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Apr 27, 2011

Ben rated it:

I was hesitant to start this, and figured for awhile that it would be one of those books that maybe I’d get around to or maybe I wouldn’t. It just didn’t seem like something I’d enjoy – it seemed too soft, or too postmodern, or too feel-good, or too based in hedonism, or too surface oriented. What caused me to give it a shot was the simple fact that I’ll be traveling to Prague in a few weeks, and since the book's setting takes place there, I figured it may put me in the mood for the trip. I f More...

34 comments like (79 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

dirt rated it:

the people in this book have a lot of sex. 75% of the book is getting down and doing the nasty (or thinking about it). the sex parts are written in that lofty academic language of "heat" and "passion". the word moist is used liberally. all the really raunchy stuff about body fluids is left out. though probably not too much fluid was exchanged because these people fucked and fucked and fucked and never had babies. the really interesting stuff comes between the sex parts. More...

10 comments like (43 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2011

mp rated it:

Kundera is an unconventional writer, to say the least. If you are looking for fully fleshed characters or a smooth plot, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is not for you. Kundera merely uses plot and characters as tools or examples to explain his philosophy about life, and that is what this novel is all about. He will provide a glimpse of his characters' lives, hit the pause button and then go on to explain all about what just happened, the philosophy and psychology which drives the lives of his More...

8 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2008

J rated it:

There is probably one novel that is the most responsible for the direction of my post-graduation European backpacking trip ten years ago which landed me in Prague for two solid weeks. Shortly before my friend Chad and I departed, he mailed me a letter and directed me to get my hands on a copy of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Just read it, he wrote. Whatever else you do, just read this book. It is about everything in the world.

Being already a Kafka fan of some lon More...

9 comments like (64 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2011

Fadwa rated it:

منذ متى وانا لم اقرأ رواية بتلك الروعة ...
ميلان كونديرا أعادني من جديد الى عالم الروايات المترجمة الذي كنت برحته منذ زمن ليس بقليل ..
من أين جاء كونديرا بكل هذه الفلسفه ...وهذه المعاني الراقيه
يطرح كونديرا تساؤل عميق حول "" إمكانيةإدانة ما هو زائل؟ "" بمعني هل يمكننا الحكم على صحه او خطأ أفعالنا أن كانت حياتنا هي واحده فقط ...
وعلى ضوء هذه الأشكالية الفلسفيه العميقه يقص علينا حكاية الدكتور توماس وحياته ...الصدف التي تحكمت فيها و إختياراته التي تسببت في More...

17 comments like (17 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

MJ rated it:

A good Europop lit-fic offering—a bit outmoded now, like Snap! or 2Unlimited. But still compelling fodder for philosophising undergrads with higher aspirations than erotic encounters with their right hands. The narrator is droll, sardonic, wise, and almost unbearably smug. In fact, I thought about using the line The Unbearable Smugness of Being but I decided not to because . . . drat! Also: I have vivid memories of the film version, where Juliette Binoche’s underpants ride up her crack in a most More...

10 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2009

Logan rated it:

You know those books that you finish and then immediately begin again because they were just that good? That's what happened with Unbearable Lightness and me. After turning the page on the incredibly heart-wrenching last chapter, I needed to begin it anew so that I could savor those doughnuts of wisdom that Kundera tosses out like they were stale day-olds.

After reading the first few chapters of the book, I wrote a note to myself that said "If Love in the Time of Cholera is a r More...

3 comments like (32 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Diana rated it:

"Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman)."

A philosophical window into love, passion, jealousy, and duty--set during the Russian invasion of the Czechoslovakia. When you read this, you will re-evaluate your relationships-- More...

2 comments like (19 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2007

Nathan rated it:

The Unbearable Lightness of Being was almost unbearable to read. There was a lot of pseudo-intellectual meandering about things that deserved a little more grit. Rather, I prefer a little more reality. I didn't care about the characters, and I didn't feel like they cared about anything. I feel like saying I was impressed with the thoughtiness of this book, but by the time I typed it I'd be so buried under multiple levels of irony that I'd suddenly be accidentally sincere again. What was I saying More...

0 comments like (26 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Aya rated it:

هل هي الثقل أم الخفة أم الأثنين معاً؟
هل هي رواية أم تحليل نفسي أم فلسفة حياة أم إعادة تناول لمفاهيم الحياة؟
هل هي جانب من الحياة أم كل الحياة؟؟
بدايةً هي أول قراءاتي لكونديرا ولن تكون الأخيرة بعد قراءتي لهذه الراوية، فقبل أي شئ بهرني أسلوب كونديرا في السرد، وللحق سألقبه بـ "الحكاء الذكي" نعم فهو يتمتع بقدر من الذكاء ما يجعلك تعض اناملك بعد كل سطر تقرأه ، لا بل كل سطر يهمس به في أذنك من شدة الانبهار، فلم أشعر معه بملل ورتابة الروايات بل شعرت به يهمس في أذني بتفاصيل الروا More...

9 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 13, 2008

Madeline rated it:

This book definitely wins the award for Most Pretentious Title Ever. People would ask me what I was reading, and I would have to respond by reading the title in a sarcastic, Oxford-Professor-of-Literature voice to make it clear that I was aware of how obnoxiously superior I sounded. Honestly, Kundera: stop trying so hard. Chill. Out.
When I first started reading this book, I really disliked it. Kundera wastes the first two chapters on philosophical ramblings before he finally gets around t More...

5 comments like (30 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2011

Eman rated it:

لا اعرف ان كنت سعيدة من الانتهاء من قرأتها أم حزينة ؟ كانت رواية رائعة .. عميقة ..دفينة ..واقعية ..فلسفية..بعدها الإنساني في دواخل المرأة والرجل ،علاقتهما المصيرية ،و دواخل الإنسان التائه في هذا الكون ...الرواية تستاهل رفيو مرررتب :)

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هذه الرواية كالحلم تعبر به الى عوالم الداخل الانسانية تساؤلات عظيمة طِرحت عن ... المصير...الاختيار... المسؤلية …. الحمل "ثقيله وخفيفه"...حاله من الافكار الوجودية مع خلفية سياسية اقتصادية ذات ايقاع انسا More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2011

Weinz rated it:

I spent part of my lazy weekend reading this book on the grassy hills of The Huntington Library surrounded by gardens, art, and beauty. Even the serene surroundings and my sensational reading date could not make up for this book. Weak characters, horrible assumptions, pseudo philosophy, and no clear grasp of how women are actually motivated.

Only wannabe Lotharios who pride themselves as philosophers would enjoy this.

I tried. I really did.

34 comments like (9 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2009

Evan rated it:

Philip Kaufman's 1980s film version was memorable, a wispy art movie that seemed maybe too suffused by a slick 'Elvira Madigan' sensibility, a bit "light," as it were. It was sort of the English Patient of its day (though not as good, perhaps). Juliet Binoche was in both, as it happened.

So I'm starting the book and it riffs a bit on Nietzsche's idea of the eternal return. I can't decide if this is profound or half-baked or both. I'm not convinced that the paradigm of light More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2010

JSou rated it:

NOT A REAL REVIEW...JUST SOME QUOTES THAT I LOVED.

Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.

Tereza saw herself threatened by women, all women. All women were potential mistresses for Tomas, and she feared them all.

Ouch. That one brought back some not-so-good memories.

Her soul had lost its onlooker's curiosity, its malice and pride; it had More...

8 comments like (10 people liked it)

May 19, 2011

K.D. rated it:

Unbelievably original! I have never read a book like this! It is full of dreamlike lyricism, intense emotion, truth and honesty. One of the books that truly deserves to be in both 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and 501 Must Read Books! It is one of the memorable books I've read in the recent past.

This is a story of two couples:
Couple 1: Tomas and Tereza - he is a doctor and she used to be a waitress before their life together. He is a pathological womanizer but he rat More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2008

Michael rated it:

Novels with a philosophical ax to grind can be heavy going, particularly when one blade of the ax is political. Kundera, however, manages to put a keen edge on his philosophical arguments while engaging the reader in a wonderful game of discovery, played by following the relationships that develop among his cast of Platonic characters. If played correctly, the game becomes one of self discovery. To provide perspective and a tongue-in-cheek "insight" into the creative process, the autho More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2008

Amy rated it:

I have a bone to pick with Kundera and his following. People, this has got to be the most over-rated book of human history. I mean, references to infidelity alone (even infidelity that makes use of funky costumes like '50s ganster hats--the only note-and-applauseworthy aspect this book!) do NOT make for good literature, and such is The Unbearable Lightness of Being, in a nutshell. The male protaganist is, hands down, a one-dimensional and boring buffoon, while the female protaganist is lackluste More...

1 comment like (19 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2007

Maria rated it:

I don't like authors who tell me how to read or point out exactly what they think is important in their text. Kundera couldn't keep his mouth shut and wouldn't let the story flow, so he gets a sad face.

Also, one of the characters had a thing for fingering people in the butt. Unless I'm reading male gay erotica, I don't like ass play in my novels.

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2012

Riku rated it:

The Unbelievable Lightness of The Novel

I had started reading this in 2008 and had gotten along quite a bit before I stopped reading the book for some reason and then it was forgotten. Recently, I saw the book in a bookstore and realized that I hadn't finished it. I picked it up and started it all over again since I was not entirely sure where I had left off last time. I was sure however that I had not read more than, say, 30 pages or so.

I definitely could not remember re More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2011

Mrs. Crane rated it:

After reading the first 50 pages of Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, I was very tempted to read the one and two star reviews on Goodreads. Most especially women's reaction to Kundera, but I did my best to refrain from doing so. As usual, I didn't want to be negatively influenced by anyone's reviews from the start.

There was something about this book that annoyed me very much, and I really did struggle to read it from a subjective point of view, however, the scenarios seeme More...

11 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Venus rated it:

بار هستی نام رمانی از میلان کوندرا است که در سال ۱۹۸۴ نوشته شده‌است. این کتاب که در سال ۱۹۶۸ در پراگ در دورهٔ زمانی موسوم به بهار پراگ می‌گذرد، با مفاهیم فلسفی فراوانی سر و کار دارد. ترجمه لغوی نام اصلی آن سَبُکیِ تحمل‌ناپذیر هستی است.
بار هستی ( یا سبکی تحمل ناپذیر هستی ) را شاید بتوان مشهورترین اثر میلان کوندرا دانست این کتاب در ایران هفده بار به چاپ رسیده است . بار هستی تفکر و کاوش درباره زندگی انسان و فاجعه تنهایی او در جهان است .
کوندرا مفاهیم فلسفی را در قالب رمان به نحوی مطرح می More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 17, 2008

Robin rated it:

I felt this book was contrived and to me it seemed as if the author tried desperately to sound intellectual. Instead he came off egotistical. First off all the meandering about Nietzche and quite frankly he set me off to start off by making statements I couldn't agree but he goes right on as if it is a trueism that everyone must believe in.

To be quite frank the characters were boring. The prose was uninteresting. There was no emotion, no real depth, and how many times to I have More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Dorothea rated it:

Having read a lot of books about life under Soviet Communism from the perspective of Christians who suffered under this regime, it was interesting to read a novel set during this same time period from the perspective of intellectuals and artists who also suffered. This is during the time when the Soviets occupied Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s.

The story revolves around the relationship between an adulterous husband and his longsuffering wife. Normally I refuse to read novels in whic More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 12, 2007

Elise rated it:

A narrative about love, sex, humanity, psychology, set in post-1968 Czechoslovakia. References to Nietzsche and Beethoven a'plenty, but not to the point where it's gag-worthy or pretentious (other readers may disagree). Very compelling characters. Well worth reading.

My favorite passage. On its own, not so poignant, but read the book, maybe it'll strike you, too:

"We all need someone to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Daniel rated it:

The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum! What does this mad myth signify?

Putting it negatively, the myth of eternal return states that a life which disappears once and for all, which does not return, is like a shadow, without weight, dead in advance, and whether it was horrible, beautiful, or sublime, i More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2011

NG rated it:

بدايتي مع كونديرا منذ سنوات كانت غير موافقة إطلاقا، بدأت معه برواية "فالس الوادع".. لم أعد اذكر منها شيئاً إلا انها كانت رواية فلسفية مملة..
حسناً يبدو أن التفلسف جزءاً اساسيا من أسلوب كونديرا، لكن الملل ليس طبعا في رواياته...
كائن لا تحتمل خفته رواية ممتعة، وإن كان التفلسف فيها يحوز على مساحة كبيرة جدا.. لكنها أفكار وجيهة تستحق أن تقرأ بعناية..
لا أجد الكثير كي أقوله عن هذه الرواية إلا انها ليست مملة إطلاقا، تحتاج أن تقرأ أكثر من مرة كي يستوعب القارئ كل الأفكار التي ضمنها More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Ghadeer rated it:

بلغة شعرية مليئة بالفلسفة وعالمة بدقائق النفس، قادرة ببراعة على تشريحها بدقة، يربكك ميلان كونديرا ويدوخك، تعلم ان مايكتبه حقيقي جدا، لانك تصدق شخصيات روايته وتشعر بها حية في حيرتها وخيباتها وتأرجحها.
على مدار الرواية يطرح هذا التساؤل الذي حير الفيلسوف بارمينيد منذ القرن السادس قبل الميلاد، الخفة أم الثقل؟ النقيضان الأكثر غموضا بين كل المتناقضات كما يقول.

سيأخذك كونديرا بسلالسة وحنكة إلى هذا الدهليز ولن ترجع منه، لن تكف بعد الانتهاء من الرواية عن البحث عن الخفة والثقل وقد تعي More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2010

Lavinia rated it:

I was able to get some ideas about the lightness and heaviness of the being, I even understood the analogy Oedipus – communism. The stories that take place on this background are, some of them interesting, some of them less interesting. I liked Teresa and Sabina, but I found Tomas a little bit hard to believe. The book is interesting but not fascinating.

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partea buna e ca am dus-o la bun sfirsit, ceea ce nu am reusit cu lentoarea, acum vreo 3 ani. partea interesanta e ca am ci More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 29, 2008

Ben rated it:

well, it was pretty much what i expected. the writing was very good, but there wasn't a shred of joy or humor in the entire book. not one single funny line or moment where anybody seemed to be enjoying life or themselves-- not even in the "love" scenes. just straight up flatline pathos from cover to cover. which to me gets pretty boring pretty fast.

also, i didn't see what nietzsche's eternal recurrence had to do with anything. and all that stuff about heaviness and lightnes More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)