The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel | 
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Product Description
A young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing; one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover -- these are the two couples whose story is told in this masterful novel. In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel "the unbearable lightness of being" not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.
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Customer Reviews:
• Poetic And Lyrical 02 April, 2008
How to explain a book into which one sinks? It deftly captures all the nuances, both positive and negative, of falling in love, out of love and back again. Yet it is not a love story, not in the sense that one would imagine. It is so much more; it is written with such a light hand that the prose becomes poetic and sings itself off the page.
"If a love is to be unforgettable, fortunities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi's shoulders."
"While people are fairly young and the musical composition of their lives is still in its opening bars, they can go about writing it together and exchange motifs (the way Tomas and Sabina exchanged the motif of the bowler hat), but if they meet when they are older, like Fraz and Sabina, their musical compositions are more or less complete, and every motif, every object, every word means something different to each of them."
The best I could do to provide evidence of this book's beauty was to point to the words themselves. Yet, without the backing of all the other words they seem so much dryer than they do on the page. Some of the luster is lost when devoid of their context.
In short, read it. Read it once and it will become a book you'll read over and over again forever.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AJL1T3RQM8I9
• The Unbearable Read 31 March, 2008
This book is overly pretentious; so do not be fooled by the superfluous 5 star reviews that so many literary idealists have given it.
First, let me tell you what is good about the book. Kundera offers his readers some beautiful metaphors--in fact, some of the best I have ever read, but unfortunately the book's significance practically ends there.
Although Kundera's book starts off on a promising note, posing strong existential questions, his postulates fail to deliver any thought provoking "weightiness."
Ironically, it is Kundera's incessant attempt to produce "weightier" concepts as the book progresses that inevitably ruin it.
Kundera opens his novel with originality, discussing Nietzsche and eternal returns; but as his novel progresses he drifts far from originality, and as if he is struggling to appeal to mass market, or all those wannabe intellects sitting around smoke filled coffee houses drinking lattes and discussing what it is to feel "the unbearable lightness of being," he closes his novel with one of his last, "profound" philosophical discussions--analyzing God's potential bowl moments.
Wow, I feel enlightened already.
In addition, Kundera's attempt to present his philosophical treatise through his superficial story of Tomas, Sabina, etc. was meager.
Sometimes Kundera's storyline effectively embodied his philosophical exposition, and many times I was filled with hope and promise that the story would remain on that path, but on the contrary, I mostly found his characters completely contradictory to everything Kundera was using them to represent. Ultimately, I found the actions, complacency, and attitudes of Tomas, Tereza, etc. rather incredulous.
Everyone's childhood was plagued with malevolence, even Karenin's "puppyhood" was fatefully doomed. His bland storyline made poor attempts to discuss those human dualities, such as love and lovemaking, life and rebirth, all those dichotomies which produce lightness and weightiness.
I found myself replacing words with blah, blah, blah, blah, blah while I was reading; and most of the time, I found myself so disappointed that I felt worse than when Tomas suffered from those dreadful stomach aches.
This book was "unbearable" for me to read. However, what I find most fascinating is that when I finally finished the book, I was so elated that I experienced that strange, melancholy feeling, that "unbearable lightness of being."
Maybe that was Kundera's intention. Maybe he meant to write this book to incite exactly that emotion in his readers.
I guess I'll spend my time pondering over that philosophical question...then again, maybe I won't.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2VAH4G2DY2C9D
• Unbelievable Loveness Of This Book 18 March, 2008
Milan Kundera has epitomized what lonliness and life is like in and out of love/lust. I enjoyed the author's insight into each character. He takes time to expose their flaws and explain only what is necessary. I enjoy this book every time I read it.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1O0J3CPE6J9LH
• Mystical Love 17 April, 2008
This book may not be for everyone but I simply loved it. A love story with a philosophical bent it leaves you questioning your own life and decisions. Burdened by love or light enough to achieve beauty or somewhere in between?
This quote from the beginning of the book says it all:
"The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.
Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant.
What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3NDY58317SMQ2
• Great But Not The Best 13 April, 2008
Milan Kundera's book, The Unearable Lightness of Being was a great, light but heartfelt read. I am sure can all relate to Sabine's sittuation with Tomas and the feeling of being/ seeming wonderfull but never being 'the one'. Kundera's reading reminds me of Salinger and Kesey's works but is not as good.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1PAVJF1Y1M9UK
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