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A review by southofsirius
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
3.0
First and foremost: I think my intelligence might have severely prevented my enjoyment of this book (as it does for many books), that as well as the lack of resonance I had with the concepts brought forward.
For those that read a book for its plot and characters, I'm afraid this book will disappoint you as I felt the entire book was more of a long metaphor for the lack of meaning in life and how one comes to term with it.
Kundera starts first by discussing Nietzsche's take on "Eternal return" which is the theory that everything that has existed will exist once again in an endless cycle. From my understanding. Nietzsche argues that if life doesn't occur again and if things happen only once, then life will hold no meaning as there isn't a way of comparing what has happened with anything else (If the thing happens only once, what is there to compare it with? Only when it repeats can we then make a comparison). Since life has no meaning, it is then unbearable, hence the title (again this is to my understanding which has always been and probably will be wrong, so do take what I say lightly [pun intended]).
He then posits the question if life really is meaningless because it doesn't recur (light) and if life really would be better if there were meaning (heavy). He explores the difference between meaning and and the lack thereof through the four main characters.
Tereza represents weight; meaning. In everything she does she does so with intent; she is sentimental and everything has weight to her. She can't comprehend how love and sex and separate from each other; this is contrasted with her husband, Tomas who embodies lightness. He sleeps around like people eat food; sex is a commodity to him and has no meaning. He wanders about and is not grounded while his wife is chained. Yet the both of them display traits of the opposite from time to time as the novel comes to a close.
They seem to each learn to balance weight and lightness, with the novel concluding (to me) that both are needed. The other two characters, Sabina and Franz, both stick with their extremes of weight and lightness which leads to their downfall.
I feel like I don't fully comprehend the message of the novel, as well as other themes in it such as Tereza's struggle with her body and soul. I hope to come back to it in the future or discuss it with someone in hopes that I learn something new.
For those that read a book for its plot and characters, I'm afraid this book will disappoint you as I felt the entire book was more of a long metaphor for the lack of meaning in life and how one comes to term with it.
Kundera starts first by discussing Nietzsche's take on "Eternal return" which is the theory that everything that has existed will exist once again in an endless cycle. From my understanding. Nietzsche argues that if life doesn't occur again and if things happen only once, then life will hold no meaning as there isn't a way of comparing what has happened with anything else (If the thing happens only once, what is there to compare it with? Only when it repeats can we then make a comparison). Since life has no meaning, it is then unbearable, hence the title (again this is to my understanding which has always been and probably will be wrong, so do take what I say lightly [pun intended]).
He then posits the question if life really is meaningless because it doesn't recur (light) and if life really would be better if there were meaning (heavy). He explores the difference between meaning and and the lack thereof through the four main characters.
Tereza represents weight; meaning. In everything she does she does so with intent; she is sentimental and everything has weight to her. She can't comprehend how love and sex and separate from each other; this is contrasted with her husband, Tomas who embodies lightness. He sleeps around like people eat food; sex is a commodity to him and has no meaning. He wanders about and is not grounded while his wife is chained. Yet the both of them display traits of the opposite from time to time as the novel comes to a close.
They seem to each learn to balance weight and lightness, with the novel concluding (to me) that both are needed. The other two characters, Sabina and Franz, both stick with their extremes of weight and lightness which leads to their downfall.
I feel like I don't fully comprehend the message of the novel, as well as other themes in it such as Tereza's struggle with her body and soul. I hope to come back to it in the future or discuss it with someone in hopes that I learn something new.