Discussion for The Unbearable Lightness of Being

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Start discussion here for The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

from Reading Group Guides


Summary
Tereza and Tomas, Tomas and Sabina, Sabina and Franz, Franz and Marie-Claude--four people, four relationships. Milan Kundera's masterful novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), tells the interlocking stories of these four relationships, with a primary focus on Tomas, a man torn between his love for Tereza, his wife, and his incorrigible "erotic adventures," particularly his long-time affair with the internationally noted painter, Sabina. The world of Kundera's novel is one in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events. It is a world in which, because everything occurs only once and then disappears into the past, existence seems to lose its substance and weight. Coping with both the consequences of their own actions and desires and the intruding demands of society and the state, Kundera's characters struggle to construct lives of individual value and lasting meaning.

A novel of ideas, a provocative look at the ways in which history impinges on individual lives, and a meditation on personal identity, The Unbearable Lightness of Being examines the imperfect possibilities of adult love and the ways in which free choice and necessity shape our lives. "What then shall we choose?" Kundera asks at the beginning of his novel. "Weight or lightness?" This international bestseller is his attempt to answer that question. And the answer is hinted at in the novel's final scene, in which Tomas and Tereza find themselves in a small country hotel after a rare evening of dancing. When Tomas turns on the light in their room, "a large nocturnal butterfly" rises from the bedside lamp and circles the room in which they are alone with their happiness and their sadness.

Discussion Questions

1. What kinds of being carry the attribute of lightness? How is the "lightness of being" of the novel's title presented? In what ways is it "unbearable"? What is the difference between "the sweet lightness of being" that Tomas enjoys in Zurich, after Tereza's return to Prague, and "the unbearable lightness of being"?

2. How does Nietzsche's myth of eternal return, with which Kundera opens his book, function in the novel? What does Kundera mean when he refers to "the profound moral perversity of a world that rests essentially on the nonexistence of return"? How does what he calls the unbearable burden of eternal return contrast with the "splendid lightness" of our daily lives?

3. How would you describe the three central relationships of the novel--Tereza and Tomas, Tomas and Sabina, Sabina and Franz? How do they embody Kundera's primary concerns and themes?

4. In what ways does Kundera explore what he calls "the irreconcilable duality of body and soul, that fundamental human experience." In what ways does he show this duality to be fundamental?

5. Both Tereza and Tomas repeatedly think of the series of fortuitous events that brought them together. What is the rule of fortuity, chance, and coincidence in their lives and the lives of others? What does Kundera mean when he writes, "Chance and chance alone has a message for us"?

6. In what ways may Sabina's description of her dual-level paintings--"On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth"--apply to every aspect of the characters' lives and relationships?

7. What meanings and importance do each of the main characters ascribe to fidelity and betrayal? In what instances, for each character, do fidelity and betrayal have either positive or negative qualities?

8. Kundera insists that "the criminal regimes were made not by criminals but by enthusiasts convinced they had discovered the only road to paradise." What visions or versions of paradise are presented in the novel? By whom? How does each vision/version of paradise affect the lives of its enthusiasts and the lives of others?

[Amy]

This is on my list to read this year, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

[Mmars]

I read this so many years ago and remember it being a somewhat mind-altering read. Perhaps I was too young to understand it. That said, I'm not sure the book would appeal to me now. I must say though, Kundera's writing really impressed me and the book is worth the effort to read and of enduring value.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

I love this book. It is far and away the best Kundera I have read (yet).

[Amy]

I'm about to start it - the fact that this book is up for discussion now moved up to the top of the pile - that and many of my friends seem to love it!

[Monique]

I have just procured this book too, am excited to start reading.

[Monique]

Just finished and my mind is still trying to compute all the brilliance contained in this novel! Great read, so great.

[Kelly B]

I read this book a month or two ago, and while I thought the writing was brillant, I must admit the actual plot didn't interest me that much. In fact, I don't really remember much about the book except that I liked the writing and ideas set forth in it.

[Rosemarie]

When I read this book I thought it would be a great book because I really like the title. I was really let down when I read it because I couldn't get into it. I appreciated it on an intellectual level but did not like the story.

[Alana]

It wasn't what I was expecting, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's definitely very philosophical, which is fine... I kind of got lost in the poetry of the words and thoughts, more than actually following the flow of the story, but I think that was kind of the idea. I think it's something I just kind of have to stew over for awhile.