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A review by branomander
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
4.0
4/5. Milan Kundera wrote a wonderfully beautiful and introspective novel. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is fantastic, though its philosophy can sometimes be muddled.
Reading this novel was quite the experience. I've never had such a drastic change of opinion over the course of a text. At first, I was quite ambivalent, leaning towards dislike. I thought the focus on sexuality was unfortunate, given how prominently it features in works of Existentialism. I also thought it was weird that, in trying to show how 'light' our decisions were, Kundera chose to focus on people at the top of society.
This all changed with the part titled 'Words Misunderstood'. For one, this is where Milan really inserts his weird style. The novel is technically first person, but is told in third-person limited. The author himself frequently monologues and comments on various things, like reminding us that the characters were fake or explaining the symbolism behind a dream sequence. I thought this was incredibly interesting to read, and was a very refreshing piece of experimentation. He is an incredibly capable writer on a technical and artistic level.
Words Misunderstood, and the following chapters, are where those issues I discussed above began to be solved, or at least put into a new light. Sex, for instance, isn't used here like it is in other novels of this sort. Generally, sex is just supposed to be transgressive and almost counter-cultural. In TULOF, it serves that purpose but its also used as a general exploration of human relationships, with others and with the self. On his choice of characters, I believe that Kundera intentionally chose people at the 'top' of society because it boldly underlines how powerless and light our lives are. For context, much of this novel is set under a totalitarian regime, which works as a nice metaphor. The characters need an absolute, need a mission, need their actions to mean something, but against the backdrop of the universe, or the regime, they can't have it.
There are four main characters in the book, and they each highlight different modes of being, different interests. I've seen people say that these characters have no depth, but I think this couldn't be further from the truth. Tomas, Tereza, Franz, and Sabina don't have the widest ranging personalities, but what characteristics they do have are backed up by frequent ventures into the backwoods of their consciousness. As wide as a kiddie pool, as deep as the Mariana Trench. They were some of the realest fictions I've ever had gotten to read about.
The one issue I have with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, besides the length of the title, is that its philosophical themes got a bit muddled. The frequent switches in POV, time frame, and location didn't confuse me, but they did hurt the general thematic structure of the book. Also, as much as I enjoyed Kundera's monologuing, it became so frequent and strange that his message got a little lost on me. This is a minor issue though, because I got what he was trying to say, and those sections are fun to read, but they did detract from the book somewhat.
Other than that, this book is honestly great. I don't think everyone will like it, but if you enjoy Existentialism or fully-realized characters or experimentation or intense prose, The Unbearable Lightness of Being might be a good one for you.
Reading this novel was quite the experience. I've never had such a drastic change of opinion over the course of a text. At first, I was quite ambivalent, leaning towards dislike. I thought the focus on sexuality was unfortunate, given how prominently it features in works of Existentialism. I also thought it was weird that, in trying to show how 'light' our decisions were, Kundera chose to focus on people at the top of society.
This all changed with the part titled 'Words Misunderstood'. For one, this is where Milan really inserts his weird style. The novel is technically first person, but is told in third-person limited. The author himself frequently monologues and comments on various things, like reminding us that the characters were fake or explaining the symbolism behind a dream sequence. I thought this was incredibly interesting to read, and was a very refreshing piece of experimentation. He is an incredibly capable writer on a technical and artistic level.
Words Misunderstood, and the following chapters, are where those issues I discussed above began to be solved, or at least put into a new light. Sex, for instance, isn't used here like it is in other novels of this sort. Generally, sex is just supposed to be transgressive and almost counter-cultural. In TULOF, it serves that purpose but its also used as a general exploration of human relationships, with others and with the self. On his choice of characters, I believe that Kundera intentionally chose people at the 'top' of society because it boldly underlines how powerless and light our lives are. For context, much of this novel is set under a totalitarian regime, which works as a nice metaphor. The characters need an absolute, need a mission, need their actions to mean something, but against the backdrop of the universe, or the regime, they can't have it.
There are four main characters in the book, and they each highlight different modes of being, different interests. I've seen people say that these characters have no depth, but I think this couldn't be further from the truth. Tomas, Tereza, Franz, and Sabina don't have the widest ranging personalities, but what characteristics they do have are backed up by frequent ventures into the backwoods of their consciousness. As wide as a kiddie pool, as deep as the Mariana Trench. They were some of the realest fictions I've ever had gotten to read about.
The one issue I have with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, besides the length of the title, is that its philosophical themes got a bit muddled. The frequent switches in POV, time frame, and location didn't confuse me, but they did hurt the general thematic structure of the book. Also, as much as I enjoyed Kundera's monologuing, it became so frequent and strange that his message got a little lost on me. This is a minor issue though, because I got what he was trying to say, and those sections are fun to read, but they did detract from the book somewhat.
Other than that, this book is honestly great. I don't think everyone will like it, but if you enjoy Existentialism or fully-realized characters or experimentation or intense prose, The Unbearable Lightness of Being might be a good one for you.