The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by Milan Kundera

'A cult figure.' Guardian
'A dark and brilliant achievement.' Ian McEwan
'Shamelessly clever ... Exhilaratingly subversive and funny.' Independent
'A modern classic ... As relevant now as when it was first published. ' John Banville

A young woman is in love with a successful surgeon - a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanising. His mistress, a free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals - while her other lover stands to lose everything because of his noble qualities.

In a world where lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events, and everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance and weight - and we feel 'the unbearable lightness of being'.

A masterpiece by one of the world's truly great writers, Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being encompasses passion and philosophy, infidelity and ideas, the Prague Spring and modern America, political acts and private desires, comedy and tragedy - and illuminates all aspects of human existence.

What readers are saying:

'Some books change your mind, some change your heart, the very best change your whole world ... A mighty piece of work, that will shape your life forever.'

'One of the best books I've ever read ... A book about love and life, full of surprises. Beautiful.'

'This book is going to change your life ... It definitely leaves you with a hangover after you're done reading.'

'A must read - loved it, such beautiful observations on life, love and sexuality.'

'Kundera writes about love as if in a trance so the beauty of it is enchanting and dreamy ... Will stay with you forever.'

'A beautiful novel that helps you understand life better ... Loved it.'

'One of those rare novels full of depth and insight into the human condition ... Got me reading Camus and Sartre.'

'One of the best books I have ever read ... An intellectual love story if ever there was one.'

• ISBN10: 0060914653
• ISBN13: 9780060914653
• Publish Date: 1 February 1988 (first published 1 April 1984)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 April 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperPerennial
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 314
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jyc]

★★★★ // romance, political consciousness, existentialism, and more. layered characters bearing the weight of their choices, as a consequence of our existence and being. kundera truly understands nietzsche, and this book is an incredible vehicle of his philosophy, if you ask me.

[celinenyx]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being would have been one of those books that I hated. Filled with nudity and sex and pooing and farting, it's not exactly the kind of book I would have called "fun". In the case of The Unbearable Lightness of Being though, I feel like I understand what Kundera was trying to say. The constant cheating of the main character is there to make a point, not necessarily just for shock value. The book also includes some pretty advanced meta-fiction, which isn't something I enjoy, but it does interest me academically.

Don't read this novel for the story, because the story isn't realistic in the sense that it usually is in fiction. It's basically Kundera's interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy, and he does make some interesting points.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is an existential novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives. The book takes place in Prague in the 1960s and 1970s and explores the artistic/intellectual life of Czechoslovakian society during this Communist period. Tomáš is a womanizing surgeon and intellectual, his wife Tereza is a photographer struggling with all her husband’s infidelities. Sabina a free spirited artist and Tomáš’s mistress and Franz is a professor and also a lover or Sabina. Then there is Karenin, the dog with an extreme disliking to change.

I know the synopsis doesn’t really do much to make this novel interesting but that’s just the basics of it. Really, this is a novel challenging Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence. A concept which hypothesizes that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur. This book explores the idea that people only have one life to live and what occurs will only occur once and never again. The book also explores love and sex and whether the two are connected; for Tomáš they are not but for Tereza they are.

There is a lot more philosophical aspects to understand but as I don’t have much knowledge in those areas lets focus on the novel. This was surprisingly easy to read and lyrical and almost dreamlike feel to it but then there is a lot of emotional devastation as well. Not just with Tomáš’s actions but with the communist control over everyone.

From the very start you while see the gorgeous poetic prose within Milan Kundera’s writing and the unique plot concept will initially drive this book for the reader. Then you will continue reading it for the devastating beauty of love, sex, jealously, politics and existence. Once you finish, you might reflect on the philosophical and existential nature of this book. In the end it’s just one of those books that sounds a little weird and unappealing but is really worth reading.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/02/04/book-review-the-unbearable-lightness-of-being/

[katie-wordsforworms]

I may not be smart enough to "get it." This book seemed pretentious, and it made me sleepy.

http://wordsforworms.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/the-greatest-sleep-aids-disguised-as-books/

[jamiereadthis]

It’s like one of those foreign films all filled with layers and significance, where a loaf of bread isn’t a loaf of bread, you know, and you’re so intimidated by and yet basking in the greatness of this work of art— aside from that you honestly like it too— that for just a while you can shake the nagging suspicion that you’re proving some great metaphysical ignorance and giving the director a grand laugh at your expense.

Still, I honestly liked it too.