Book Twenty-One of the Book-a-Week QuestThe Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera (1984)
There's a simple story here -- Tomas and Tereza are a couple. Tomas cheats on Tereza with woman upon woman, one of whom happens to be Sabina. Sabina is not exclusive to Tomas, as she also sleeps with Franz who is cheating on his wife with woman upon woman. They ramble on and on about their hatred for Communism, their dismissal of religions, and their love for sex, and most of them think they're happy. But in reality, none of them are living the lives they really long to live. They're all fairly unhappy, wallowing around in a world that contains no real substance...no real weight...hence the title -- they're living in a state of "unbearable lightness of being."
I didn't hate the book, and, in fact, liked most of the characters despite the fact that I could not relate to a single one of them. But, the book made me feel stupid. There's very little plot and a lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo. Despite the fact that I consider myself a learned man, I don't know nearly enough about Nietzsche or Beethoven to be able to read a book that goes into detail on their respective theories or symphonies. And it wasn't just those two guys...Two-thirds of the book felt as if the plot was thrown to wayside and Kundera was simply writing a textbook on European philosophy and art.
Had the book focused more on the characters (however repulsive and brutish they were), I would've been intrigued. But, instead, by focusing on the philosophical aspects, Kundera made this book feel like school. I took a class on analyzing philosophy...I hated it and I didn't need to rehash that experience.
I didn't hate the book, and, in fact, liked most of the characters despite the fact that I could not relate to a single one of them. But, the book made me feel stupid. There's very little plot and a lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo. Despite the fact that I consider myself a learned man, I don't know nearly enough about Nietzsche or Beethoven to be able to read a book that goes into detail on their respective theories or symphonies. And it wasn't just those two guys...Two-thirds of the book felt as if the plot was thrown to wayside and Kundera was simply writing a textbook on European philosophy and art.
Had the book focused more on the characters (however repulsive and brutish they were), I would've been intrigued. But, instead, by focusing on the philosophical aspects, Kundera made this book feel like school. I took a class on analyzing philosophy...I hated it and I didn't need to rehash that experience.
Hrm. I read the book Junior year (and another Kundera book) so I don't remember a lot of details.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember liking is the style in which it was written. How he would go into intimate details on what every character thought, and how events in their lives contributed to them thinking that way.
I also remember liking all of the literary references. But that was obviously in the 11th grade when I hadn't realized philosophy was boring as hell. I actually own Anna Karenina because of this book, haven't read it yet, since I've been reading another book by Tolstoy for the last 4 years(War and Peace).
My review comes off as a little harsh but I didn't dislike the book, per se.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the writing style is very readable...had it not been, there's no way I would've made it through the mumbo jumbo.
I will also agree that I enjoyed the time he spent with the characters immensely...it was the endless philosophical tangents that bored me to no end.
All that said, I really want to see this movie now...
Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lena Olin in the main roles should be great. I'm incredibly intrigued to see how they make this book which contains very little dialogue and a ton of inner monologues into a watchable flick.
Yeah. It's been around 70 on my queue for the last year... I will probably never watch it. It is apparently good though.
ReplyDeleteIt took me three months to get through the movie.
ReplyDeleteTotally sexist comment coming up...
ReplyDeleteYeah...but there's naked chicks in it, right?