Rating: 
Summary: A great book of love and socialism.
Review: The story is developed strangely at the begining of the book; nevertheless we can infer most of the character's "leitmotive" when you have already read the third chapter. Every action of the main character (Ludvik) is the direct consequence of his called "Stupid Joke". Love is not easy in the story, sometimes is aggressive, others tender.
I think there was a little missunderstanding of Liev Trotsky's role in the "Social Revolution" in Czech Republic. Because he was the victim of Stalin afted Lenin's deth.
Rating: 
Summary: To choose is to rennounce
Review: This book made me very aware of the fact that every choise that one makes opens many posibilities and also brings many unpredictable consecuences. By choosing something, anything, we alter the path of our lives permanently.Read and enjoy, reread and learn.
Rating:
Summary: Conscious wit
Review: This book was my first encounter with Kundera, and it lead me to devour other books of his. I think what I appreciate most about Kundera is the consciousness of his wittiness, and how this consciousness is both beautifully insighful and at the same time threaded with the cutting edge of irony. Life is a struggle and the gods play dice in Kundera's world, but it is that struggle that makes those the humanity of the characters profound. Compared to his other books, I think what I appreciated most about his book is how it all came together at the end. As different characters add their voices and perspectives to the narrative, you begin to grasp a sense of the whole. You know how some books just leave you in an afterglow when you finish? That's how I felt with the Joke.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This book was my first experience with Kundera, and a wonderfule place to start to get to know this author. The experiences of the main character, Ludvik, are heart-wrenching. They are unfair. Yet he bears them with strength and whatever dignity he can muster. No American could have written this book. Ludvik, while anti-Communist, is as un-American as they come. Yet, he is human, and a reader can relate to his losses, his sorrows, his rage. With this book, Kundera opened my eyes to an unfamiliar life, and an unimagined way of creating literature.
Rating:
Summary: A great first book & an interesting critique of communism
Review: This is a very good book, and amazing in that it was Kundera's first as far as I know. The most interesting thing about it for me is that it was written a couple years before the Prague Spring of 1968 when the Soviets sent the tanks in. All of his subsequent novels that I've read have been colored by this brutal invasion, so it was great to read about the relatively subtler techniques of oppression the communists used previously -- e.g. suppressing intellectuals, only allowing young enthusiastic communists to succeed in college, sending "Trotskyites" and other dangerous dissenters to work in the mines. The story is effectively told from the perspective of four different characters. I can only give the book four stars for a few reasons. One is that I'm biased by Kundera's later books -- I loved "Lightness of Being", and "Laughter & Forgetting" to a lesser extent. The second is that I thought "The Joke" was usually well-paced, but dragged occasionally. Finally, I hate to sound PC, but the misogyny I detected was slightly troubling. I say this partly because the sections of the book told from a woman's point of view revealed her to be both hypocritical and foolish. More importantly, he has an extraordinary passage where he basically says that "You can persuade women to do anything if you use their self-delusions to your advantage", only much more eloquently than that. If he had said that about all people it would have been a terrific observation, but restricted to women it seemed bluntly sexist. I know it was coming from a character who was angry and misogynistic as a result of his troubled past, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, though, the book paints a vivid picture of the era, and his characters are well-developed and interesting. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great first book & an interesting critique of communism
Review: This is a very good book, and amazing in that it was Kundera's first as far as I know. The most interesting thing about it for me is that it was written a couple years before the Prague Spring of 1968 when the Soviets sent the tanks in. All of his subsequent novels that I've read have been colored by this brutal invasion, so it was great to read about the relatively subtler techniques of oppression the communists used previously -- e.g. suppressing intellectuals, only allowing young enthusiastic communists to succeed in college, sending "Trotskyites" and other dangerous dissenters to work in the mines. The story is effectively told from the perspective of four different characters. I can only give the book four stars for a few reasons. One is that I'm biased by Kundera's later books -- I loved "Lightness of Being", and "Laughter & Forgetting" to a lesser extent. The second is that I thought "The Joke" was usually well-paced, but dragged occasionally. Finally, I hate to sound PC, but the misogyny I detected was slightly troubling. I say this partly because the sections of the book told from a woman's point of view revealed her to be both hypocritical and foolish. More importantly, he has an extraordinary passage where he basically says that "You can persuade women to do anything if you use their self-delusions to your advantage", only much more eloquently than that. If he had said that about all people it would have been a terrific observation, but restricted to women it seemed bluntly sexist. I know it was coming from a character who was angry and misogynistic as a result of his troubled past, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, though, the book paints a vivid picture of the era, and his characters are well-developed and interesting. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Spell-Binding
Review: This is perhaps not Kundera's most developed work; however, the entire situation and issues explored are engaging. You can't put it down. It reads in one sitting
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, original and moving.
Review: This was my first experience of a Kundera novel, and I now find myself in awe of this brilliant writer. This cleverly constructed book unfolds gently and gradually to reveal the complexities of the characters involved, all of whom appear to be victims of circumstance. It explores the natural human desire for freedom, happiness, love and mutual understanding. Although the environment may in part stunt these potentials, it is mostly a person's own inner turmoils and imagination that destroys their ability to find happiness. At times I shed tears at the tragedy of the human condition, but also at the sheer eloquence and profundity of Kundera's thoughts. The main characters, whether male or female, are narrated in the first person, which reveals the author's great capacity for empathy, and writing skill in making these transitions believable. Surprisingly, there is often a delightful, underlying humour within the tragedy, perhaps a little like life itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Written Book Has HUGE Ego
Review: This was the first and, as yet, only Kundera novel I have read. I look forward to consuming all his works of fiction. The narrative seemed odd and stilted at first, but as I stayed with it I became completely absorbed. The main protagonist, Jahn, exhibits so many human traits and failings that most people would try consciously to repress that I found myself feeling greater and greater "humanity" as I followed his exploits. Kundera also lays bare in this book many of the myths about Communist eastern Europe (e.g., that intelligent people only went along with the dogma unwilllingly). A really excellent and original writer.
Rating:
Summary: Genius
Review: This was the first and, as yet, only Kundera novel I have read. I look forward to consuming all his works of fiction. The narrative seemed odd and stilted at first, but as I stayed with it I became completely absorbed. The main protagonist, Jahn, exhibits so many human traits and failings that most people would try consciously to repress that I found myself feeling greater and greater "humanity" as I followed his exploits. Kundera also lays bare in this book many of the myths about Communist eastern Europe (e.g., that intelligent people only went along with the dogma unwilllingly). A really excellent and original writer.
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