The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

I saw the film before I read the book and enjoyed both in different ways. It is perhaps because of the film that this book became Kundera's best known work. It certainly one of his best novels but there are others such as 'Immortality' that for me are equally exceptional. 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' is a fictional story set against the historical background of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The story revolves around the amorous interactions of four principle characters: a philandering surgeon Tomas; a barmaid called Teresa, a lecturer called Franz and the woman with the hat; Sabina. The story is essentially a romance but the book is ...  Read the complete review

Kundera’s most famous novel is a complex book. Set against the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, the story evolves around different fictional topics but could just as well be the story of real people. A man torn between thought and emotion, between love and lust. A woman who lives for rebellion. Another whose body is simply an amplifier for her emotions. Tomas, the male protagonist, falls in love with Teresa and marries her, while still having many one-night stands in an attempt to give weight (meaning) to his life. Moreover, he maintains a love-affair with Sabina. Teresa is aware of Tomas' adulteries and cannot bear the situation, which ...  Read the complete review

This is perhaps Kundera's best known work. The first one that I came across, and the one that sparked in me an obsessive love for the dark, funny and awe-inspiringly intelligent Kundera. I'll come clean now and say it's probably not my favourite, but I think it's one of the most accessible, which is probably why I found it nestled in a three-for-two offer in waterstones three years ago and picked it up out of curiosity. Ok, and because I liked the self conscious sounding title. I read it on holiday in no time at all, and knew from a very short way in that I had stumbled upon something special. So my love affair with Kundera was born. Just how he creates ...  Read the complete review

The unbearable lightness of being - the title alone is confusing. what does it mean? is life light? is it really easy to be? but if it is, why is the lightness unbearable? Milan Cundera has answers to these qustions. This philosophical novel reveals why the decisions we make might not matter at all. He tells the story of Tomas and Tereza - two lovers who meet only because of various coincidences and fall in love. But their idea of love is not the same, their love is not easy. Tomas needs sex and betrayal, he needs to explore every woman to find her essence. Teresa needs only Tomas and her gentle soul suffers from his cheating. But Kundera ...  Read the complete review