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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
"I began to keep tabs on my smiles, and soon I felt a tiny crack opening up between the person I had been and the person I should be (according to the spirit of the times) and tried to be." (32)
"I felt my soul shrivelling, I felt it retreating, and I was frightened by the thought that it could not escape its encirclement." (62)
"All I'm trying to say is that no great movement designed to change the world can bear sarcasm or mockery, because they are a rust that corrodes all it touches." (242)
"There are people who claim to love humanity, while others object that we can only love in the singular, that is, only individuals. I agree and add that what goes for love also goes for hate. Man, this bring pining for equilibrium, balances the weight of evil piled on his back with the weight of hatred. But try directing your hatred at mere abstract principles, at injustice, fanaticism, cruelty, or, if you've managed to find the human principle itself hateful, then try hating mankind! Such hatreds are beyond human capacity, and so man, if he wishes to relieve his anger (aware as he is of its limited power) concentrates it on a single individual." (271)
"What was it, then, that was mistaken? History itself? History the divine, the rational? But why call them history's errors? They seem so to my human reason, but if history really has its own reason, why should that reason fare about human understanding, and why should it be as serious as a schoolmarm? What if history plays jokes? And then I realised how powerless I was to revoke my own joke when throughout my life as a whole I was involved in a joke much more vast (all embracing for me) and utterly irrevocable." (288-9)
"I felt my soul shrivelling, I felt it retreating, and I was frightened by the thought that it could not escape its encirclement." (62)
"All I'm trying to say is that no great movement designed to change the world can bear sarcasm or mockery, because they are a rust that corrodes all it touches." (242)
"There are people who claim to love humanity, while others object that we can only love in the singular, that is, only individuals. I agree and add that what goes for love also goes for hate. Man, this bring pining for equilibrium, balances the weight of evil piled on his back with the weight of hatred. But try directing your hatred at mere abstract principles, at injustice, fanaticism, cruelty, or, if you've managed to find the human principle itself hateful, then try hating mankind! Such hatreds are beyond human capacity, and so man, if he wishes to relieve his anger (aware as he is of its limited power) concentrates it on a single individual." (271)
"What was it, then, that was mistaken? History itself? History the divine, the rational? But why call them history's errors? They seem so to my human reason, but if history really has its own reason, why should that reason fare about human understanding, and why should it be as serious as a schoolmarm? What if history plays jokes? And then I realised how powerless I was to revoke my own joke when throughout my life as a whole I was involved in a joke much more vast (all embracing for me) and utterly irrevocable." (288-9)
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I liked the film better
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
oh poor lucie! the girl with a void in her soul and embodies a saintly simplicity! i hate all the men in kundera's books. they're all abusers. but i enjoy that he does write cleverly and can be quite profound at times. i acknowledge that ludvik briefly acknowledges his harmful usage of lucie/helena, but it wasn't nearly good enough for him to be forgiven.
this is my 8th kundera book. i really didn't enjoy the beginning, nor the end. lucie and ludvik's tender love almost made me give it 5 stars, but the men in his books always ruin it and fill me with hatred and rage.
this is my 8th kundera book. i really didn't enjoy the beginning, nor the end. lucie and ludvik's tender love almost made me give it 5 stars, but the men in his books always ruin it and fill me with hatred and rage.
I struggled with the anemic theme and did not like it
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this is either a reflection of the fact that i'm not well-read in the slightest, or a reflection of the pure genius that is this book. another recommendation from my dad and this hit the mark even more than the last. the first time i tried to pick this up, i got really busy and just couldn't get through it because it was so dense-- i'm so glad i returned to give it another try because it was worth it.
there are an immense amount of quotes that i wrote down and will fully enjoy copying down in my journal (my new favorite thing). i just simply cannot wrap my head around how artfully and expertly everything in this book ties together and manages to tug at your heartstrings.
i feel like nothing that i write here can put it to justice, honestly. i feel utterly dumb in the sense that this writer is so incredibly intelligent. the textbook use of irony and foil characters that i wish my younger self struggling to memorize definitions in english class could have read. although i wouldn't have been able to understand or appreciate it at that level.
and there's SO. MUCH. COMMENTARY. social, political, reflections on the general existence of people. i think i'll have to return to this book at some point because i know for a fact there are things that i haven't processed or will appreciate as an older adult with more life experience. so many things about politics, youth, & humans in general that made my head spin. i've never heard quite the same take on politics as a parallel to religion and the way that those structures are so similar...i will be thinking about this for the next while. "the young can't help playacting; themselves incomplete, they are thrust by life into a complete world where they are compelled to act fully grown." it's such a reflection on the way young people are forced to grow up too fast, to understand, to emulate adults who equally don't know what they are doing and are basically doing their own acting. humans are so interesting. this passage (and others) also had me thinking of boygenius' new song powers- some ideas are so similar it's almost as if they read this book before the song was written. i love connecting music i'm listening to with books i'm reading. my favorite pastime.
i should mention that this book was not an enjoyable read. it was upsetting and downright horrifying at times. but i do think that it is not without a purpose. there was romance, stripped of the romance part. joy, stripped of the joy. pleasure, stripped of the pleasure. the multiple perspectives made it clear that nothing was as it really was presented.
i'm still, however, giving this book four stars because although it was an utterly fascinating read and i gave it a glowing review, i simply cannot get around the utter misogyny that is the depiction of women in this book. i managed to read through it and move on, but presenting women simply as plot devices to further the agenda and character development of the man really did irk me. it feels like one of those books where the girl is only there to forgive the man and fall hopelessly in love with him. and this is way too modern of a novel to be doing all that. but this was tolerable for the genius of the story and still one of the best books i've ever read.
there are an immense amount of quotes that i wrote down and will fully enjoy copying down in my journal (my new favorite thing). i just simply cannot wrap my head around how artfully and expertly everything in this book ties together and manages to tug at your heartstrings.
i feel like nothing that i write here can put it to justice, honestly. i feel utterly dumb in the sense that this writer is so incredibly intelligent. the textbook use of irony and foil characters that i wish my younger self struggling to memorize definitions in english class could have read. although i wouldn't have been able to understand or appreciate it at that level.
and there's SO. MUCH. COMMENTARY. social, political, reflections on the general existence of people. i think i'll have to return to this book at some point because i know for a fact there are things that i haven't processed or will appreciate as an older adult with more life experience. so many things about politics, youth, & humans in general that made my head spin. i've never heard quite the same take on politics as a parallel to religion and the way that those structures are so similar...i will be thinking about this for the next while. "the young can't help playacting; themselves incomplete, they are thrust by life into a complete world where they are compelled to act fully grown." it's such a reflection on the way young people are forced to grow up too fast, to understand, to emulate adults who equally don't know what they are doing and are basically doing their own acting. humans are so interesting. this passage (and others) also had me thinking of boygenius' new song powers- some ideas are so similar it's almost as if they read this book before the song was written. i love connecting music i'm listening to with books i'm reading. my favorite pastime.
i should mention that this book was not an enjoyable read. it was upsetting and downright horrifying at times. but i do think that it is not without a purpose. there was romance, stripped of the romance part. joy, stripped of the joy. pleasure, stripped of the pleasure. the multiple perspectives made it clear that nothing was as it really was presented.
i'm still, however, giving this book four stars because although it was an utterly fascinating read and i gave it a glowing review, i simply cannot get around the utter misogyny that is the depiction of women in this book. i managed to read through it and move on, but presenting women simply as plot devices to further the agenda and character development of the man really did irk me. it feels like one of those books where the girl is only there to forgive the man and fall hopelessly in love with him. and this is way too modern of a novel to be doing all that. but this was tolerable for the genius of the story and still one of the best books i've ever read.
I am not a fan of this book. Although I have read some wonderful reviews, it really wasn't for me.