Tragedy requires that characters create their own downfall, where, in this case, no downfall has yet occurred. Keane's main vision of decline rests in Havel's ill health. External forces are working on the Czech president more so than any internal failings. Keane constructs tragedy where none actually occurs. With the importance of form comes the importance of style, and Keane's, like that of most biographers, can be plodding and uninteresting.
Fact follows fact follows fact, punctuated by a description of Havel's plays or an interview quote.
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