The unbearable duress of being reviewed

Milan Kundera fans are wondering why his latest book, Ignorance, which has already been available in Spanish for two years, is still not available in Britain. According to Faber, the book will be published here "to coincide with publication in the States and it is just down to what the author wants". So why has Kundera decided to delay publication in England for so long? His last book, Identity, in 1998 was criticised by The Times for the "clumsy English translation", and the Evening Standard said it was "an impossible novel to review", but otherwise it was greeted with enthusiasm. Perhaps the answer lies with the Birmingham Post, which had the gall to suggest that a central character, Chantal, was prey to "a heightened selonsciousness [sic]". The cheek of it!