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30 August 2023 - Larzabale
I don't think I had ever heard of Milan Kundera before he died last month. I'd certainly never read anything he'd written. After reading his obituary in the Economist I decided to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Wow. Kundera approaches a complicated love story with the eyes of a philosopher. A discussion of Nietzsche starts things off. The main characters are each given sections from their perspective by an omniscent narrator. There are sections dedicated to words and how the lovers understand them differently. Most of the characters are Czech, but a good deal of the story takes place in my home, Switzerland. Kundera does an excellent job weaving a tale where lightness, not heaviness or difficulty, breaks the relationship. And his ability to take us into the mind of men and women in love is insightful. I understand why it's considered a classic.
