[Read in Spanish] -- [Reseña en español más abajo]

I have many things to say about this book, thus I may forget some ideas I have in mind. First of all, I should point out that I have been living in Prague for a few years, so I do feel identified with this book. I think I will start with the four main characters that Kundera decides not to describe them physically with too much detail, but he focuses in the phycological or moral side. I think I read this book in the correct moment of my life, since it often describes what is good or what is bad, the morality and immorality. Now: How can that be defined? Why something that is good for you has to be good for me as well, and viceversa? What is correct or incorrect in life? What is moral or immoral in life? I am convinced that every human being can think and do whatever they want as long as someone else is not hurt. I am saying this regarding Tomáš and Tereza who see life from a different perspective, but at the end they love each other. Maybe in their own way but... Does it matter? They love each other and that's it. They are happy in their own way. I like that the narrator is not omnipotent and at the same time it is narrated in 3rd person, from another perspective. I also want to highlight the thoughts the chapters usually end with and what Milan writes with the purpose of making you think of who or what we are and if we have any mission in life, if you should have any mission in life, if we are a good person or not. I love reading novels that make you think over and over, it's catchy.
Special words to the amazing Karenin, I am specifically talking about the end of the book (I won't say spoilers, so keep on reading), since I went through a similar situation not that long ago and it touched me so much that I cried.
Regarding the plot, I have read and watched many documentaries about Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic since this has been my home for years and the situation is quite sad regarding politics, wars and those disgusting things. I am glad to read history about this country that definitely doesn't have all the popularity it deserves, since it is a country with beautiful culture and language.
Of course this book is very recommendable, but I recommend to read it carefully so you can enjoy the book even more. I will wait for a couple of months to read it again. I liked it a lot.

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Tengo muchas cosas para comentar de este libro, así que quizás olvidaré algunos puntos que tenía en mente. Primero que todo, debo aclarar que vivo en Praga hace ya varios años, por lo que este libro me identifica aún más. Creo que comenzaré por los cuatro personajes principales, de los cuales Kundera decide no describirlos físicamente con tanto detalle, sino que se enfoca en lo psicológico o valórico si se quiere. Creo que leí este libro en el momento correcto de mi vida, ya que en el libro a menudo se cuestiona lo que está bien o lo que está mal, lo moral o inmoral. Ahora: ¿Cómo se puede definir eso? ¿Por qué algo que esté bien para ti tiene que estar bien para mí, y viceversa? ¿Qué es correcto o incorrecto en la vida? ¿Qué es moral o inmoral en la vida? Soy un convencido que cada ser humano puede pensar lo que quiera y hacer lo que quiera siempre y cuando no dañe a la persona que está al lado. Digo esto en relación a Tomáš y Tereza, los cuales tienen miradas de la vida bastante distintas, pero al final se aman; quizás a su manera, pero ¿Acaso eso importa? Se aman y listo ¡Son felices a su manera!
Me gusta mucho que la narración no sea omnipotente y a la vez "dicha" por una tercera persona, desde afuera. También quiero rescatar el sin fin de moralejas que hay al final de cada capítulo, y lo que Milan escribe con el propósito de hacerte pensar en quién o qué eres, si tienes alguna misión en la vida, si deberías tener una misión en la vida, si eres buena persona o si no lo eres. Me encanta leer novelas que te hacen pensar y que agiten tu cabeza. Es algo atrapante.
Comentario aparte merece el gran Karenin, específicamente hablando del final del libro (No diré spoilers, así que siga leyendo) ya que pasé por una situación muy similar hace no tanto tiempo y me tocó tanto el corazón que me hizo llorar. Hace tiempo que no lloraba con un libro.
Con respecto a la historia, he leído y visto muchos documentales sobre Checoslovaquia y República Checa ya que ha sido mi hogar hace años y es en verdad lamentable todo el tema de política, guerras y asquerosidades similares. Me alegra leer historia sobre este país que definitivamente no tiene toda la popularidad que se merece, ya que es un país, cultura e idioma hermoso.
Por supuesto que este libro es muy recomendable, pero recomiendo leerlo con atención ya que se puede disfrutar mucho más de lo que Milan escribe y transmite. Esperaré un par de meses para leerlo nuevamente. Me gustó mucho.

the people in this book have a lot of sex. 75% of the book is getting down and doing the nasty (or thinking about it). the sex parts are written in that lofty academic language of "heat" and "passion". the word moist is used liberally. all the really raunchy stuff about body fluids is left out. though probably not too much fluid was exchanged because these people fucked and fucked and fucked and never had babies. the really interesting stuff comes between the sex parts.

the book is propelled along with a series of misunderstandings. coincidences and other people actions are easy to misinterpret. is this song playing because the universe is conspiring to send me a message? do you understand me when i stand naked in front of a mirror wearing a bowler cap? probably not, unless you have read this book. shared understanding only develops over time.

the idea of the soul is huge:

"A long time ago, man would listen in amazement to the sound of regular beats in his chest, never suspecting what they were. He was unable to identify himself with so alien and unfamiliar an object as the body. The body was a cage, and inside the cage was something which looked, listened, feared, thought, and marveled; that something, that remainder left over after the body had been accounted for, was the soul.


Today, of course, the body is no longer unfamiliar: we know that the beating in our chest is the heart and that the nose is the nozzle of a hose sticking out of the body to take oxygen to the lungs. The face is nothing but an instrument panel registering all the body mechanisms: digestion, sight, hearing, respiration, thought.

Ever since man has learned to give each part of the body a name, the body has given him less trouble. He has also learned that the soul is nothing more than the gray matter of the brain in action. The old duality of body and soul has become shrouded in scientific terminology, and we can laugh at it as merely an obsolete prejudice.

But just make someone who has fallen in love listen to his stomach rumble, the unity of body and soul, that lyrical illusion of the age of science, instantly fades away."

a question raised by the author, is our body a reflection of our soul? do we have a pretty face because we have a pretty soul?

another topic was our life as music. the motifs introduced early in our life are repeated as we grow older. when we are old the music is largely set. few new themes and ideas are added.

i don't particularly agree with these ideas, but it does give you something to munch on and ponder. the book abounds with interesting and unanswerable questions. you might be asking yourself, "what does mr. kundera think about questions?"

this is your answer:

"Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive questions are truly serious. They are questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit for human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence."

Sublime!
The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.
Milan Kundera

Really 3.5, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and rounded up to 4.

This book is a series of anecdotes with moments of deep and surreal introspection. There are several time jumps that throw off the linearity - sometimes causing confusion, but not too badly. All of these are part of one all encompassing story.

Basically a story of sexuality and the cold war in Czechoslovokia. The beginning two sections were a little hard for me to get into, but after that I either got used to the writing or the story changed. I had kind of settled into thinking that I wouldn't end up liking it, but that definitely changed as I kept reading.

I don't think I can say that overall this book blew me away, but it is a very interesting story about life and relationships affected by the political climate in Eastern Europe post WWII, and I am glad that I read it.

DNF: 50%

Unpopular opinion will follow;

The unbearable lightness of being was indeed an unbearable read. Both the writing & the characters were indifferent. I couldn't relate to them, they felt so distant, annoying at some level and generally disappointing. The philosophical value of the book didn't reach me. The plot was non existent and the story was boring. I honestly was positive that this book would be to my liking, well it wasn't. It failed to touch me, to make me question life or anything for crying out loud, it left me apathetic and unmoved. I am not claiming that it was pseudophilosophical or pretentious, but average, ordinary and overrated and tbh i can't understand why it's praised so badly.

Out of all those years of reading this is the first time that I actually regreted buying a book. What can I say? Maybe recommendations don't work for me...

There are many unbearable things in this book, none of them having to do with the lightness of being. The unbearable misogyny of this book. The unbearable self-importance of this book. I have read this book two or three times because people around me love it, and every time I get the sense that it was written by either a fifteen-year old boy or a narcissistic sociopath with a real knack for language. there is something really comic about the book (which is made incredibly obvious if you ever decide to watch the movie), especially any of the scenes related to seduction/sex. Of course there are very pretty and even poignant parts of the novel, but it is so self-congratulatory and entitled about its own prettiness, it comes off as nothing but clever, and more than a little soulless.

هل هي الثقل أم الخفة أم الأثنين معاً؟
هل هي رواية أم تحليل نفسي أم فلسفة حياة أم إعادة تناول لمفاهيم الحياة؟
هل هي جانب من الحياة أم كل الحياة؟؟
بدايةً هي أول قراءاتي لكونديرا ولن تكون الأخيرة بعد قراءتي لهذه الراوية، فقبل أي شئ بهرني أسلوب كونديرا في السرد، وللحق سألقبه بـ "الحكاء الذكي" نعم فهو يتمتع بقدر من الذكاء ما يجعلك تعض اناملك بعد كل سطر تقرأه ، لا بل كل سطر يهمس به في أذنك من شدة الانبهار، فلم أشعر معه بملل ورتابة الروايات بل شعرت به يهمس في أذني بتفاصيل الرواية، إحترم وقدر القارئ في كل سطر ولم تفوته فائته، في كل موقف أو مشهد يسرده يلحقه لك بشرح مبسط، يذكرك دائماً بكل التفاصيل التي قصها عليك من قبل، مثلما قال"نعم لقد كتبت هذه الجملة في الفصل الأول" فهو حقاً احترمني -كقارئ- فانحنيت له احتراماً، لم يتعامل معي على انني متلقي فقط بل يتعايش معي ، ينبهني تاره ويذكري بما قد انسى تاره اخرى، لم يفصل نفسه -كسارد للأحداث - بل اقتحم معي في الاحداث، فشاركني المتعة اثناء القراءة

للإختصار الرواية يتمركز خطها السردي حول اربعة شخصيات رئيسة أهمهم توماس بطل الراوية، هذه الشخصيات تتنوع بين الخفة والثقل، تدور الرواية على خلفية أحداث سياسية "ثقيلة" حيث اجتياح روسيا لدولة التشيك خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية، و على خلفية انتشار النظام الشيوعي "الثقيل" كما يظن.
أكثر شخصية تفاعلت معها كانت تريزا، تلك المرأة الثقيلة التي فشلت في ارتداء عباءة الخفة التي يترتديها توماس طوال الوقت، وللحق بارع هو كونديرا في تجسيد صورة الخائن بالشخص الذي يتمتع بالخفة، رغم ان الخطايا هي أكثر ما يثقل الإنسان
أكثر ما أعجبني -بل بهرني- الفصل الثالث الذي تناول شرح مفصل للمفاهيم بين توماس وسابينا، فعلى الرغم من أنه خلا من أي جانب روائي إلا انه زاد الرواية ثقلاً معنوياً وفكرياً صادم جداً-لأنه جديد في طريقه تناوله- ومبهر جداً جداً في ما حمله من معاني
أكثر ما ازعجني انني توقفت عن قراءتها لفترة ثم عدتها لها وانهيتها، وسأعاود قراءتها بالإنجليزية وربما سأبدأ فيها من الآن

وللحق
هذه المراجعة لا تعطي الرواية حقها فقد كتبتها على عجل وربما أعود لكتابة مراجعة أخرى لاحقاً فالرواية بها العديد من الجوانب التي يجب التوقف عندها لشدة ما كانت مبهرة ولا يمكن اغفالها
وفي النهاية: الرواية ليست اعترافاً ذاتياً للكاتب ، و إنما تنقيب عمّا تصير عليه الحياة الإنسانية في الفخ الذي يسمّى العالم

الخمس نجوم أعطيها بشكر خاص لميلان كونديرا الذي اعتبره منذ الآن من كتابي المفضلين، ريتنا نملك روائيين أذكياء مثله
:)

اولا
دعوت ادیبانه به تَجُرد، رَگه هایِ عیانِ اَبنورمالیتی یِ روحی-روانی یِ نویسنده که در جای جایِ کتاب، عَلمِ طُغیان و درفشِ عُصیان (بی غایت نِگَری)، ضد همه چیز و همه کس بلند کرده، فریاد بی صدایِ تنِ عُریانِ خیانتِ در روابط رومانتیک، بی هماهنگ ظاهر شدن و بی خبر رفتن ها، غُرشِ آرمانِ بی آرامه یِ کمونیسم، نَه در زادگاهش "روسیه" و نه حتی در هجمه گاهِ 1968ی اَش، "چکسلواکی"-زادگاه کوندرا- ، به گاهِ "بهارِ پراگ"، ایضا

دوما
ترجمه، زیبنده و روان است و رعایتِ دقیقِ علائمِ نگارشی توسطِ مترجم، منظورِ نویسنده رو از سوتفاهمِ ناشی از تبدیلِ زبانی، محفوظ میداره

سوما
کتاب خیلی کُند خونده میشه و سخت پیش میره و ضمنا اینکه، در جاهایی که نویسنده حینِ داستان گوئی ، سری هم به دشت کربلا میزنه و ایده ها و ایدئال هاشو رو لُخت و لَخت، به خوردِ چشمانِ ناز و ذهنِ زیبای مخاطباش میده ، سرعتِ خوانش میاد پایین

Ho letto l'intero libro immaginando la storia come un film tutto in bianco e nero. Poi ho scoperto che c'è un film a colori su questa storia (che vedrò di ricuperare presto), in tanto nella mia testa gira ancora il film in scala di grigi.

Il romanzo tratta dei dubbi esistenziali, di coppia, politici, sociali, sessuali, di riconoscimento, di lotta, di vita e di morte di una serie di intellettuali dell'Europa (Cecoslovacchia) della fine degli anni sessanta del secolo scorso. La storia principale è interpretata da Tomáš, un chirurgo donnaiolo di Praga, divorziato e risposato in seconde nozze con Tereza, che non esita a tradirla con altre donne anche se per lui, il suo vero amore è lei, e le altre sono solo esperienze per provare a scoprire quella percentuale insignificante che rende ogni persona diversa. Da lì partono una serie di relazioni di Tomáš (con la sua prima moglie, con suo figlio, con i suoi amanti, in particolare con Sabina, una pittrice) e Tereza (con sua madre, con un amante occasionale) e entrambi con il loro cane Karenin.

Ogni relazione si diffonde in altri modi, coinvolgendo altre persone. Kundera ha la capacità di tornare a raccontare più volte una delle sue scene (bisogno dell'eterno ritorno di Nietzsche?), con l'obbiettivo di mostrare il punto di vista di ciascuna delle persone che l'hanno vissuta, completando le opinioni precedenti e arricchendo la storia. Pertanto, ognuno spiega le proprie posizioni riguardo al sesso, alla gelosia, all'infedeltà, alla dipendenza, al destino, al futuro, alla comunicazione (e la loro mancanza), ecc.

Un'altra chiave del romanzo è la critica all'occupazione sovietica della Cecoslovacchia nell'anno 1968, dopo la primavera di Praga. In questo senso fa un appello anti-totalitario, anti-comunista, e forse anche anti-religioso e "anti-intellettuale" (offre qui una dura autocritica di quella sinistra reazionaria che lui chiama Kitsch, e noi oggi li troviamo sotto il gruppo dei "buonisti" o i "radical-chic"). Un affresco dell'Europa della fine degli anni sessanta che, attraverso il prisma della situazione attuale, non sembra essere cambiato molto.

La lettura richiede un'attenzione speciale in ogni pagina, esige un alto livello di concentrazione che non è sempre possibile raggiungere, io nelle prima parte mi ero un po' perso e ho dovuto rileggere più assorto per capire i concetti più filosofici che l'autore tenta di spiegare.

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