KUNDERA, Milan Testaments Betrayed Faber and Faber, London, 1995
8vo. Black boards with white lettering on spine; white dust wrapper lettered in black; [9] 4-280 [2]; text block near fine; dust wrapper with stains and minor discolouration to front cover, wrapper slightly scuffed at top edge.
First Edition
An essay composed as a novel, throughout these nine sections, Kundera brings to life characters as colourful as Hemingway and his biographer and Stravinsky and Kafka with their cohort of eccentric accomplices, to uncover the moral trials of twentieth century art and the forces that have undermined the respect of the creator's wishes. He also explores the parallels in the relationship between the composition of the novel and that of music as well as his own experince of exile. Tracing the influence of these prolific voices, Kundera raises questions about the creative testaments, the intentions of the artist, that have been betrayed throughout history, such as Hemingway's work contaminated by the facts of his lived reality. The New York Times Book Review heralded Testaments Betrayed, ""A defense of fiction and a lesson in the art of reading".
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