Audio only
Length10h 19m
About this audiobook
"I will say no more about this lacerating book except to urge it upon all who care about literature in our difficult era." — Boston Globe
"A sly and merciless lampoon of revolutionary romanticism. . . Kundera commits some of the funniest literary savaging since Evelyn Waugh polished off Dickens in A Handful of Dust."— Time
Milan Kundera initially intended to call this novel The Lyrical Age. The lyrical age, according to him, is youth, and this novel, above all, is an epic of adolescence; an ironic epic that tenderly erodes sacrosanct values: childhood, motherhood, revolution, and even poetry.
Jaromil is in fact a poet. His mother made him a poet and accompanies him (figuratively) to his love bed and (literally) to his deathbed. A ridiculous and touching character, horrifying and totally innocent ("innocence with its bloody smile"!), Jaromil is at the same time a true poet. He's no creep, he's Rimbaud. Rimbaud entrapped by the communist revolution, entrapped in a somber farce.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (24.4K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreMystery and Thriller, General Fiction
Length10 hrs 19 mins
Narrated byRichmond Hoxie
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateAug 21, 2012
LanguageEnglish
More from Milan Kundera, Aaron Asher
EncounterMilan Kundera4h 21m3.8 (2.1K)$20 · $0.00
ImmortalityMilan Kundera11h 54m4.2 (50.9K)$29 · $0.00
The Art of the NovelMilan Kundera4h 31m4.2 (9.7K)$20 · $0.00
The Festival of InsignificanceMilan Kundera2h 33m3.5 (25.8K)$18 · $0.00
Farewell WaltzMilan Kundera7h 16m4.0 (20.7K)$24 · $0.00
The Book of Laughter and ForgettingMilan Kundera8h 20m4.0 (67.3K)$26 · $0.00
Laughable LovesMilan Kundera7h 3m4.0 (43.7K)$24 · $0.00
89 Words followed by Prague, A Disappearing PoemMilan Kundera2h 7m3.8 (208)$16 · $0.00
Testaments BetrayedMilan Kundera7h 37m4.2 (3.5K)$26 · $0.00
A Kidnapped WestMilan Kundera1h 25m4.3 (2.1K)$16 · $0.00
SlownessMilan Kundera3h 26m3.7 (26.4K)$18 · $0.00
The CurtainMilan Kundera4h 40m4.0 (3.8K)$20 · $0.00
Jacques and His MasterMilan Kundera1h 53m3.9 (2.1K)$16 · $0.00
The Unbearable Lightness of BeingMilan Kundera9h 36m4.2 (626.1K)$29 · $0.00
IgnoranceMilan Kundera4h 20m4.0 (33.6K)$20 · $0.00
IdentityMilan Kundera3h 53m3.8 (37.3K)$20 · $0.00
The JokeMilan Kundera11h 44m4.1 (45.7K)$29 · $0.00
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m4.7 (669)$12 · $0.00
Meddlesome MoneyMildred Abbott8h 21m4.7 (1.3K)$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m4.7 (1.3K)$27
Midnight ShadowsS.E. Smith5h 40m4.7 (2.5K)$17
CollateralBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson13h 8m4.6 (7K)$23
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m4.6 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
Animal 3K’wan6h 33m4.6 (2.8K)$20
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m4.6 (1.1K)$8 · $0.00
Extinction WarNicholas Sansbury Smith12h 1m4.6 (6K)$23
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Complete Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle12h 28m4.6 (286.7K)$2 · $0.00
Savy WisdomPeggy McColl2h 53m4.7 (448)$15
3 a.m. Premium: Books 1–5Nick Pirog15h 27m4.6 (8.2K)$25
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Tracing Killer EvidenceJodie Bailey5h 46m4.7 (242)$12 · $0.00
Sign of the MakerBrian Shea7h 13m4.6 (2.5K)$17
No Sin UnpunishedLynDee Walker7h 43m4.6 (1.4K)$17
Sherlock HolmesMade for Success14h 22m4.5 (4.3K)$25
Sons of War 4: SoldiersNicholas Sansbury Smith, Tom Abrahams12h 54m4.6 (507)$25
Murder in the TowerRoy Lewis8h 23m4.6 (784)$20
Ethic IIAshley Antoinette9h 1m4.7 (8K)$20
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m4.7 (1.3K)$20
Supreme ClienteleAshley & JaQuavis8h 58m4.7 (3.4K)$20
Body Refinement in a Beast Tamer’s World, Book 1Seth Ring14h 7m4.7 (1.3K)$27
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (669)$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m4.8 (395)$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m4.7 (726)$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m4.7 (1.2K)$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m4.7 (3.8K)$20
BAEJahquel J.5h 22m4.7 (3.1K)$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m4.7 (1.3K)$27
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m4.7 (2.4K)$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m4.6 (3.6K)$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m4.7 (1.2K)$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m4.7 (722)$23
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m4.6 (2.9K)$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
You may also like
WhiteoaksMazo de la Roche14h 38m4.2 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
A Death in the FamilyJames Agee10h 31m4.0 (21.5K)$20
ChildhoodLeo Tolstoy4h 8m3.9 (14K)$0.60 · $0.00
To the LighthouseVirginia Woolf7h 48m4.0 (262.3K)$1 · $0.00
ChildhoodLeo Tolstoy4h 10m3.9 (13.8K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Tragic MuseHenry James22h 43m4.2 (368)$2.30 · $0.00
ChildhoodLeo Tolstoy4h 8m3.9 (2.9K)$4.70 · $0.00
Period Piece. A Cambridge Childhood (Annotated)Gwen Raverat8h 2m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
A Tale of Love and DarknessAmos Oz23h 51m4.2 (18.1K)$25 · $0.00
The Four FeathersA. E. W. Mason11h 42m4.0 (7.7K)$3
Leonardo da VinciSigmund Freud2h 45m3.8 (2.8K)$3.50 · $0.00
The Last SeptemberElizabeth Bowen9h 4m3.6 (5.6K)$20 · $0.00
The Marriage Trap: The new 2026 story of rebellion and freedom from the bestselling author of The Radio Hour. For readers of Lessons in ChemistryVictoria Purman8h 55m4.0 (266)$29 · $0.00
Arthur's Honey BearLillian Hoban16m4.1 (533)$7 · $0.00
DublinersJames Joyce8h 24m4.0 (230K)$1 · $0.00
THE MAKING OF AMERICANS (Family Saga) (Annotated)Gertrude Stein53h 14m3.5 (608)$2 · $0.00
GERTRUDE STEIN Ultimate Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, Plays, Memoirs & EssaysGertrude Stein104h 30m$2 · $0.00
Rhymes for Harry and His Nurse-MaidMaria Arthington32m$2 · $0.00
The Life of Lord ByronJohn Galt10h 26m3.3 (48)$2.30
The HouseHenry Bordeaux10h 31m$2.30