ŷ

Readers' Most Anticipated Books for Spring
The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Questions About The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by Milan Kundera

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Unbearable Lightness of Being, please sign up.

Answered Questions (12)

Holy Smokes! I finally found my favorite book (and author) TD!! Please let me know if anyone feels the same and has other like suggestions? :-)
Nathalie Gagnon He's the best. I enjoy philosophy amd psychology and this guy is a genious... If this is now your favourite then read everything he wrote...
He might …mǰHe's the best. I enjoy philosophy amd psychology and this guy is a genious... If this is now your favourite then read everything he wrote...
He might even surprise you some more :). I really liked Slowness, Ignorance and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.
Virgil Gheorghiu wrote a book called La Vingt-Cinquième Heure (The 25th Hour?) which is also pretty close... You might like it.(less)
flag
I just saw the movie based on the book. But I haven't read the book. Should I?
Helene Farber (Provance) If you liked the movie you may not like the book because it is totally different, i.e. the book is brilliant. The movie did not reflect the book very …mǰIf you liked the movie you may not like the book because it is totally different, i.e. the book is brilliant. The movie did not reflect the book very well at all. On the other hand, you may love the book as it would clarify the mess of the movie. It's a great philosophical novel. (less)
flag
Is this a good book to start with if I haven't read anything by Kundera yet?
Dace � Yes, definitely.
flag
Do you think this book is autobiographical?
Maureen Spengel In chapter 15, part 5 the narrator directly addresses this question.

"As I have pointed out before, characters are not born like people, of woman; the…mǰIn chapter 15, part 5 the narrator directly addresses this question.

"As I have pointed out before, characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no one else has discovered or said anything essential about... But isn't it true that an author can write only about himself?"

The narrator's meta-reflection about an autobiographical characterization is transparently summed up when he states, "I have known all these situations, I have experienced them myself, yet none of them has given rise to the person my curriculum vitae and I represent. The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified of them."

Is the narrator stating that he has lived the situation, yet not the response? Does the response then become the delicate and intricate image which literature sets up to act as a mirror for the human condition to realize its potential?

"The novel is not the author's confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become." Maybe an autobiography can only ever truly be "written" through this literary, distant lens as if to say, only then, through reflection and imagination is the nature of the human condition fully realized and understood. (less)
flag
بار هستی رو سال اول که چاپ شد خوندم چون من از شماها بزرگترم ? میلا ن کندرا راو شناختم خوشم اومد از صراحت و روراستی او برای اولین بار خیانت چهره ی زیبایی داشت و بار هستی با انکه دشوار بود اما هوس انگیز بود ایا شما موافقید ؟
Nima دقیقا! همینطوره
اصن اجازه ی قضاوت متداول در مورد شخصیت ها و کارهاشون رو نمیده کمی جلوتر مچ ادم رو میگیره…mǰدقیقا! همینطوره
اصن اجازه ی قضاوت متداول در مورد شخصیت ها و کارهاشون رو نمیده کمی جلوتر مچ ادم رو میگیره(less)
flag

Unanswered Questions (14)

About ŷ Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the ŷ community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions