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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I bought a copy of this while visiting Czechia and enjoyed reading it to understand Czech history and culture better.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A younger Kundera fails to keep attention and the pacing puts the labour on the reader. Maybe interesting to someone who is obsessed about party politics of communist Czechoslovakia. For anyone else, skip it.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mám tuhle knížku prostě ráda. Hodně se mi líbí, jak jsou jednotlivé části různé. No a pro pasáže s Lucií mám slabost...
اول قرأة لي لكونديرا، وكانت ممتعة رغم ان قرأتها على 3 شهور تقريبًا
بس كل اما اروح واجي اكملها كإني لسه كنت بادئ فيها
بس كل اما اروح واجي اكملها كإني لسه كنت بادئ فيها
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable read, with some aspects of the human psyche that will stick with me. Also an interesting touchpoint for learning about specific aspects of folklore, tradition, and how they related to the Communist movement in Eastern Europe.
Worth reading the afterword from the author, at least in the fifth edition, for a perspective on censorship, and maintaining the authenticity of written word through translations.
Worth reading the afterword from the author, at least in the fifth edition, for a perspective on censorship, and maintaining the authenticity of written word through translations.
Kundera's writing always wins. As much as he wants to maintain that this is 'just a novel', it's surely a political manifesto.
There were some great things in here: set in communist Czech, before the Prague Spring, when the authoritarianism started causing cracks. The philosophical motivations. The three dimensional perspective of events with different character narrations. And the relevance of the book's title as the plot was essentially a joke.
But I couldn't shake off one thing. This book - Kundera's first - was written with an over bearing male gaze. Women characters were hyper sexualized and easily discarded. All the women in this book - ALL - were just tools for the men's stories. The use of femininity so problematic. The handling of rape and sexual assault and autonomy were so poorly done. Every fifth page my face cringed and I almost gave the book up.
It's hard, to reconcile my admiration for Kundera, as I read this. It's true that Kundera's books have shitty protagonists and he doesn't write them to be liked. But this was sheer misogynistic. And I don't think it can pass off as being historical fiction or simply a protagonist POV.
Breaks my heart to give Kundera 2 stars - but I've had enough of books that don't do women justice.
There were some great things in here: set in communist Czech, before the Prague Spring, when the authoritarianism started causing cracks. The philosophical motivations. The three dimensional perspective of events with different character narrations. And the relevance of the book's title as the plot was essentially a joke.
But I couldn't shake off one thing. This book - Kundera's first - was written with an over bearing male gaze. Women characters were hyper sexualized and easily discarded. All the women in this book - ALL - were just tools for the men's stories. The use of femininity so problematic. The handling of rape and sexual assault and autonomy were so poorly done. Every fifth page my face cringed and I almost gave the book up.
It's hard, to reconcile my admiration for Kundera, as I read this. It's true that Kundera's books have shitty protagonists and he doesn't write them to be liked. But this was sheer misogynistic. And I don't think it can pass off as being historical fiction or simply a protagonist POV.
Breaks my heart to give Kundera 2 stars - but I've had enough of books that don't do women justice.