the unbearable lightness of being

I loved and hated this book. 

There were just some parts I didn’t understand, some parts that I felt too pretentious. The whole part about Beethoven and “es muss sein” didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t understand the part about Petrin Hill. The discussion of the Grand March I liked, the critique of communism was okay, but overall, I felt that Kundera was trying to tackle too much at once.

I like the way Kundera sketches his characters, the symbolism he etched into the odd details. I still remember Sabina’s bowler hat. The necklace that Marie Claude belittles her over to demonstrate her power. The suitcase Tereza leaves at the station. Those images stick well. 

I loved the parts about 1) Tereza and her mother, Tereza as a young girl 2) Karenin. I cried when I read the scene where Tomas was digging a grave for him, just the way Tereza wanted. He’s loyal. 

I still don’t know what the unbearable lightness of being is, but I like that Kundera didn’t put a values judgement on it. He didn’t say that being light and carefree is irresponsible, that all of our actions must have consequence. Kundera doesn’t condemn Tomas or Sabina; he even paints them in a sympathetic light. For Tereza and Tomas, fidelity required sacrifice. It’s funny to think that Mao wrote about the same stuff in 为人民服务 in 1944 (“人固有一死, 或重于泰山， 或轻于鸿毛”), and even then, he was quoting 司马迁, who lived during the Western Han. So it’s definitely a question we’ve been entertaining for a long time.