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The tender story of a Czech serial adulterer and his wife, written in the early 1980s but set during times of political and personal upheaval, as told/analysed by a philosopher-cum-psychologist (who never explains his relationship with the characters). Light and deep - deserving of rereading. The Oxford Companion to Eng Lit cites this as an example of magic realism - though I can't see why.
"She had slipped him Hercules' broom, and he had used it to sweep everything he despised out of his life. A ...more
"She had slipped him Hercules' broom, and he had used it to sweep everything he despised out of his life. A ...more
Upon finishing: Lawrence Durrell described his Alexandria Quartet in 1958 or so as "an investigation of modern love". But Durrell breaths baroque prose and colonialism; besides a few concerns with form and subjective interpretation, I question his modernism. Much better are Milan Kundera's investigations into how humans relate to eachother here, perceptive and rendered in a crisp web of reference and metaphor. His style allows him sympathy and understanding mostly free from excessive sentimental
...more
Read in Seoul.
"He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural.
We can 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.
Was it better to be with Tereza or to remain alone?
There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison. We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. ...more
"He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural.
We can 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.
Was it better to be with Tereza or to remain alone?
There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison. We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. ...more
Apr 20, 2010
Juniper
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
literature,
to-acquire
Nov 29, 2010
Russell
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
hot-damn-favorites,
kundera
Apr 15, 2011
pearl
marked it as to-read
Jun 03, 2011
Mark
marked it as to-read
Aug 01, 2011
Aloha
marked it as to-read
