Identity
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
There are situations in which we fail for a moment to recognize the person we are with, in which the identity of the other is erased while we simultaneously doubt our own. This also happens with couples--indeed, above all with couples, because lovers fear more than anything else "losing sight" of the loved one. With stunning artfulness in expanding and playing variations on the meaningful moment, Milan Kundera has made this situation--and the vague sense of panic it inspires--the very fabric of his new novel. Here brevity goes hand in hand with intensity, and a moment of bewilderment marks the start of a labyrinthine journey during which the reader repeatedly crosses the border between the real and the unreal, between what occurs in the world outside and what the mind creates in its solitude. Of all contemporary writers, only Kundera can transform such a hidden and disconcerting perception into the material for a novel, one of his finest, most painful, and most enlightening. Which, surprisingly, turns out to be a love story.
Reviews with the most likes.
I really do not enjoy Kundera's writing style. I couldn't finish reading it. Boredom to the max.
3.5
i finished this book a couple days ago, and have been postponing a review until I can properly compose my thoughts. I've still not been able to do so but i'm going to attempt to review it anyway.
Identity is an exploration of individuality and identity within a relationship. How much of your identity is yours and how much of it is defined by your partner's (or even strangers') perception of you? The transience of beauty, attraction, desire is a recurring theme in kundera's work and this novel also explores that.
spoilers ahead
this idea of a fleeting reality is perpetuated by the “and then she woke up and it was all a dream” ending. While an ending like this might get you a B- in english class, it kind of works in this novel, because it was definitely premeditated and thought out. Kundera even inserts himself into the story at the end, having us question the entire novel. Who's dreaming? Was it always a dream or did it start during? If so, when did it start being a dream?
This whole notion intrigued me but also frustrated me to a certain extent. It was missing something. It needed a little more depth perhaps.
Definitely not Kundera's best work but it sure holds its own as a literary work.
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