Sophia C. reviewed on 7/27/2010 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

My initial impression of the title--interesting but perplexing--applies to the rest of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Tomas is a successful Czech surgeon who engages in incorrigible womanizing; Tereza is his jealous, insecure wife who can not grasp Tomas's fundamental distinction between love and sex. Sabrina, a mistress of Tomas, is a free-spirited artist who betrays everything; Franz is a lover who idolizes her. Milan Kundera invents these characters and moves them around on the page starting from the Prague Spring of 1968 through to its aftermath. There is very little, non-linear plot, sparse language which describes the motivation of the characters, repeating motifs and large swaths of position statements from the author. There is a fragmented, almost unfinished quality to Kundera's writing, which leaves me still questioning what to make of his 1984 novel: Is it a deeply philosophical meditation on the meaning of life, love, chance, and fate? A critique of oppressive (Communist) political regimes? A chance to write about a lot of sex? The literary equivalent of sketchbook doodles? My best estimate is all of the above.

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