The Book of Laughter and Forgetting shows the isolation of other cultures

Often Disturbing, the book is insightfulThe Book of Laughter and Forgetting has become more and more topical the longer I spend time here in Prague. Written by Milan Kundera, the book is a collection of short stories about various people and situations in the Czech Republic, and almost all of them involve sexuality in some way. Kundera uses the theme of sexuality to explore deeper issues, both personally and on a broader scale, for the characters in his stories. In one especially chilling story, The Angels, the main character, Tamina has lost her husband and is dealing with her grief. Towards the end of the story, she finds herself on a children's island, where she is abused by the children. The ending scene is incredibly haunting. She is drowning in the ocean after trying to escape from the island and none of the children try to save her--they simply watch as she struggles. While my experience in Prague certainly has not been anything as dramatic as this, I have experiences the feeling of being alone in a different culture where I feel like I don't belong. While many of my experiences have been humorous, there have been some experiences that leave me feeling unsettled and uncomfortable. One such example would be the night when I was walking home with friends and became surrounded by drug dealers who would not leave us alone. The faster we walked, the closer they seemed to get to us, and the experience was eye opening and scary. A much as you want to feel immune to being a tourist, and as much as I try to fit into the culture and scenery of Prague, these situations make me feel isolated. In an often twisted way, Kundera explores these feelings of being an outcast in society and the toll that it takes. The book also offers some emotional insight into the lives of Czechs, which ahs been helpful as I try to communicate with Czech people. While all of my experiences provide me with some sort of challenge, the memories that I am making and the opportunities I have to explore a culture so deeply have been very meaningful to me. While reading The Book of Laughter and Forgetting has often been unsettling and disturbing, it provides great insight and bizarre parallels to the new life that we have all found here.