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A review by leahtylerthewriter
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
5.0
"She knew she was acting like the most vulgar of women, the kind that is out to cause pain and knows how."
In 1960s Czechoslovakia, a man and a woman and another woman and another man (and a brief stop over in Switzerland) meander toward their own eventuality as Soviet communism takes over their country.
One of the most remarkable and complex books I've had the pleasure of reading, this novel touched the deepest part of my soul. The multitude of layers Kundera burrowed into was nothing short of breathtaking. Near the end I was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes as the words washed over me and tears poured from my eyes. For like 20 minutes. I don't know when I have cried so long and so hard over pure, unequivocal tenderness.
The things people will endure for love.
Kundera played with time, place, and person like only a master writer can, with a light hand and breezy touch. On the surface a twisted glimpse into what fuels infidelity, to miss the ultimate point of what this couple is doing to each other is to miss the point of this book.
A young girl is taught by her mother that her body is no more important than any other body. How dare she lock the bathroom door? What makes her worthy of privacy? She grows up to marry a serial philanderer whose behavior reinforces her body is no more important than any other body. That is but one example of the duality Kundera exploresover and over again in this remarkable piece of literature.
It astounds me how what is essentially a story about the absorption of self into communism is famous for being about sex and obsession. Yes, there is undoubtedly a marvelous amount of sex and obsession contained within this book. But it is a mere vehicle to attach individuality and longing, two things driving humanity that communism seeks to usurp.
In 1960s Czechoslovakia, a man and a woman and another woman and another man (and a brief stop over in Switzerland) meander toward their own eventuality as Soviet communism takes over their country.
One of the most remarkable and complex books I've had the pleasure of reading, this novel touched the deepest part of my soul. The multitude of layers Kundera burrowed into was nothing short of breathtaking. Near the end I was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes as the words washed over me and tears poured from my eyes. For like 20 minutes. I don't know when I have cried so long and so hard over pure, unequivocal tenderness.
The things people will endure for love.
Kundera played with time, place, and person like only a master writer can, with a light hand and breezy touch. On the surface a twisted glimpse into what fuels infidelity, to miss the ultimate point of what this couple is doing to each other is to miss the point of this book.
A young girl is taught by her mother that her body is no more important than any other body. How dare she lock the bathroom door? What makes her worthy of privacy? She grows up to marry a serial philanderer whose behavior reinforces her body is no more important than any other body. That is but one example of the duality Kundera exploresover and over again in this remarkable piece of literature.
It astounds me how what is essentially a story about the absorption of self into communism is famous for being about sex and obsession. Yes, there is undoubtedly a marvelous amount of sex and obsession contained within this book. But it is a mere vehicle to attach individuality and longing, two things driving humanity that communism seeks to usurp.