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.

Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being is a light masterpiece, encapsulating the philosophy of a writer who happened to be Czech, happened to live under a repressive regime, and chose to make the best of his life, realizing the futility of wondering "what if."

This is a book of ideas, though I cannot comment on its stylistic merit given my ignorance of Czech. It is not primarily a book of political protest. Rather, it is a philosophical flirtation with the possibility of finding meaning and dignity in one individual life. Tomas's philandering is (or so the author seems to argue) merely an attempt to find some "weight" in the peculiarities that separate one woman from another, supposedly only released during orgasmic ecstasy.

His wife, Teresa, relegated to the role of a docile "love" whose bed Tomas sleeps in after repeatedly two-timing her, is the knowing and passive victim of his affections. Kundera's metaphysical wandering sometimes covers what on the surface is little more than one man's rationale for cheating. Under cover of intellectual investigation and existential suffocation, Tomas uses what freedom is given him to compensate for personal dissatisfaction using easy sexual conquest.

Though Teresa does experience an epiphany toward the end, she still seems to be emotionally indentured to Tomas. But that's the price of allegory and books of ideas, I suppose.

this is not the best kundera book I have read. I preferred his "Immortality" which to me is a much deeper and challenging book. However, a Kundera book is always a gift and a challenge.

One of the discussion topics for this book, suggested by a reader below, is what one can read after reading this masterpiece. This work is so impressive it is impossible to recommend a follow up. Perhaps the answer is a re-read... which is what I did.

I understand the author's thesis to be that historical crimes become lighter (more palatable) with historical distance so existence is lighter, but living in the time/place of their perpetration can be unbearable. This thesis is demonstrated through the main characters, Tomas and Tereza whose lives he sketches. There are three other characters, but their plight is not as engrossing.

Through the lives of his characters Kundera shows how the Russians came to Czechoslovakia following WWII. He describes, in a way only one who has survived it can, how the occupiers put their tentacles into the lives of ordinary citizens.

Tomas, like many who live in a dictatorship, faces the choice of standing up to the oppressors (and most likely losing his life) or complying (and dying a slow death in modest comfort). His fall gives him time and access for promiscuity. Prior to the occupation he built an emotional shell, but meeting former colleagues and patients permeates it. Although she is apolitical, Tereza's worries about the regime that could expose small transgressions, whether they are real and confabulated. As they continue to lose their privacy, peace of mind and their freedom of movement, their life together seems more and more lifeless.

Other imagery and ideas such as (socialist) kitsch, the Grand March, a child in the rushes and a German expression that seems to mean "It will be" which seems to have the overtone of randomness, recur throughout the novel.

This is a highly recommended and thought provoking novel.

Einmal ist keinmal. Once is nonce. If you only live once, how can life matter? It is unbearably light.You live and you die.

Milan Kundera offers an alternative: perhaps your life happens all over again.

Given three colored blocks--red, blue, and yellow--you can rearrange them; and rearrange them; and once again rearrange them. But soon, you repeat yourself. Given an infinite amount of time, these arrangements will repeat infinitely. Apply that to all the universe and your entire life. If Nietzsche's theory of eternal return, as articulated in The Gay Science (Philosophical Classics)(section 341), is true, then you have read this review an infinite number of times and (worse!) will have to read this an infinite number of times again.

Of course, it is impossible to know whether life repeats infinitely (and is unbearably heavy) or whether life is only once (and is unbearably heavy). It is in this tension which human beings exist and attempt to live. Milan Kundera's book is wonderful, and an excellent translation. Unlike some of his other works which moved from Czech-to-French-to-English, this book made came directly to English and is nearly poetic in its artistic quality.

Soren Kierkegaard also deals with the theme of repetition in Fear and Trembling/Repetition : Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol. 6. Which is better? A unique moment or repeating the same moment over and over?

While this is probably Milan Kundera's best novel, it is worth reading The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Laughable Loves to see his themes evolve.

A broader look at the theme of recurrence is Mircea Eliade's The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History (Princeton Classic Editions) which provides a broader look at the attempts to relive sacred moments perpetually.

The book seems to have a poetic soul, but the translation has the tone of dumbed down new yorker magazine fiction. I like wordcraft so I was disappointed on that point alone.

THe book seems from the tradition of Russian/French depressive fiction (like existentialist lit and whatever), mixed with the sexual fiction of miller anias nin and those folks (sans poetry and soul) - throw in a dash of cinema like fellini and rashomon, and maybe some sly pretentions like vonnugot (however you spell that dude). If you like all that junk youre sure to be pleased.

The book is very inconsistent. Its even inconsistent in its inconsistency. its starts off SUPER TIGHT, each paragraph a mini masterpiece of concept and coffee house philosophy. Each chapter viewing the same events through a different character. THen it loses steam and devolves into slop. Lots of false starts, false endings, redundency, rambling in random directions. etc.

another big beef is that the story, the narration and etc, is very distant. the characters and events almost become concepts the author is playing with from 1000 miles away. so its kind of a lonely clinical read. none fo the male characters are likable. the female characters arent vvery likable either. even the main female lead - who is the most sympathetic would be an annoying side character in a truly charismatic story.

so the book has many low altitude flashes of brilliance. but doesnt measure up to its influences. IMO. it could use a massive rewrite to fully achieve its potential.