Having finished Milan Kundera's seminal works in English translated from Czech (The Joke and The Unbearable Lightness of Being), I was finally able to track down his French original writing starting with "La Lenteur" – yet more reading for my off-weeks in the Indian Ocean.

Kundera hits so hard as an author because he writes about the human toll of socialism, and conformity, and every page is an ode to individualism and the need for artistic passion. Plus, his obvious allusions to Robert Musil and Stefan Zweig show just how well-read he is in the Austrian fictional narrative tradition too.

His interviews with Paris Review and NY Times are also must-reads

https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2977/the-art-of-fiction-no-81-milan-kundera