Althea M. (althea) reviewed on 12/4/2009 + 774 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This was the second time I'd read this book. I'd forgotten that I'd
read it before. I talked to a couple of other people about it, and we
agreed that while it is very beautifully written, it does seem to be
strangely not extremely memorable. I'm not sure why. It feels somewhat
like a dream, and the details seem to slide away like those of a dream
as well.
This is mostly a story of a love triangle involving a Czech doctor,
Tomas, his wife Tereza, and one of Tomas' mistresses, Sabine. However,
it is also a book filled with Kundera's philosophical musings on the
nature and meaning of life - is every event and action an ephemeral,
one-time event, filled with "lightness" - or is the idea of "eternal
return" the one of value, where one believes that each event reoccurs
forever, set in stone, and filled with weight?
Personally, I feel that every event does only happen once, gone as
soon as acted - and that is precisely why our actions do have meaning;
they are unique. So I wasn't much for the philosophy, really.
However, I did really find the depiction of the Czech Republic in the
60s and 70s interesting, and thought it gave a fascinating insight
into what it was like to live in that time and place.
The characters are slightly abstract, but still appealing, in a way
that reminds me of the work of Anais Nin.
I would recommend the book, but don't feel that it is as significant a
work as its reputation might indicate.

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