The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Overdue Podcast

Jul 12, 2014 Jason rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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"Es Muss Sein!" (It Must be so)

When you examine this book it is addressing what most fiction touches on in some way - humanity. It's ugly and beautiful, it's painful and rewarding, it has a dichotomous nature. It isn't kitsch, nor is it shit, but both of these topics are addressed at some length between the pages.

Lightness/weight, free will/fate, sex/love - which is the negative and which positive? As the reader, we are exposed to the narrator's philosophical debates and watch as the charac "Es Muss Sein!" (It Must be so)

When you examine this book it is addressing what most fiction touches on in some way - humanity. It's ugly and beautiful, it's painful and rewarding, it has a dichotomous nature. It isn't kitsch, nor is it shit, but both of these topics are addressed at some length between the pages.

Lightness/weight, free will/fate, sex/love - which is the negative and which positive? As the reader, we are exposed to the narrator's philosophical debates and watch as the characters live out these debates through a trail and error basis (what some might just call 'life'), with the backdrop of Czechoslovakia being invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union. It's a discussion that is both very small and intimate, but also encompasses the wider world, the public and political sphere. Our view can become uncomfortable and messy, but also enlightening and engaging. We watch as the characters battling with ideas of identity, autonomy, and rightness make life-altering decisions, impacting themselves and those in their spheres of influence, and then see how they play out. We also watch as they are buffeted by the outside world, forces outside of their control propel them towards their fate.

...Human life occurs only once, and the reason we cannot determine which of our decisions are good and which are bad is that in a given situation we can make only one decision; we are not granted a second, third, or fourth life in which to compare various decisions.

You can choose to read this entire book in the context of the over-arching themes, in the light of arguments made by Nietzsche and Parmenides, or you can concentrate on the interactions of the characters, focus on the intimate story of individuals, but if really allow yourself to take both in, to explore the one in the context of the other I think you will find this a very rich read indeed.

Kundera provides characters that are an amalgamation of their worldviews, their self-identity, their flaws, and their weaknesses, and he does this so well that you will find yourself connecting with characters that you might think you should detest. At one point early in the book Kundera has sections headed "A Short Dictionary of Misunderstood Words" that clearly portrays two characters' different viewpoints on seemingly slight, unsubstantial concepts, but those differences vividly represent how the two characters relate to one another. People are not just their words nor their actions, but if you see and hear enough you feel you know their minds and souls. If you are like me, you might find that the easiest character to love and understand is a dog named Karenin (partially because as a dog, he is the least complex [though there is a gender identity element touched upon here]). Each character, including the dog, and their relationships bring the reader seamlessly around to a broader philosophical point/argument.

True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.

The books I love most are those that not only entertain or even bring up important questions, but those that strike me personally, and this is often about timing as much as anything else. This book touched a bit of a nerve for me, as I imagine it would for anyone that has battled within themselves over where they will find true happiness and at what cost? Is it to be found in the results of following one's own desires, or in devoting to another; a life of lightness, freedom, and whims, or one of weight, commitment, and compromise. If you follow cultural norms and pressures then certainly you would choose the latter, but many find this to be at a high cost to their personal freedom and personal identity, but is not harming the one's you love most an even higher cost? These are problematic themes, difficult and discomforting themes, but ones most have to reckon with at some point.

There are layers and depth here and a structure that isn't purely linear. I think this is a book that I could pick up and feel completely different about down the road, and perhaps appreciate even more if that is possible.

Some more squeamish individuals might want to avoid this book, if for no other reason than reading about sexuality and heartbreak. If you do not want to read emotionally tender sentences involving the scent of another woman's groin than perhaps take a pass. ...more

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