On the Unbearable Lightness of Being

This book took me some time to get into. When I began to read it, I had hoped that it would be a book centered on the 1968 Revolution in Prague. That is not what this book is about. Instead, this is a book about beauty and about opportunity. Despite not being about the aborted revolution in Prague, I have the sense that this book will stick with me. It is a scathing critique of Communism (big-C), as well as all sweeping ideology. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a fundamentally postmodern and existential work, seeking to annihilate the foundation of all “grand narratives.” Yet, it also echoes Candide and Related Writings.

Essentially, I get the sense that Kundera’s primary arguments are that

1. All ideology is kitsch, and all kitsch is bad—nuances add texture and reality to life.
2. There are more than material realities that we must pay attention to—the soul is fundamental.
3. All decisions have equal pointlessness in the long term—this can be liberating or oppressive, depending on the way one sees it.

The characters in the book are ambiguous—Sabina is probably the most likable, but her tendency towards betrayal is off-putting. Tereza cannot wipe away the insecurities that her mother instilled in her. Tomas is constantly cheating on his wife, arguing that there is a difference between love and lust—perhaps this is true, but he hurts Tereza in following this line of thought. And finally, the least likable character is Franz, who has always lived a reasonably bourgeois life but puts himself into the middle of left-wing protests and manifestations in the hopes of pushing forward the “grand march” of history. Yet, all seem to conclude that their lives do not have any fundamental meaning.