米兰·昆德拉去世

据捷克公共电视台报道，著名作家米兰·昆德拉（Milan Kundera）去世，享年94岁，作品有《生命中不能承受之轻》、《不朽》等。

🤔️小作业：

A. Disconnected yet influential

B. Passionate and patriotic

C. Detached and indifferent

D. Nostalgic and longing

A. He was satisfied with its faithful adaptation.

B. He disapproved of the film's divergence from the book.

C. He admired the creativity added in the film.

D. He felt indifferent about the movie.

A. Kundera often made public appearances to promote his books.

B. Kundera was involved in a controversy about his past.

C. Kundera maintained a close relationship with Czech's current administration.

D. Kundera frequently wrote articles for Czech newspapers.

无注释原文：

Milan Kundera, reclusive literary giant and author of ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,' dies

From: CNN

Milan Kundera, the Czech writer who became one of the 20th century's most influential novelists but spent much of his life in seclusion, rarely engaging with the public, died in Paris on Tuesday, according to the Moravian Library in Brno. He was 94.

“Milan Kundera, a Czech-French author who is among the world's most translated authors, died on July 11, 2023 in his Paris apartment,” the library, a state-funded research organization, said in a statement.

The author of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” Kundera was known for his witty, tragicomic tales, which were often intertwined with deep philosophical debates and satirical portrayals of life under communist oppression.

Born in April 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Kundera was part of an influential generation of Czech writers, film makers and intellectuals who came of age during the turbulent post-World War II years.

As a successful writer and a sought-after academic, he became an influential critical voice within the party during the period of liberalization in the late 1960s that became known as the Prague Spring. It was during this era that his first novel, “The Joke,” was published.

That book – a deeply satirical look at revenge set in the totalitarian country – became a bestseller at home and around the world. And it was this book, and Kundera's activities during the Prague Spring, that later cost him nearly everything he held dear.

Exile in Paris

He spent the rest of his life in exile in Paris, becoming a French citizen in 1981.

It was in Paris that Kundera's literary career truly blossomed, with the publication of his three most acclaimed works, “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting,” “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “Immortality.”

A believer in the power of the novel, a genre he said should be recognized as its own art form, Kundera gradually became more and more protective of his work.

He scrutinized translations of his work and banned all adaptation of his books following the 1988 film based on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” Kundera served as a consultant on the movie, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche, but later said the picture had little in common with the spirit of the book.  

“Immortality” was the last novel he wrote in his native Czech language before switching to French – a move that underlined Kundera's complicated relationship with his homeland following his exile.

He returned rarely and when he did, he traveled incognito, booking into hotels under a pseudonym. While his Czech citizenship was restored in 2019, he was by then a French author whose home was in France.

Kundera always rejected the idea that his work was inspired by his own life experiences, a claim that was heavily scrutinized in 2008 when the Czech weekly newspaper Respekt published an article accusing the acclaimed author of acting as a communist police informant in 1950.

Kundera, having spent more than two decades living in seclusion and declining to do interviews, took the unusual step of speaking up. He strongly denied the accusation, calling it “the assassination of an author.”

He was defended by many high-profile Czech and international writers, including the former Czech President and playwright Vaclav Havel.

Nonetheless, the episode left an uncomfortable question mark over the true inspiration for some of Kundera's most acclaimed novels, many of which revolve around the themes of disillusionment, responsibility, guilt and denunciation.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Milan Kundera, reclusive literary giant and author of ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,' dies

From: CNN

Milan Kundera, the Czech writer who became one of the 20th century's most influential novelists but spent much of his life in seclusion, rarely engaging with the public, died in Paris on Tuesday, according to the Moravian Library in Brno. He was 94.

根据捷克布尔诺（Brno）摩拉维亚图书馆（Moravian Library）的消息，捷克作家米兰·昆德拉（Milan Kundera）于周二在巴黎去世，享年94岁。他是20世纪最具影响力的小说家之一，但一生大部分时间都在隐居，很少与公众接触。

Czech /tʃek/ 作形容词，表示“捷克的；捷克人的；捷克语的”，英文解释为“belonging to or relating to the Czech Republic, its people, or its language”，作名词表示“捷克人”，英文解释为“a person from the Czech Republic”

seclusion /sɪˈkluːʒn/ 表示“清静；隐居；与世隔绝；退隐”，英文解释为“the state of being alone, away from other people”举个🌰：He's been living in seclusion since he retired from acting. 自从他退出演艺圈以来，一直过着隐居的生活。

📍在恢复联合国合法席位50周年纪念会议上的讲话中提到：我们应该顺应历史大势，坚持合作、不搞对抗，坚持开放、不搞封闭，坚持互利共赢、不搞零和博弈，It falls upon us to follow the prevailing trend of history, and choose cooperation over confrontation, openness over seclusion, and mutual benefit over zero-sum games.

“Milan Kundera, a Czech-French author who is among the world's most translated authors, died on July 11, 2023 in his Paris apartment,” the library, a state-funded research organization, said in a statement.

“捷克-法国作家米兰·昆德拉，他是世界上被翻译作品最多的作家之一，于2023年7月11日在巴黎的公寓中去世。”这家由国家资助的研究机构摩拉维亚图书馆在一份声明中说。

The author of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” Kundera was known for his witty, tragicomic tales, which were often intertwined with deep philosophical debates and satirical portrayals of life under communist oppression.

米兰·昆德拉是《不能承受的生命之轻》（The Unbearable Lightness of Being）一书的作者，以其诙谐、悲喜交加的故事而闻名，这些故事往往与深刻的哲学辩论和对共产主义压迫下生活的讽刺描绘交织在一起。

witty /ˈwɪt.i/ 表示“风趣的，诙谐的；言辞诙谐的；巧妙的；妙趣横生的；机智的”，英文解释为“using words in a clever and funny way”如：awittycomment/remark风趣的评论/话语。

wit 作名词，表示“（说话的）幽默风趣”，英文解释为“the ability to use words in a clever and humorous way”，也可以指人，“说话风趣的人；才思敏捷说话诙谐的人；机智幽默的人”（a person who is skilled at using words in a clever and humorous way）

tragicomic /ˌtrædʒ.ɪˈkɒm.ɪk/ 表示“悲喜剧的”，英文解释为“relating to tragicomedy (= a type of play or story that is both sad and funny)”举个🌰：She deepens a tragicomic story into a meditation on family and fate. 她将一个悲喜剧的故事深化为对家庭和命运的沉思。

tale /teɪl/ 表示“（尤指包含离奇内容的）故事，历险记，不实之词”，英文解释为“a story, especially one that might be invented or difficult to believe”

intertwine /ˌɪn.təˈtwaɪn/ 表示“（使）缠结，（使）缠绕在一起；（使）紧密关联”，英文解释为“to twist or be twisted together, or to be connected so as to be difficult to separate”举个🌰：The town's prosperity is inextricably intertwined with the fortunes of the factory. 这座城镇的繁荣与这家工厂的兴盛有着密不可分的联系。

satirical /səˈtɪr.ɪ.kəl/ 表示“讥讽的；讽刺的”，英文解释为“criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way, especially in order to make a political point”如：satirical cartoons/magazines 讽刺漫画/杂志。

portrayal /pɔːˈtreɪəl/ 表示“描绘；描述；描写；展现方式”，英文解释为“the act of showing or describing sb/sth in a picture, play, book, etc.; a particular way in which this is done”

oppression /əˈpreʃ.ən/ 表示“压迫；压制；欺压”，英文解释为“a situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom”

Born in April 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Kundera was part of an influential generation of Czech writers, film makers and intellectuals who came of age during the turbulent post-World War II years.

米兰·昆德拉于1929年4月出生在捷克斯洛伐克的布尔诺，是二战后动荡时期成长起来的一代有影响力的捷克作家、电影制作人和知识分子中的一员。

intellectual /ˌɪn.təlˈek.tʃu.əl/ 表示“知识分子，脑力劳动者”，英文解释为“a very educated person whose interests are studying and other activities that involve careful thinking and mental effort”

turbulent /ˈtɜː.bjə.lənt/ 表示“骚乱的，骚动的；动荡的，混乱的”，英文解释为“involving a lot of sudden changes, arguments, or violence”如：a turbulent marriage 吵吵闹闹的婚姻。

As a successful writer and a sought-after academic, he became an influential critical voice within the party during the period of liberalization in the late 1960s that became known as the Prague Spring. It was during this era that his first novel, “The Joke,” was published.

作为一名成功的作家和受欢迎的学者，他在20世纪60年代末被称为“布拉格之春”的自由化时期成为党内有影响力的批评家。他的第一部小说《玩笑》就是在这一时期出版的。

sought after /ˈsɔːt ˌɑːf.tər/ 表示“（因品质高或稀有而）热门的，广受欢迎的”，英文解释为“wanted by many people and usually of high quality or rare”举个🌰：At the age of 15 she is already one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses. 她15岁时就是好莱坞最走红的女演员之一了。

That book – a deeply satirical look at revenge set in the totalitarian country – became a bestseller at home and around the world. And it was this book, and Kundera's activities during the Prague Spring, that later cost him nearly everything he held dear.

这本书以极权国家为背景，对寻求复仇进行了深刻的讽刺，成为了国内外的畅销书。正是这本书，以及米兰·昆德拉在“布拉格之春”期间的活动，让他后来几乎失去了他所珍视的一切。

表示“报复；报仇”，英文解释为“something that you do in order to make sb suffer because they have made you suffer”举个🌰：He swore to  take (his) revenge on  his enemies. 他发誓要报复他的敌人。

Exile in Paris 流亡巴黎

He spent the rest of his life in exile in Paris, becoming a French citizen in 1981.

他在巴黎度过了余生，并于1981年成为法国公民。

exile /ˈɛɡzaɪl, ˈɛks-/ 可以作名词，也可以作动词，表示“流放，放逐，流亡”，英文解释为“to send someone away from their own country, village, etc., especially for political reasons”举个🌰：The monarch was exiled. 国王被迫流亡。

It was in Paris that Kundera's literary career truly blossomed, with the publication of his three most acclaimed works, “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting,” “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and “Immortality.”

正是在巴黎，米兰·昆德拉的文学事业真正开花结果。他的三部最受赞誉的作品《笑忘录》（The Book of Laughter and Forgetting）、《不能承受的生命之轻》和《不朽》（Immortality）都在这里出版。

表示“文学的，与文学相关的”，英文解释为“connected with literature”如：a literary style 文学风格。

1）表示“（植物）开花”，英文解释为“When a tree or plant blossoms, it produces flowers before producing fruit that can be eaten.”举个🌰：The cherry tree is beginning to blossom. 樱桃树开始开花了。

2）表示“（人）变得更有魅力（或更成功、更自信）；（好的感觉或关系）深入发展，增强”，英文解释为“When people blossom, they become more attractive, successful, or confident, and when good feelings or relationships blossom, they develop and become stronger.”举个🌰：She is suddenly blossoming into a very attractive woman. 她突然出落成了一位很有魅力的女子。

表示“备受推崇的，广受欢迎的”，英文解释为“publicly praised by a lot of people”举个🌰：His work was critically acclaimed（=praised by people who are paid to give their opinion on art, music etc）. 他的作品备受评论家推崇。

immortality /ˌɪm.ɔːˈtæl.ə.ti/ 表示“不死，不朽，永存，不灭”，英文解释为“the quality of being very special and famous and therefore likely to be remembered for a long time”

A believer in the power of the novel, a genre he said should be recognized as its own art form, Kundera gradually became more and more protective of his work.

米兰·昆德拉相信小说的力量，他主张这种体裁应该被视为一种独立的艺术形式，随着时间的推移，他对自己的作品变得愈发珍视，并对其保护性的措施越发严格。

genre /ˈʒɑːnrə/ 表示“（尤指艺术的）风格，类型，体裁”，英文解释为“a style, especially in the arts, that involves a particular set of characteristics”举个🌰：What genre does the book fall into - comedy or tragedy? 这本书属于什么体裁——喜剧还是悲剧？

He scrutinized translations of his work and banned all adaptation of his books following the 1988 film based on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” Kundera served as a consultant on the movie, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche, but later said the picture had little in common with the spirit of the book.  

他对自己作品的翻译进行了严格审查，而且在1988年根据《不能承受的生命之轻》改编的电影之后，他禁止了所有关于他的书的改编。米兰·昆德拉在这部由丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯（Daniel Day-Lewis）和朱丽叶·比诺什（Juliette Binoche）主演的电影中担任顾问，但后来说这部电影与书中的精神几乎没有共同之处。

scrutinize /ˈskruː.tɪ.naɪz/ 表示“仔细察看，审查”，英文解释为“If you scrutinize something, you examine it very carefully, often to find out some information from it or about it.”举个🌰：Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man. 她的目的是仔细察看他的特征看他是不是个诚实的人。

1）表示“适应”，英文解释为“the process of changing to suit different conditions”举个🌰：Evolution occurs as a result of adaptation to new environments. 进化是生物适应新环境的结果。

2）表示“（电影、书、剧本等的）改编”，英文解释为“a film, book, play, etc. that has been made from another film, book, play, etc.”

consultant /kənˈsʌl.tənt/ 表示“顾问；咨询师”，英文解释为“someone who advises people on a particular subject”如：a management/financial/computer consultant 管理/财务/计算机顾问。

熟词僻义，此处表示“电影”（a film），举个🌰：It was voted the year's best picture. 它被选为年度最佳影片。其复数形式，the pictures可以表示“电影院”（the cinema），举个🌰：Let's go to the pictures tonight. 今晚我们去看电影吧。

“Immortality” was the last novel he wrote in his native Czech language before switching to French – a move that underlined Kundera's complicated relationship with his homeland following his exile.

《不朽》是他用母语捷克语写的最后一部小说，之后他转用法语——这种转变突显出米兰·昆德拉在流亡之后与其祖国的复杂关系。

underline /ˌʌn.dəˈlaɪn/ 1）表示“（尤指为了强调）在（词语）下面画线”，英文解释为“to draw a line under a word, especially in order to show its importance”举个🌰：All the technical words have been underlined in red. 所有术语的下面都画了红线。

2）表示“强调，突出”，英文解释为“to emphasize”举个🌰：She gave some shocking examples to underline the seriousness of the situation. 她举了一些令人震惊的例子以强调形势的严峻。

He returned rarely and when he did, he traveled incognito, booking into hotels under a pseudonym. While his Czech citizenship was restored in 2019, he was by then a French author whose home was in France.

他很少回国，即使回去，也是隐姓埋名以假名入住酒店。虽然他的捷克国籍于2019年恢复，但当时他已是一位安家在法国的法国作家。

incognito /ˌɪn.kɒɡˈniː.təʊ/ 表示“隐姓埋名地，隐匿身份地”，英文解释为“avoiding being recognized, by changing your name or appearance”举个🌰：The prince often travelled abroad incognito. 王子常常隐匿身份到国外旅行。

pseudonym /ˈsjuː.də.nɪm/ 表示“笔名；假名”，英文解释为“a name someone uses instead of their real name, especially on a written work”举个🌰：She writes under a pseudonym. 她用笔名写作。

Kundera always rejected the idea that his work was inspired by his own life experiences, a claim that was heavily scrutinized in 2008 when the Czech weekly newspaper Respekt published an article accusing the acclaimed author of acting as a communist police informant in 1950.

昆德拉一直否认自己的作品灵感来自于自己的生活经历。这个观点在2008年受到了严重质疑，当时捷克周报《Respekt》发布了一篇文章，指控这位备受赞誉的作家在1950年曾作为共产主义警察的线人。

informant /ɪnˈfɔː.mənt/ 表示“告密者，线人，举报者；提供信息者”，英文解释为“someone who gives information to another person or organization”如：a police/secret informant 警方/秘密线人。

Kundera, having spent more than two decades living in seclusion and declining to do interviews, took the unusual step of speaking up. He strongly denied the accusation, calling it “the assassination of an author.”

隐居了二十多年、拒绝接受采访的米兰·昆德拉，采取了罕见的行动，站出来为自己辩护。他强烈否认这一指控，称其为“对作者的暗杀”。

assassination /əˌsæs.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/ 表示“暗杀（名人或重要人物）”，英文解释为“the murder of someone famous or important”如：an assassination attempt 暗杀的企图。

He was defended by many high-profile Czech and international writers, including the former Czech President and playwright Vaclav Havel.

许多捷克和国际知名作家为他辩护，包括前捷克总统和剧作家瓦茨拉夫·哈维尔（Vaclav Havel）。

profile一词经常出现，1）表示“（有关某人的）简介，概况”，英文解释为“A profile of someone is a short article or programme in which their life and character are described.”举个🌰：A newspaper published comparative profiles of the candidates' wives. 一份报纸刊登了候选人妻子们的对比简介。

2）表示“关注度”，英文解释为“If someone has a high profile, people notice them and what they do. If you keep a low profile, you avoid doing things that will make people notice you.”常用：a high profile 惹人注目/关注；高姿态，a low profile 不惹人注目，低姿态；如：a move that would give Egypt a much higher profile in the upcoming peace talks 会给埃及在即将到来的和平谈判中高关注度的一个行动。

📍如果你把微信语言设置成英文，你就会发现微信官方把头像处理成：Profile Photo，上面的“My Profile”对应的中文则是“个人信息”。

playwright /ˈpleɪ.raɪt/ 表示“剧作家”，英文解释为“a person who writes plays”

Nonetheless, the episode left an uncomfortable question mark over the true inspiration for some of Kundera's most acclaimed novels, many of which revolve around the themes of disillusionment, responsibility, guilt and denunciation.

然而，这一事件还是给米兰·昆德拉一些最受赞誉的小说的真正创作灵感留下了不解之谜，这些小说很多都围绕着幻灭、责任、罪责和告发等主题。

在电视/电影节目中，episode表示“一集，一节，片断”（one of the single parts into which a story is divided, especially when it is broadcast on the television or radio），也可以指“事件；（相关的）一连串事件；一段经历”，英文解释为“a single event or group of related events”举个🌰：This latest episode in the fraud scandal has shocked a lot of people. 诈骗丑闻最新爆出的这一事件让很多人瞠目结舌。

还可以指「疾病的发作，发病」，英文解释为：a finite period in which someone is affected by a specified illness.

补充：

📍第几集用的是Episode，第几季则为Season. 你下载美剧时可能就会看到S01E02，就是指的第1季第2集。最后一集 finale：the last part of a piece of music or of a show, event etc （演出的）终场，最后一幕；（音乐的）终曲；（事件等的）结尾。

🎬还有，看剧时新一集开头通常会有的一个说法：previously on ...，...的前情提要，前情回顾。

a question mark over sth 表示“有关…的不确定性”，英文解释为“an expression used when doubt exists about a particular thing”举个🌰：A question mark hangs over the future of the company. 该公司的前景如何还是个问号。

revolve /rɪˈvɒlv/ 表示“（使）旋转;（使）转动;（使）环绕，围绕”，英文解释为“to move or cause something to move around a central point or line”举个🌰：The earth revolves around the sun. 地球围绕太阳转。

revolve around sb/sth 表示“以…为中心；以…为主题；围绕…”，英文解释为“to have someone or something as the main or most important interest or subject”举个🌰：The conversation revolved around childcare problems. 这次会谈的中心议题是儿童保育方面的问题。

disillusionment /ˌdɪs.ɪˈluː.ʒən.mənt/ 表示“醒悟，理想破灭”，英文解释为“a feeling of being disappointed and unhappy because of discovering the truth about something or someone that you liked or respected”举个🌰：There is increasing disillusionment with her. 人们对她越来越失望。

denunciation /dɪˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ 1）表示“谴责，公开批评”，英文解释为“public criticism of something or someone”

2）denunciation /dɪˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“检举;告发”，英文解释为“the act of accusing someone in public of something bad”如：his denunciation as a traitor 揭发他的叛徒身份。

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