Terminal Paradox

I checked out a book from the library entitled Terminal Paradox: The Novels of Milan Kundera. I haven't read much of the text, and only part of it is focused on The Joke, but there were two quotes that jumped out at me. They are as follows:

"Critics have called it a realistic novel because of the way it exemplifies the conditions of Czechoslovak society is the first two decades of the Communist regime." - p 11

This is just like The Miracle Game - both are very realistic and seem like the author is telling a non-fiction story in which he is the main character (less so in The Joke than in The Miracle Game).

"One of the paradoxes of this period was that the victims of Communism were often the very devotees who had helped usher it in." - p 12

Which exactly describes Ludvik, which just adds to the realistic nature of the novel.