general

When I read the Unbearable Lightness of Being, I was constantly shifting my opinion about the book and, in fact, my opinon still oscillates when I think about it today. The good news is that story of the love lives off pTomas, Tereza, Franz, et al, and their plight beneath a totalitarian government is-or, can be- very absorbing, very emotionally affecting, and the fabulist elements don't override it too much. The problem, though, is that the novel is constantly undercut by interludes where Mr Kundera comes in and gives his outside commentary. I wasn't bothered by this so much because it made the storyine choppy, but because of the didactic tone of these sections:he guides you towards interpretations, and at times I felt as though he were telling me-this is what you should think/feel about the action. There are a few of these lines elsewhere in the book(something to the effect that"what sabine felt was the unbearable lightness of being"). This is a good effect if he wants to create distance from the character, but in order to connect with the subject matter, the plight of the characters, etc, you would(or I would think you would) need some kind of conection with the character. Plus he seems to be lording his intellect over the reader(or maybe I'm just oversensitive, but in any case), and this diminishes what could've been even an even better book. So, if you think you take Kundera's outside commentary, it's worth it.

Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" is a richly textured novel of ideas on life, love, perspective and politics that find expression through the lives of four people (Tomas, Tereza, Sabine and Franz) who are themselves connected by the philandering ways of the surgeon Tomas. The novel uses a complex non-linear time scheme to explore a myriad of ideas that simply explode into a rainbow of colours that defy definition. At its most basic level, the story tells of two love stories that run parallel to one another, both tainted by sexual infidelity and set in Russian occupied Czech Republic. The film version, which I haven't seen, must have stuck closely to the narrative. How else could any coherent visual sense be made of the abundance of philosophical ideas that find such eloquent expression in the novel ? The exploration of lightness/heaviness, the central theme that flows through the pages, is all about the meaning or meaninglessness of human existence, the appreciation of history as a unique and unrepeatable outcome of a series of accidents, and the absence of any reliable anchor that we can call upon to judge our own motivations and that of others. Tomas, the respected surgeon, commits a political faux pas and loses his job, but finds freedom when he becomes a window cleaner. His long suffering wife, Tereza, concludes that only animals (like her beloved dog, Karenin) can be trusted. Sabine and Franz share a doomed relationship as they denounce their own natural perspectives in search of opposite values which they mistakenly consider the genuine article. You get the author's own political perspective in the chapter entitled "The Grand March" where he investigates the concept of "kitsch". The novel is so abound with ideas - some abstract and nebulous and difficult to grasp - they make your mind reel in wonder. I get the feeling that with each read, the reader peels off a new layer to uncover new truths to satisfy. A beautifully written masterpiece. Highly recommended.

Anyone who has read any Kundera knows what to expect - narrative, history, and philosophical musings mixed into an "experimental" novel. They will not be disappointed (or perhaps they will, if that's not what they were looking for).

For those new to Kundera, a few words of advice. If you don't like one of his books, you won't like any of his others, except for possibly some of his earlier ones. If you like one, you'll most likely like the rest. Kundera is smart - very smart - though possibly not as much as he thinks he is (some of his profound-sounding quotes take a way-too-large logical leap). The essence of his novels is not in the narrative but in the surrouding essays. The plot can almost never be condensed to a few sentences. The "I" in much of his works is him, Kundera himself, regardless of what some lit-critters want you to think. Finally, Kundera's books are intellectual, demanding, rewarding, and insufferable.

On to The Unbearable Lightness of Being. All you've come to expect from Kundera is there - the musings on kitsch are among his best; discussion of eternal return is insightful (pay particular attention to his remark about not rehearsing for life), sex is everywhere (and, in his books, should be), the dream (or is it?) on the hill is absolutely brilliant, and on and on.

But there are flaws - unavoidable, classical Kunderan flaws. First, he fails to convince the reader that lightness is bad and weight is good. *All* the characters are wretched, whether they're light like Tomas and Sabina or heavy like Tereza, Franz, the son, the editor, and others.

Next - and this occurs every time in his books - Kundera has no timing, and chooses not to. It is my personal opinion that the only purposes of literature are 1) to make the reader think and 2) hit the reader's emotions. Kundera disdains the emotions (he hates feelings and is an uber-rationalist) and for some reason chooses not to go for part 1, either. Let me explain. Assuming the purposes of literature are those listed, then books that hit the reader's emotions or thoughts harder are the "better" books. The point should be to hit harder and harder. How to do so - by building up to one climactic point, such as when Winston betrays Julia in the face of the rats, when the boys burn down to island to kill Ralph, when Yossarian wanders through the dregs of humanity, and on and on.

But Kundera purposefully puts the climax of his books before the ending (he wants his works to be like a "feast" not a "bicycle race"), with the result that the reader is enchanted by the beginning but let down by the end. If Kundera ended "Being" with Franz's death or the dream-not-a-dream sequence in Part 4, if Kundera ended "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" with Tamina's drowning, if Kundera ended "Immortality" with Agnes's death, these three books would have been raised from, in my scale, "very good" to "one of the best books I have read."