhisAmericanpublisher-editor)acompletelyrevisedtranslationthatreflectshisoriginalascloselyasanytranslationpossiblycan:reflectsitinitsfidelitynotonlytothewordsandsyntaxbutalsotothecharacteristicdictionsandtonalitiesofthenovel'snarrators.Theresultisnothinglessthantherestorationofaclassic.青年知识分子路德维克因为与女友开了个玩笑，被朋友泽马内克陷害，送入苦役营。归来后他为了报复泽马内克设计勾引其妻海伦娜。计划成功后，他才发现:泽马内克早想抛弃妻子，他的报复成了一个毫无作用的“玩笑”。昆德拉说:“受到乌托邦声音的迷惑，他们拼命挤进天堂的大门，但当大门在身后砰然关上时，他们却发现自己是在地狱里。这样的时刻使我感到，历史总是喜欢开怀大笑的。”