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Kundera's second 'written in French' novel reminds me very much of those 1960's 'new wave'(?) French films that told stories in a non-conventional, personal to the characters, led way. A deep dive + metaphysical character study of contemporary coupledom through the lens of middle-aged French couple Chantal and Jean-Marc. A sparse modern French reality written using sparse language focuses on the work, and sacrifices we do, and make to maintain romantic partnerships. Chantal comments that she no longer gets attention from men as she ages; and Jean-Marc tries to remedy that in a typically short-sighted ill-thought out male way, but his idea came from a good place.

Kundera can do little wrong for me, and he takes the most simple acts like going down to a beach or laying down in a bed and makes them compelling and poetic; so what on the face is a simple story of a couple trying to find a place for their aging relationship, that can feed them both, is a magnus opus on the nature of humanity and the concept we are all truly alone and can never really know someone else; and all done with beautiful sparse prose and storytelling, that makes it all uplifting! A Four Star 8 out of 12 read for me.

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