The Unbearable Lightness of Being

It is sufficiently apparent that Kundera is a talented author who poses poignant and thought-provoking questions not only to himself, but to his readers as well. The rub of this novel however is that it wears the veil of philosophy, tricking you into thinking that the novel's content is strictly philosophical in nature. Though this novel is greatly thought out and raises amazingly profound questions in its readers, Kundera seems to lack the conviction with which to follow through with his philosophical wanderings, thereby leaving a noticeable void in the novel.

This book is a definite page turner. Milan is an intresting writter with a unique style that is quite his own. Very insightful and entertaining, the lines he draws between events and deceptions are quite entertaining and provoke thoughts into the communism, love and the weight of being.

In the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera takes great pains to mask what is essentially, an indictment against lightness. Through a process of purposeful ambiguity, Kundera sets up three important and interrelated themes in the novel. These three themes need to be examined at some length in order to understand Kundera's complexity and unravel his indictment against lightness.
Firstly, there is the psychological construct of the eternal return as developed by Friedrich Nietzsche. Secondly, through the love story of Tomas, Tereza and Sabina, Kundera plays out his indictment against lightness. Within this braid of interwoven relations, Kundera places the duality of lightness and weight side by side, seemingly not endorsing one or the other. Thirdly, Kundera plays out his indictment against lightness in the public arena, placing the personal stories within the historical framework of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August of 1968; through this mechanism history becomes another story within a story. Are events forgiven in advance because they happen only once? Read it and find out.

This is a book about love, lust, friendship (or the lack of it) and how these, often conflicting, emotions interact. The book seems to be written in the style of a string quartet with different characters taking the lead in turn. The main players in this love quartet each bring their own contribution (and weight - or lightness) to the story. It is also about the meaning and purpose of life. Once is not enough to be meaningful (einmal ist keinmal). The existentialist themes of destiny and the search for meaning and purpose are apparent and drive the characters to their fate.

The relationships among the characters are reflected in the relationships they have with their country that is going through its own crisis during the story.

There are many subtleties in the book such as the playing of the Beethoven string quartet movement (es muss sein - it must be!) when Tomas and Teresa first meet. Destiny plays a role throughout and there is much foreshadowing and many seeming coincidences to pull the reader along. This made the book a good choice for a club and stimulating for discussion. We have to wonder how much was lost in translation.