Name: Matthew Jackson's review of The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Item: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Rating: 5
Author: Matthew Jackson

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a story of irreconcilable love and infidelities in which Milan Kundera addresses himself to the nature of twentieth-century 'Being', offering a wide range of brilliant and amusing philosophical speculations. First published in 1984, Kundera's masterly novel encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy and was at once hailed by critics as a contemporary classic. This special hardback edition commemorates the twentieth anniversary of its first publication in English. 'There are novels that are tragic, or entertaining, and this one is both. There are very few that give a fresh perspective on existence, and force the reader to reassess his own life and attitudes.' Sunday Times 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a work of the boldest mastery, originality and richness.' Vanity Fair

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

If a mother was Sacrifice personified, then a daughter was Guilt, with no possibility of redress.

She took after her mother, and not only physically. I sometimes have the feeling that her entire lite was merely a continuation of her mother’s, much as the course of a ball on the billiard table is merely the continuation of the player's arm movement

“i am my mother’s daughter” esque line

Staring at herself for long stretches of time, she was occasionally upset at the sight of her mother's features in her face.

The body was a cage, and inside that cage was something which looked, listened, teared an object as the body. thought, and marveled: that something, that remainder left over after the body had been accounted for, was the soul.

To love someone out of compassion means not really to love.

She was unable to fall asleep; in his arms she would fall asleep no matter how wrought up she might have been.

There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison. 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?

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come. 

Interweaves story and dream, past and present, and philosophy and poetry in a sardonic and erotic tale of two couples--Tomas and Teresa, and Sabina and her Swiss lover, Gerhart.

The unbearable lightness of being

Lily Cooper

Yes, it was too late, and Sabina knew she would leave Paris, move on, and on again, because were she to die here they would cover her up with a stone, and in the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable.

Maria Buitrago

What remains of Beethoven? A frown, an improbable mane, and a somber voice intoning "Es muss sein!" What remains of Franz? An inscription reading A RETURN AFTER LONG WANDERINGS. And so on and so forth. Before we are forgotten, we will be turned into kitsch. Kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion.

Here he was, doing things he didn't care a damn about, and enjoying it. Now he understood what made people (people he always pitied) happy when they took a job without feeling the compulsion of an internal "Es muss sein!'" and forgot it the moment they left for home every evening. This was the first time he had felt that blissful indifference. Whenever anything went wrong on the operating table, he would be despondent and unable to sleep. He would even lose his taste for women. The "Es muss sein!" of his profession had been like a vampire sucking his blood.

Magda 

A husband’s funeral is a wife’s true wedding.

Daria claymore

לעולם אינו יכול לדעת במה עליו לרצות, משום שהוא חי רק פעם אחת ולא ניתן לו להשוות את חייו להווה לחייו הקודמים ולא לתקן אותם בחייו הבאים

Elina Berzina

Matthew Jackson

Set in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, the story revolves around a young doctor who has a way with women and an aversion to politics. He suddenly finds himself caught up in his country's political turmoil and in a crisis of commitment with the women in his life.

Colton Ray

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!

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.

jack

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.

'A cult figure.' Guardian 'A dark and brilliant achievement.' Ian McEwan 'Shamelessly clever ... Exhilaratingly subversive and funny.' Independent 'A modern classic ... As relevant now as when it was first published. ' John Banville A young woman is in love with a successful surgeon - a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanising. His mistress, a free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals - while her other lover stands to lose everything because of his noble qualities. In a world where lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events, and everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance and weight - and we feel 'the unbearable lightness of being'. A masterpiece by one of the world's truly great writers, Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being encompasses passion and philosophy, infidelity and ideas, the Prague Spring and modern America, political acts and private desires, comedy and tragedy - and illuminates all aspects of human existence. What readers are saying: 'Some books change your mind, some change your heart, the very best change your whole world ... A mighty piece of work, that will shape your life forever.' 'One of the best books I've ever read ... A book about love and life, full of surprises. Beautiful.' 'This book is going to change your life ... It definitely leaves you with a hangover after you're done reading.' 'A must read - loved it, such beautiful observations on life, love and sexuality.' 'Kundera writes about love as if in a trance so the beauty of it is enchanting and dreamy ... Will stay with you forever.' 'A beautiful novel that helps you understand life better ... Loved it.' 'One of those rare novels full of depth and insight into the human condition ... Got me reading Camus and Sartre.' 'One of the best books I have ever read ... An intellectual love story if ever there was one.'

y✦

✦ 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

lexie

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.

Markus Mui

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

Ivy Vatsala

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.

Geetika 

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.

Mia Caven

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.

Dimitris Papastergiou

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.

Ayesha ahmed

In this novel - a story of irreconcilable loves and infidelities - Milan Kundera addresses himself to the nature of twentieth-century 'Being' In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. We feel, says the novelist, 'the unbearable lightness of being' - not only as the consequence of our private acts but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.Juxtaposing Prague, Geneva, Thailand and the United States, this masterly novel encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, and embraces, it seems, all aspects of human existence. It offers a wide range of brilliant and amusing philosophical speculations and it descants on a variety of styles.

Colleen

3 Stars

The short version is that I just was not in the mood for this book. What can I say? Sometimes books find you at the perfect time. Other times, well, the stars don't align. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is an odd book, introspective and philosophical while also self-indulgent. I can see why this is literary classic, but it just did not resonate with me. That also has to do with my impatience with the main character, Tomáš and his spineless, philandering ways. I didn't particularly like any of the other characters either.

Despite that, I have to admit that the writing was beautiful at times. There were some good quotes. Too bad I was not in the mood to ponder them deeply.


  “Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.”

The story was also set in the interesting background of Russian invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. But the writing swung between poetic and verbose. And as I mentioned, I did not like any of the characters although I understood what they represented.


  "The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?”

I may revisit this book at some point in the future. I have a feeling my future self might like it more if it finds me at the right moment.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars

Varol Aksoy

kadın erkek ilişkilerine dair enfes bir kitaptı. 2013 benim için Milan Kundera yılı olacaktı, bu okuduğum ilk kitabı oldu ve kesinlikle doğru adamı seçtim diyorum. :)

haifa

While reading the book I was hesitant, would I be pretentiously left with disturbing existential questions once the book ends? Most writers never seek to answer their questions even when they seemed to answer them. But then you realise, these stories are full of flat admissions. Kundera's intrusive narration make sure the reader would only muse along with him, and never bear the heaviness of assumption, so much so that sometimes it leaves you wondering "Why is he telling me everything? Why doesn't he make space for my thoughts?" When as a reader you have barely anything to make meaning of, as you ease into his musings, you are suffering it, the unbearable lightness.

Also something interesting: Some friends who have read the book, found it to be about love and the idea of being loved, while I barely paid any attention to it, truly, there were much more interesting premises to meditate over.

So in the end, the question is, are we weighed down by our self-imposed burdens or are we going to suffer the unbearable lightness of shedding them?

Ammerins Moss-de Boer

One of my favorite books ever, I fell in love with it in the first chapter and I'm so proud of Milan Kundera for being born in the same country as me and writing about its history too

Nikola

Prashanth Srivatsa

You are mesmerized by Prague’s beauty, but Kundera's perception of love leaves a strange taste in your mouth. Coupled with a more cultured YOLO that he propagates, the book reduces the significance of actions, urges us to pursue "lightness", to abandon compassion, separate love and sex, and everything else that bogs us down and keeps us closer to reality. Written beautifully and layered around the tumultuous Russian invasion of Czech, amid communists, artists and infidels, the book is a rocky drive into questioning the purpose of your actions, and definitely requires a second read.

Obada Mu

“And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in a circle; it runs ahead in a straight line. That is why man cannot be happy: happiness is the longing for repetition.”

Jesse Morley

Oh yes, life is so poetic, Milan. Tereza was indeed wrong to hold Tomas' infedility against him—it is her fault that he was too scared to leave someone who loved him unconditionally and asked so little in return. Yuck.

Anabel

eliz

2.5

I liked and still intrigued about the questions raised from the beginning of the book, but as I summarize(?) the entirety of the plot, I'm left hanging with the problems unsolved. to conclude, I think I learned less than I expected.

the amount of patience I had to put through continuous pages of erotic nonsense deserves a praise btw

excerpts:
p. 8 "...that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural. We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come. There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison." ... "And life can be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself? That is why life is always like a sketch."
p. 92 "For Franz music was the art that comes closest to Dionysian beauty in the sense of intoxication. No one can get really drunk in a novel, or a painting, but who can help getting drunk on Beethoven's Ninth, [etc.] Franz made no distinction between "classical" music and "pop"."

Matthew Jackson &
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

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