"To live once is to not have lived at all..."

books:


	• The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel Milan Kundera Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1999 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 241 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Best Ever!

Kundera is a genius, and this book is a masterpiece! Enough said.

A book that's smarter than all of us.

On the surface there is little to "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". It's simply a book that follows the lives of several Czechs, from the end of World War II to the mid 1970's. We feel the dark manipulation oppression of Soviet rule scattered through out the book, but that's not the point of this story. The devil lies in the details, more specifically...the details of four lives; Tomas and his wife Tereza, Tomas' mistress Sabina, and Sabina's lover Franz. Author Milan Kundera, describes the meta-physical details of these four and compares them to all lives. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" ends up being a philosophical treaty akin to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It is a book that both elevates and humbles the nature of man while it simultaneously grovels in it's frustration of mankind. It is a book that should be re-read again and again, for the wealth of insight it contains is invaluable.

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"To live once is to not have lived at all..."

In short: magnificent. Kundera provides psychological sketches of his major characters and outlines how they interact. Couples brought together by fortuitous coincidences, mistresses exercising their power, secret police probing the populace - it's all here, told from various points of view, each adding more depth to the events that unfold.

I wonder what was lost in translation from Czech to English? The point about the roots of the word "compassion" in Czech vs romance languages provided a better basis for understanding the character of Tomas. There are too many philosophical underpinnings to discuss in a short review, but the variability of connotation, the play of "einmal ist keinmal" off of "es muss sein," and the conception and expression of love are themes that evolve throughout the story.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Not just thought provoking, but soul stirring. Highly recommended.

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Simply A Masterpiece!

What can I say about the novel that created a new life in me?
Indeed, the greatest novel I've read so far...Kundera is a genius and this novel is simply a masterpiece.

I read it, and I wanted to laugh, cry and scream and smile, and I was overwhelmed by feelings I rarely felt before, and most importantly this novel made me think. It made me think in a whole new different way, and it opened my eyes to things I never noticed before...

This masterpiece deserves to be read!

thank you

I feel absolutely grateful. Since I am unable to write a review without disgusting myself, i will only say: MILAN KUNDERA, THANK YOU!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

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