The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Marketa and Karel are married, but they struggle to deal with Karel’s mother, who is known as Mama. Though Mama is widowed and lives by herself, the couple decides that they must move away to be “far from Mama” (37). Once they are far away, Marketa takes pity on Mama. She writes to her, and over time, the couple begins to see Mama as harmless. Still, they do not want her to live in their house. Instead, they invite her to stay with them for a week.

However, there is a problem because their friend, Eva, is also due to visit toward the end of Mama’s visit. Marketa and Karel would prefer if Mama and Eva did not meet, so Marketa invents an excuse as to why they will need to be absent on the day Eva arrives. Mama seems content to leave early, but the day before she is meant to leave, she announces that her plans have changed. Marketa accepts this, and Karel begins to think that Mama is not as intrusive or annoying as he remembers. He takes “pity” on the sad, defenseless old woman. While her perception of the world has always been skewed, such as the time she was more concerned about the pear harvest than a Soviet invasion, Mama’s eyesight is now poor. She is less concerned about Marketa and Karel’s private lives and does not feel the need to play the role of mother.

Eva arrives. Marketa met Eva at a spa some years ago. Marketa thinks about her husband’s girlfriends. She does not usually like these women, but she likes to think of Eva as her friend since she was the first of the couple to meet the beautiful Eva. In her own mind, Eva sees herself as a “cheerful man-chaser” (43). She pursues sex unashamedly, and she is evidently interested in Marketa. The feeling is mutual, with Marketa delighting in Eva’s compliments about her physical appearance. Yet Mama’s unexpected presence is an unwanted threat to any possible romance, though Eva is less concerned.

Mama is pleased that she has managed to stay an extra day. She is also pleased to meet Eva, who—she is told—is Marketa’s cousin. Mama feels as though she recognizes Eva but cannot place her. Eva chats with Mama in a friendly manner. They talk about Mama’s childhood, and Mama remembers reciting a poem “celebrating the fall of the Austrian Empire” (45). She recalls that could not remember the end of the poem, but the audience did not notice. Karel interjects: When Mama graduated, he points out, the Austrian Empire was still very much intact. This upsets Mama, who knows Karel is correct. She goes to her room feeling “betrayed by the sudden lack of interest and by the failure of her memory” (46).

Karel’s perspective on Eva is quite different: He knew Eva many years before she met Marketa in the spa. She wrote to him, revealing her sexual interest in him, and they met up at a friend’s apartment. At the time, Karel noted that Eva seemed awkward. She seemed too invested in freeing herself from society’s expectations of how women should behave. He remembers asking her to perform an erotic dance as she undressed, but her movements to “Bach’s celestial music” were awkward (48). Once naked, she began to masturbate in front of Karel, who not only appreciated Eva’s forthrightness but also her lack of concern that he was married. Eva offered to help Karel in any way she could.

Mama is alone in her room. Feeling an awkward vibe, Eva chats to Marketa and Karel to relieve the tension. She is married, she reveals, and she has just started a new job. As such, she will need to leave early in the morning for her work. Marketa resents the way Mama has intruded on this romantic escapade. The telephone rings: On the line is one of Karel’s lovers who wishes to meet up with him. This deepens Marketa’s resentment. She and her husband have an “unwritten agreement” with regard to their marriage. Karel has never intended to be faithful in his marriage; Marketa was forced to accept this, though she takes some pleasure in her moral high ground. This is increasingly less gratifying, however, and she resents the way in which her life seems to revolve around Karel. She even believes that she has been forced to share her friend Eva with him. She compares her ceaseless toil to Sisyphus.

In high school, Marketa remembers, she was “untamable.” She cannot believe what her life has become, and she is suddenly enraged at her own marriage. Eva is caught in an awkward situation. Karel feels guilty about his infidelity while Marketa dislikes the moral high ground she has seized. Eva tries to console Marketa, but Marketa is incensed with her husband’s infidelity. Eva is about to ask Marketa a question but decides to wait until the evening. She encourages Marketa to make peace with Karel.

Gradually, Marketa pulls herself out of her slump and begins to enjoy herself with Eva and Karel. As they spend time together, they hope Mama is asleep. In the bathroom together, Marketa and Eva prepare for a party. Outside, Karel is worried for the evening. He remembers the last time he and Marketa tried to involve another person in their sex life. It turned out to be a “horrible effort,” and Karel is not sure he can meet the expectations of two women at once. He suspects that Marketa may be more depraved than he is, but he remembers their unspoken agreement. According to this agreement, Karel must always be the more depraved of the two. He introduced Eva to Marketa in the hope that—if the two became friends—he could relax and feel less guilty. At the same time, he does not know whether he can change Marketa’s opinion of him. He, too, compares himself to Sisyphus. Karel pities himself for never being able to do as he pleases. He feels overwhelmed by love and sex; he wants to be left “alone.”

Meanwhile, Mama is not asleep. She is struck by a sudden realization: Eva reminds her of Nora, her old friend who she remembers as being very attractive. Mama was not fond of Nora, but she is willing to give Eva the benefit of the doubt. She is “ashamed of her poor memory” (59), coming up with a way to reframe the story about the poem to maintain her dignity. Before she can talk to the others, however, she hears Eva and Marketa in the bathroom. Mama believes that they are getting ready to go to bed, so she decides that she should hurry up and speak to them soon.

As Mama enters the living room, Karel is actually pleased. Eva appears, dressed only in a t-shirt that reveals much of her body. Marketa is behind her, dressed only in a sash and beads. Mama feigns indifference. She retells her story anyway, ignoring the scantily clad women. Karel takes pleasure in seeing the two women’s awkward reactions to his mother’s story. He encourages his mother to recite the poem. When she does, Eva claps. Karel also sees the likeness between Eva and Nora. To him, Nora was a formative part of his sexual development. He asks Eva to stand, so that he can better compare her to Nora. Eva is awkward but Mama’s vision is poor. Karel seems to want to change his perspective, altering the way he sees the world just like Mama would do. He wishes he could look at Eva and see Nora.

Karel makes excuses and suggests that Mama should return to her room. Staring at Eva and imagining Nora has left him feeling aroused. When Mama exits, he leaps at Eva and pictures Nora in his mind. As the trio have sex, Karel’s thoughts are filled with memories of Nora. When they pause, Nora fades from his mind, but he feels triumphant, like a chess player who has played two games at once. He is so swept up in the fantasy that he starts proclaiming himself to be the chess prodigy Bobby Fischer. As he congratulates himself, Eva and Marketa hold one another. Eva invites Marketa to visit her without Karel; Marketa says yes. She thought about refusing, but Karel’s strange behavior has helped her to see how their entire situation is like a masquerade ball at which everyone’s true identity is hidden. She no longer has to maintain her moral high ground. While having sex, Marketa imagines Karel as a “mechanical male body” without a head (68). She stares at Eva instead, so—when Karel began his strange proclamations—Marketa was able to see that she loves Eva.

The next day, Marketa takes Eva to the station. She is having doubts about the visit as she does not want to change anything with Karel. Eva assures her that Karel will never suspect them, as he is convinced that he is the worse partner. Meanwhile, Karel is still pleased with himself. He takes Mama to the station and listens to her complain about the way she is treated by Karel and Marketa. Her comments cannot do anything to dampen Karel’s mood. Mama seems frail and helpless, showing her age. Karel asks her about Nora, with Mama mentioning that her friendship with Nora ended a long time ago. Karel thinks about changing history in his head, picturing himself with Nora rather than Marketa. He invites Mama to live with him and—though she is pleased by the offer—she declines. Karel gives Mama money as if she were a “little girl” and sends her on her way.