The Unbearable Lightness of Being

kundera u twisted fella, honestly sickening how good a human can be with words.

nietzsche is a heavy reference in this text, so u gotta do some homework prior to better digest this text. but i loved the entirety of it. we only have one choice to make in life, and we cannot compare it against anything else because we will never know the unknown, merits or failures. responsibilities evolve, and so do their weight. we can always choose to live the lighter way and to be present in the now. i appreciate how kundera weaves in the concepts of metaphors into being, it has truly changed my perspective on how things can be. love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost, the whole meaning of life is to be loved and to love.

This is a much awaited review. It is still in the back of my mind of course. Every chapter gave me different all kinds of feelings. The use of metaphor names for the character's pov is genius. I also love how the author would start with philosophy and then would go on and connect that to a character.

I did not agree with the male lead character's behavior though, truly gave me the ick but this is a situation where nothing is black and white. Which made me love it since they felt alive in front of me. They felt human since humans are full of complexities. They were not perfect at all which made this story perfect.

Their story is heartbreaking though. For Tomas when he met Tereza, it was compassion. Merely out of his fondness as he sees her as this baby in a basket washed up in a shore with no one to care for. But for Tereza, it was coincidence; everything is falling into a sign where their fate would inevitably intertwined.

But of course not every relationship is perfect. Tomas lay with women every day and for this Tereza resents him but what can she do, he is her savior. Save her from rotting in her mother's den.

Honestly, there are so much happening in this book. There are love affairs, a war happening, wholesome moments, and of course death.

I think I haven't truly digest the book overall, a reread with an aged mind, someday it will happen.

Can I also talk about the wisdom in every page, I'm afraid my highlighters would run out as how I keep on highlighting passages. And oh, the sex scene, it was written beautifully. Everything is written beautifully.

I feel sad that this book doesn't hit the popular classics yet but maybe it's because as I said, it was too close to humans' complexities. It was like looking at another human being full of flaws but yet you never cease to love. Please if you're reading this, give the book a try. It might change your life or not who am I to conclude, just give it a chance.

Great book, really liked the perspective it brought for living in another city.

cuatro estrellas por ella, y su madre

4 stars for the dog

“We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?” *** So many highlighted pages! I loved this book even before I knew what it was about. The title was enough to catch my attention. Turns out, it's so much deeper than I expected. Compared to The Alchemist, the philosophy of this book is deeper and more rational. Usually, when most authors introduce a concept to relate to their story, I lose interest. But Kundera does it so well. It becomes evident why such explanation was necessary. The book's structure is like an essay because of the narrator's presence, but I love how he infuses it into his storytelling. It's definitely the kind that needs to be read again to discover what you might've missed during the first reading.

I started reading this book about a month back. It's never taken me a month to finish a book before (fictions). It's a unique book. It made me think about how I never give too much thought to chances, destiny, what feels heavy to the heart, what light, and what is unbearable? Too philosophical? It doesn't feel philosophical when you read, but rational, logical. I understand the author's concept of light & heavy, dark & light, yes & no, compassion, kitsch, love, desire. The author wanted to put ideas, thoughts in the reader's head. Fictional authors don't do that very often, don't talk to you, themselves. Authors like Woolf, Milan Kundera, write because they want to talk. They have something to say. They want to reach out to you, and I am glad they do because it makes one feel less lonely. Their characters are too deep, too retrospective, thoughtful. Their thoughts are laid bare to us. It's unnerving because all one has private are their thoughts. It is a beautiful book. I enjoyed it too much. It has given me much to think about.

No words left to describe how great this is ❤️

I don't know how to feel. Most of the time, I was bored. There were some enlightening parts, but overall, I couldn't comprehend the point of this book.

i think im too young to have completely understood this book but i will definitely be coming back to it, i've never read anything like it

you: to shit me, an intellectual: to void one's bowels

This book was very tough to get a grasp on. Though there is lots of sex, it's still one of the coldest and most sterile things I've ever read, probably because the characters aren't characters so much as they are mouthpieces for the author to talk about various subjects. The main character is a prick and the women aren't much better. I'm sure things happened in this book, but I felt no emotion and wouldn't have cared if the Communists loaded Tomas and Tereza into a giant cannon and shot them at the Sun. Maybe then, they'd stop being so angsty and solipsistic! I think good stories can bridge across cultures; this book did not do that for me. It felt like watching a foreign art film - like there might be some message there, lost in translation.

This was one of those book I knew nothing about, I picked it up from the bookshop because I was looking for a book that is outside my comfort zone and would challenge me psychologically as I had just finished 'All The Lovers At Night' by Mieko Kawakami. It was difficult to get into at first because of the style of writing, it is quite philosophical.

Onto the the actually plot, it was a roller coater of emotions and complexity. There are several plots and subplot in this book that it is hard to pinpoint the moral of the story. It deals with infidelity, childhood trauma, the idea of the long suffering woman, the political communism in Europe (Russia, Prague and Czech Republic). We are given an insight into the mind of men that are wrestling with the nature of marriage and fidelity; social morality and personal conviction. We see the women deal with their past and present, revealing levels of self worth and self deprevation as well as complacency.

I am unsure of how to categorise this book. For me, in the aspect of sex and romance, its paints it as quite perverse and seemingly the actualized male fantasies. It had alot of truths about loneliness, love, marriage, trauma and the harsh realities of political tyranny. I would recommend this book but I cannot guarantee that you'll like it.

**Spoiler: Tereza reminded of women who stay in relationships where the man is constantly unfaithful, she tries so much to rationalise his behaviour which was sooo sad. When she told Tomas to wash his hair, that was WILD!

No words of mine will be good enough for this book. I am in awe.

this has a spoiler but nothing major! sorry in advance! wow! first thought is damn kundera really dedicated a whole section of the book to the death of a dog.... damn! anyways! this book was beautiful! lots to love here! the constant internal struggle between depicting life as eternally recurring and only lived once was really cool! there is a ton of really great insight on relationships that really hit home for me. i didnt like how he condemns all radical politics to being insincere and kitsch but whatever. the whole time i couldnt get it out of my head that kundera is just john green for philosophy majors lmao.

★★★★ // romance, political consciousness, existentialism, and more. layered characters bearing the weight of their choices, as a consequence of our existence and being. kundera truly understands nietzsche, and this book is an incredible vehicle of his philosophy, if you ask me.

✦ leaves a lot to think about ✦ a self-help if ur brave enough or u hate accountability ✦ so many quotable quotes ✦ some weirdly written sex scenes but i get it ✦ setting just as intriguing as the plot

tereza is a good person, she will do anything for tomas, she’s very well written. tomas is a horny asshole. side characters: sabina is a chill character. overall it was melancholy.

Pseudo-intellectual drivel, arbitrary adolescent philosophical meanderings, over emphasization of form over content, ultimately redeemed by a gorgeous final part

The book overwhelms with its pathos, to the point of rendering the reader incoherent in his response to the book. The book turns out to be a delightful study into the author's mind but if you are looking for a good story with well etched characters, give this book a wide berth. Though intriguing, the characters are disappointingly one dimensional and the story never really picks any pace. The only thing I liked in the book is the author's lovely pondering about life and its various motifs and meanings at multiple places. But even that loses its charm after a while. Read if you like your fiction strewed with smug philosophical digressions from the author.

3.5 While the themes do deal with a normalcy that I personally felt taken aback by, the book showcases some beautiful scenes of love, understanding and humane tendencies. The book even delves into 1970s Prague and the political rebellion of that time (will be so interesting when i get to see the city myself ;)). There was so much depth and nuance in all four characters Tomas, Tereza, Sabina and Franz. Wasn't a major fan of the last (5th) part though.

I think this is what normal people wanted to be. I love how it was written and I actually got attached to the characters. The only book where a relationship that is toxic makes sense to the story.

Happiness is the longing for repetition.

The type of book that you would read over and over again and it still feels like the first time; not because it's hard to understand but because of Kundera's way of expressing and the same feelings you go through each time you read those words. I love it.