Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Someone offhandedly pointed this book out to me as I passed by a NYC book seller in the street. It was a wonderful suggestion. Reading it stretched my immagination and my mind. If you want a good story that makes you ponder the world, with some bits of philosophy thrown in, then this is your book.
Rating: 
Summary: Purposeful Ambiguity
Review: In the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera takes great pains to mask what is essentially, an indictment against lightness. Through a process of purposeful ambiguity, Kundera sets up three important and interrelated themes in the novel. These three themes need to be examined at some length in order to understand Kundera's complexity and unravel his indictment against lightness.Firstly, there is the psychological construct of the eternal return as developed by Friedrich Nietzsche. Kundera begins The Unbearable Lightness of Being with: The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one, and Nietzsche has often perplexed other philosophers with it: to think that everything recurs as we once experienced it, and that the recurrence itself recurs ad infinitum! What does the mad myth signify? Putting it negatively, the myth of eternal return states that a life which disappears once and for all, which does not return, is like a shadow, without weight, dead in advance, and whether it was horrible, beautiful or sublime, its horror, sublimity, and beauty mean nothing.(1) The eternal return forms the foundation of the discourse of the opposition between lightness and weight. The eternal return moves us to reconsider whether the accidental nature of human existence (einmal ist keinmal) makes it less significant. Is lightness positive or negative? Parmenides posits that lightness is positive. Kundera's position is that it is negative. Kundera and Nietzsche see the heaviest of burdens as the image of life's most intense fulfillment. Nietzsche and Kundera advocate the need for significance, which springs from weight as if both were synonymous. Kundera asks us what the mad myth of the eternal return signifies in all of its perplexity. The perplexity is played out in Kundera's stories within stories. Secondly, through the love story of Tomas, Tereza and Sabina, Kundera plays out his indictment against lightness. Within this braid of interwoven relations, Kundera places the duality of lightness and weight side by side, seemingly not endorsing one or the other. To give a better picture of the dynamics that surround the three main characters it is important to focus on each character separately and then in relation to each other. Kundera creates complex characters with hard choices and unique circumstances. Despite the purposeful ambiguity, the search for meaning leans towards the necessity of significance, which comes from a sense of weight. Thirdly, Kundera plays out his indictment against lightness in the public arena, placing the personal stories within the historical framework of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August of 1968; through this mechanism history becomes another story within a story. Are events forgiven in advance because they happen only once? Kundera poses questions of historical significance surrounding the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. History repeats itself while collectively we tend to forget that a similar event occurred previously. We regard events with little significance because we see occurrences in isolation, never to happen again. In this sense, his indictment against lightness is justified, accurate and timely. The Czech experience reflects the duality of lightness and weight within the context of the eternal return. How? Collectively, do we negate or affirm the takeover?
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent insight into the human nature
Review: A prolific attempt to identify what makes us need companionship in life so badly. Kundera explores psychology of his characters to an amazing depth, trying to understand the relationships between the conflicting desires that we possess and act upon. What makes a man leave the woman that he loves and is perfectly happy with and seek something intangible in arms of a mistress? Why does the same man sacrifice everything he has - freedom, social status, and his life's work - only to go back to the same woman he absolutely had to leave earlier? Is any kind of a permanent responsibility bound to eventually become a horrible "weight" - a burden pulling us to the ground? Is the absence of any responsibilities and ties in life really "light"? Could this absolute lightness turn into absolute emptiness and thus become unbearable at some point? Kundera brilliantly examines all these questions, and often comes up with mesmerizing insights of what being human is all about. Unbearable Lightness Of Being is fabulously humane and kind, showing how vulnerable we are, and how miserable we can be made by our contradictory desires and aspirations. I am convinced that anyone who reads deep enough into this novel will be shocked many a times, and will incredulously mutter: "Oh, my God! Kundera is talking about me!"
Rating: 
Summary: right brain or left brain
Review: to tell the truth, i didn't finish this book, so my review is limited to the hundred or so pages i did get through. i first heard of kundera's book from an instructor of mine in college. he, as well as others in the class, raved about the book, so i decided to check it out. but i just couldn't get through it. the characters did not capture me or make me feel any affinity towards them so that i would continue reading. and kundera's continuous interjections to contemplate philosophical issues disturbed the story's momentum. i suppose for those who enjoy philosophical inquiries and who have high levels of concentration and patience (i.e., lovers of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance) this book is heavenly, but for those who can't endure 'authorial disturbances' (and characters as simply symbols) this book is a long and tedious experience.
Rating:
Summary: Cynicism is an awful disease
Review: This novel has a sickening cynicism that is hard to take. I like the film much better. This doesn't mean that I like my reality lite. I just think that cynicism harms the world. The film is no walk in the park, mind you. It is painful, powerful, and passionate. And it gives you a lot more to like than the novel does. I don't know why this novel is thought to be a masterpiece, but I'm glad the screenwriters of the film thought it was, because I love that version of the story. The novel is repetitive and its narrative style is somewhat pretentious, too. Way too much Kundera coming through.
Rating:
Summary: Top five
Review: This book is one of my top five books ever. It is wonderful. The type of book that you finsh and start over again. Most pages are dogeared and underlined. I would recomend this book to anyone who wants to get a little more out of a novel than just entertainment. One tip - don't watch the movie first...it is too hard to put into a movie the philosohpical doctrines that Kundera creates in this book. Read it first, then watch the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Positive Weight
Review: A man torn between thought and emotion, between love and lust. A woman who lives for rebellion. Another whose body is simply an amplifier for her emotions. Why is it that I keep coming back to this book? I read this book years ago, then on a trip to Europe read it again and found new meaning in Kundera's incredibly accurate insights. His ability to grasp the essence of human nature and then weave a tale around it is what makes his novels true classics. The Unbearable Lightness of Being will connect your mind and heart.
Rating:
Summary: A life-enhancing novel
Review: Kundera's novel is brilliant. Quite simply, it's one of thebest novels I've read in a very long time. But I have to admit that Ionly decided to read it after seeing the movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis & Juliette Binoche. But the novel is far more satisfying. Kundera's definition of beauty being the ability to recognise coincidences and to draw meaning from them is just beautiful. And the existentialist Teresa is one 'minor' character readers will not easily forget. There is so much to this novel - philosophical musings, death, sex, politics, exile, love - that intelligent readers will literally have what Hemingway termed a 'movable feast' in their two hands when reading it. Bravo Kundera! You truly are a brilliant writer. END
Rating:
Summary: Deeply Moving
Review: A great book, sad and moving. A story about men, women and the differences among them.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant masterpiece!
Review: This is the kind of novel that changes your life. For anyone who appreciates the brilliance of the writings of Kafka or Havel, this is a must read. The book's primary theme is that of lightness versus heaviness. Lightness is casted negatively by Kundera, and rightly so. A great read due to its message and unconventional style. Kundera is a master of the written word.
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