The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

"From tender youth we are told by father and teacher that betrayal is the most heinous offense imaginable. But what is betrayal? Betrayal means breaking ranks and breaking off into the unknown. Sabina knew of nothing more magnificent than going off into the unknown."

It's been a while since I've read this, so I'll do the best I can for the write-up. I'm going through all my notes in the margins and it's all coming back to me. Sorry for the delay.

This is very heavy book thematically, and I think one of the central themes deals with dichotomies and the relationships of opposites. Kundera tries to explain the differences of parallel and opposing forces, like metaphorical lightness and weight, meaning things that matter and things that don't. As humans, we're thrust into life with little guidance, so how are we to determine what it truly important? And if we're just living insignificant lives, what is the ultimate purpose and result of our actions and decisions? If nothing can give us weight, our lives are exercises in unbearable lightness. More specifically, love, hysteria, desire, and not wanting are intangible and cannot be given weight in a physical sense, so that lacking, that lightness, is in itself unbearable.

This novel is existential fiction, where the characters play more of role to exploring our own sense of being and struggling to lead lives that actually mean something. Much of the book takes place in the midst of political unrest, strife and revolution, and when compared to the "grand scheme of things" such as this, how are individuals able to come to terms with their own relative significance and subsequent insignificance?

A lot of this novel deals with betrayal and what can be labeled as such. Our main protagonists, Tomas and Tereza suffer their relationship with each other, and much of their unhappiness stems from Tomas' inability to remain faithful. Tomas is a womanizer and sleeps around unapologetically, although he tries to explain to Tereza that he only shares physical pleasure with these women, but she remains the only one he has ever loved. Tomas sees his exploits as having no "weight," yet naturally Tereza feels betrayed because of his infidelity. I don't want to go too much into the story, as it's better to be read for yourself (for those yet to read it).

Kundera blurs the lines of opposites (betrayal vs. fidelity, love vs. hysteria, positive vs. negative). Tomas argues that his physical desires are weightless, because life is just a temporary distraction until nothingness or whatever could lie beyond death. What's the point if nothing lasts and only comes once?

"We can never never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come." In a way, this unanswerable question leads to the unbearable lightness of being.

Another theme I found interesting is the idea of
kitsch, or how it's described in the book: the denial of shit. We as humans have learned to hide and ignore the unpleasant facets of life, essentially denying that we're nothing more than disgusting human bodies. Here's one of my favorite passages:

"That sudden desire of Franz's reminds us of something; yes, it reminds us of Stalin's son, who ran to electrocute himself on the barbed wire when he could no longer stand to watch the poles of human existence come so close to each other as to touch, when there was no longer any difference between sublime and squalid, angel and fly, God and shit."

We're taught to denigrate the lower forms of life, while elevating the supposed elite. Again, opposition. Who are we to decide which is godly and which is shit?

I could go on forever, but I'll leave it at that until others respond. I'm sure a lot of it won't make sense unless you've already read it, so get on it! This is fucking fantastic novel; a must read.

Previous Books of the Week:

#1 The Great Gatsby http://www.theskyiscrape.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=63713&highlight=book+week

#2 The Stranger http://www.theskyiscrape.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=64059&highlight=book+week

you've intrigued me

I have to read this. That was a great write up.

While very different, the movie is not without merit... probably one of the best novel-film adaptations

Daniel Day-Lewis is the lead...well, that's all I need to know about the film.

i bought this book in london because of the praise i had heard about it and on a trip to prague i decided to start reading it (since most of it takes place in prague) but i stopped after about 30 pages because of schoolwork and now i don't know if i can ever start over again

why not?

i hate starting books over again, but i'll probably read this next month after the wind up bird chronicle and tell you what i thought.

i'm sold. this will be my first of the summer. thanks

i read this a long time ago. i really liked it but was disturbed by the whole concept of the lightness of being. i kind of see it in another way; that is, life is so meaningless and simple, that we have to complicate it to give it weight (meaning)

movie was a decent adaptation too

I will be reading this soon. Also, we need to have the links to the other books of the week at the bottom of the post like we do for the movie of the week.

I've wanted to read this for a while. Now I'm going to asap.

Beautiful, Bond.

This is one of my favorite books ever. I love quotes, found peotry so to speak, and this is full of both. Little snippets of perfect 26 letter combinations that grow roots in my soul and bear fruit when I'm in need of advice.

And I didn't even know this was a movie, but I wonder if I should leave well enough alone, or brand another's images of interpritation on my brain...

d

It's actually really well done. It's not exactly like the book, and some things are unfilmable (one of the criticisms of the this novel being made into film is that the whole thing should have been unfilmable). Seriously, totally worth watching.

They released a kick ass 2 disc dvd of it not too long ago, since the Criterion Collection version is long out of print.

Yeah, I just saw there was seller on amazon with the new 2 disc dvd, brand new and factory sealed. It'll be on my doorstep in a week or two.

I got the movie this weekend, and while it was well done, I realized that it wasn't so much the storyline that I fell in love with in this book, but the narrative philosophies that were the underlying theme.

Maybe I need to watch it again... I'm glad I got it though. I'll give it another try.

d

The movie is interesting. I think I need to see it a couple more times.

I actually saw it a few years before i read the book. The only problem is I could only see Daniel Day and Ms. Juliet Binoche as the main characters... I'm not sure how I'd feel about the film after reading the book first, but I'm almost certain I'd love it after a few viewings. Definitely a different take, but worth it all the same.

i saw the movie after the book. like any movie based on a book, it misses a hell of alot, but can't argue with that cast: Day-Lewis, Binoche, Olin

i just started reading this. i bought it on the basis of this thread, so it better be good.

nah i can tell it is already, the little i've read so far.