The legacy of the iconic author of ‘Life is Elsewhere’ lives on through his countless books and a new library that has opened in his hometown Brno
Milan Kundera, the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, died at 94 on July 11, 2023. To celebrate the author, Agence France-Presse is remembering the time when the novelist went full Marie Kondo, emptying the shelves of his Paris apartment of 3,000 of his own books back in April 2023.
The legendary Czech novelist gave his massive collection of author copies in scores of languages to a new library in his home town of Brno.
The epic decluttering was inspired by the writer’s wife Vera Kunderova, who said the late American author Philip Roth came to her in a dream and whispered the idea into her ear.
“The decision was clear. There was no doubt,” Kunderova told Czech radio. “There was no choosing.”
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“I prepared the whole thing and Tomas Kubicek (from Brno’s Moravian Library) simply... boxed up all the books and took them away,” she added.
Although she did have her doubts when movers left. “Sadness came when the shelves were empty so I put out some chestnuts and other small things I used to buy at the Picasso Museum (in Paris).
“I couldn’t stand the emptiness so I started to put silly things on the shelves.”
The new Milan Kundera library opened in Brno on Kundera’s 94th birthday. Fittingly for a literary joker, he was born on April 1.