Perhaps the first consideration with respect to The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is some attention to the unconventionality of the novel's form, its shifting points of focus and modes of narrative. The definition of a "novel," as a distinct mode of narrative different from a book of related short stories, may be a good place to start. As well, the implications of Kundera's novel for issues of sexual mores are inescapable, and deserve careful thought and discussion.

1. Who is the main character of this novel? What is the effect of muting the centrality of a novel's hero or heroine?

2. How is the term "sexual politics" applicable to the situations of the characters in this novel? If their sexuality is politicized, is their politics also eroticized, and how so?

3. What is the significance of Tamina's vision of the children's island? How does this play off our...