Quotes from book

The Festival of Insignificance

The Festival of Insignificance is a novel by Milan Kundera. This is his eleventh fictional work. It is about a man named Alain, who has not seen his mother since his childhood; Ramon, an intellectual who has retired; D’Ardelo, a man who has a narcissistic personality; Charles and “Caliban” are two people who operate a catering firm; and Quaquelique is an old man who remains attracted to women. Quaquelique manages to seduce women using his skill at non-stop talking. The novel is set in Paris. The themes include "the erotic potential; the link between mother and child; the procreative role of sex; angels...[,] navel gazing...and insignificance. The novels' characters discuss the philosophical ideas of Hegel, Kant and Schopenhauer. The novel is made up of seven parts . The theme of insignificance was also used in The Unbearable Lightness of Being.