The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Brief review of Milan Kundera’s light novel
An intricate, yet not-so intricate look at the lives of four different people, who, for whatever reason, cross paths — for a lifetime or for a moment. Set before, during, and after the Communist invasion in the Czech Republic, its brilliance lies within its simplicity.
The stories told are ones you’ve heard, yet haven’t seen woven in quite the same way — the fourth wall is constantly broken, ironically not breaking the flow of the narrative. Sensual, romantic, and perceptive; in the end I was given the happy ending I didn’t even realize I wanted.
“The old duality of body and soul has become shrouded in scientific terminology, and we can laugh at it as merely an obsolete prejudice.
But just make someone who has fallen in love listen to his stomach rumble, and the unity of body and soul, that lyrical illusion of the age of science, instantly fades away.”
— The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
It is love, it is life. Kundera tells of the dynamic that exists of heaviness and weightlessness through shifting perspectives between each person during each chapter of each section; pinpointing our inherent need to attach meaning to all that we know and experience.
Is being truly free not a burden in its own right?
Rating: ★★★★★