Broken Legacies. Nine Essays

François Rabelais, Salman Rushdie and Franz Kafka, Ludwig van Beethoven and Arnold Schoenberg, Leoš Janáček and Igor Stravinsky, Leo Tolstoy and Ernest Hemingway, Denis Diderot, Miguel de Cervantes, Witold Gombrowicz, Thomas Mann, Robert Musil, William Faulkner… The essay by one of the most popular contemporary writers, Milan Kundera, "Broken Legacies" — is a passionate defense of the novel, a history and analysis of this genre, woven into a brilliantly concise and colorful portrayal of the development of literature and music. In "Broken Legacies," a noble voice resounds clearly in defense of the magnificent creators who can no longer defend themselves and their works and sometimes posthumously become victims of well-meaning admirers — critics, translators, and even close friends. Occasionally provocative, invariably insightful, and remarkably elegant, this book opens up the depths of creativity before us and expands the boundaries of our reading perception.