The Unbearable Lightness of Being

A Novel

By: Milan Kundera

Narrated by: Richmond Hoxie

When The Unbearable Lightness of Being was first published in English, it was hailed as ""a work of the boldest mastery, originality, and richness"" by critic Elizabeth Hardwick and named one of the best books of 1984 by the New York Times Book Review. It went on to win the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and quickly became an international bestseller. Twenty years later, the novel has established itself as a modern classic. To commemorate the anniversary of its first English-language publication, HarperCollins is proud to offer a special hardcover edition.

A young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing; one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover -- these are the two couples whose story is told in this masterful novel.

Controlled by day, Tereza's jealousy awakens by night, transformed into ineffably sad death-dreams, while Tomas, a successful surgeon, alternates loving devotion to the dependent Tereza with the ardent pursuit of other women. Sabina, an independent, free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals -- of parents, husband, country, love itself -- whereas her lover, the intellectual Franz, loses all because of his earnest goodness and fidelity.

In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence we feel, says the novelist, ""the unbearable lightness of being"" -- not only as the consequence of our private acts but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.

This magnificent novel encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, and embraces, it seems, all aspects of human existence. It juxtaposes geographically distant places (Prague, Geneva, Paris, Thailand, the United States, a forlorn Bohemian village); brilliant and playful reflections (on ""eternal return,"" on kitsch, on man and animals -- Tomas and Tereza have a beloved doe named Karenin); and a variety of styles (from the farcical to the elegiac) to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of one of the world's truly great writers.

Good book!

Not a love story in the conventional form, but a story within a story, intertwined with a littlw bit of history.

Just Listen to Alanis Morissette

What a let down of an ending. TLDR for this book is basically 'life is p ironic lol'

Introspective and Entertaining

Kundera blends thoughtful musings on life, art, love, happiness, destiny etc. with great character development and storytelling. The narrative follows the lives, decisions, and inner monologues of several main characters. It is well-written and entertaining. I enjoyed the narration by Richmond Hoxie as well.

Why can't the chapters coincide with the book?

How difficult can it be to edit the audio book chapters to coincide with the chapters in the book? This is a very basic operation and should be easily accomplished. Unfortunately, in this case and many others, that simple requirement has not been fulfilled.

Beautiful!

It is hard to put to words the beauty of this book. I listened because it was recommended for the purpose of learning how to ask questions. It did much more than that!