Reviews

Nieznośna lekkość bytu by Milan Kundera

lyra_amel's review against another edition

dark funny reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

sheep17's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

juniperz's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

need time to think on it and let my thoughts ferment… but ultimately i think it was a painfully, beautifully human book. kundera understands people well, as an author… 

emski21's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

vanmeter's review against another edition

2.0

My philosophy knowledge is pretty much basic, so I cannot comment a lot on this from that point of view like many people do or trying to.
Is it even obligatory to be a philosopher in order to read this? No, absolutely not. I just didn't like reading this like any other regular book, and that's enough for me.

dvb_808's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

founddrama's review against another edition

3.0

The impression I got from other people about this book was that it was amazing. Or life-changing. A classic. Or something like that. And I suppose it wasn't bad, but I wonder if I would have liked it more had I not been given such pre-conceptions about it. Which is not to say that this is a bad or even mediocre book--I just can't understand why it's supposed to be particularly deep. [1] That being said, there were two things about this book that stuck out to me that brought it up to three stars (over two):

First: Cold War Nostalgia. I wonder if this book's relevance will wane significantly as we get further away from the era of Communism and the Cold War. The truly interesting passages in here were those that meditated on Communism and totalitarianism and Russian rule and all of the little human things that go on around that. Example: the discussion about whether the Czech Communist "true believers" were culpable for the deaths of political prisoners, or if their ignorance relieves them of guilt. (This is where Kundera's Oedipus motif shines most strongly.)

Second: I'll admit it: it gets downright prurient sometimes. And I like that.

----

[1] I hate it when people refer to books as "deep". Even Harlequin romances are not written with the express purpose of being shallow.

nebulscatters's review against another edition

man i really wanted to like this but like :( i just didn't really feel anything from it??? i might read it someday again though (in english) and see if that changes anything

hantungan's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

robdlev's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

4.25