The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Fiction suggested by Shirley
Passion and politics of the Prague Spring, this philosophical fiction explores a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events.
From Amazon – … the story of two couples: a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing, and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. Set against the backdrop of the Prague Spring, this unforgettable work of philosophical fiction explores 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 “the unbearable lightness of being” not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.
This magnificent novel is a story of passion and politics, infidelity and ideas, and encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, illuminating all aspects of human existence.