The Unbearable Lightness of Being

This is a beautiful book. I've always loved Kundera's writing style - direct, yet beautiful, musical, playful. He's able to get at the deepest core of humanity and philosophy with a light, casual language.

I wanted to give this book five stars. When I was about a quarter of the way in, I thought it was headed there. But I think the middle was a little bit soft - it's the part of the book I remember least. I never really connected with the part of the book that focused on Franz and Sabina, as opposed to the part of the book about Tomas and Tereza. I really fell in love with the character of Tereza - meek, desperate to be loved, constantly blaming herself for everything in her life. She was the most real character in the book to me - the other three feeling slightly more like abstract ideas, concepts meant to drive home a philosophical point.

Kundera is a masterful writer. The structure of the book is innovative and non-linear. The ultimate fate of the characters is divulged somewhere in the middle of the novel, yet I still found myself almost in tears near the end of the story - one of the most powerful, haunting scenes I've ever read.

I'll remember a few things about this book - the constant discussion and interplay of polar opposites (heaviness/lightness, strength/weakness, light/dark, freedom/slavery, body/soul, kitsch/shit, God/atheism), the lengthy, eye-opening section on how different our perceptions can be about the same concepts, and the constant drive to understand the meaning and purpose of love and passion.

I wish I had a book group to discuss this with! Or that I took notes and wrote down questions while reading it. There's a lot of philosophy going on here - a lot to think about. I suspect I'll give this another read someday; I almost want to read parts of it again right now, but there's a bookstore across the street calling my name.

I read “The Joke” by Kundera a few years ago, and now I want to reread it. Another reason for only giving this novel 4 stars is that I remember liking “The Joke” better - it felt more tightly constructed, dug at my emotions more than this did. Or maybe it was just more accessible on the first read.