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Dewey Decimal Number: 891.8635 EAN: 9780060152581 Edition: 1 ISBN: 0060152583 Label: Harper & Row Manufacturer: Harper & Row Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 314 Publication Date: 1984-02 Publisher: Harper & Row Studio: Harper & Row Editorial Review: Product Description: 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. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - greati really enjoyed this book, it's one of those ones you have to think about. the story follows two couples, tomas and tereza and sabina and franz. these people are used to embody certain ideals and characteristics, and i interpreted their actions more as metaphor rather than just an act in itself. i suppose one of the major themes in the book is expressed in the title, this idea of weight in association with how we interact with the world, and whether or not it is a good or bad thing ... Read More Rating: - I lived in this book those daysCan't forget the days when I was reading this novel. It felt I was living inside the book with those engrossing characters all the time. And when I was not reading it, I'd feel as if I had stepped out for a while and ould eagerly wait to re-enter that amazing world of romance and complications once again. A must read for those who believe that love is only a small part of life, for here life is a small part of love. Rating:  - The Fashionable Triteness of Something or Another'68. "Socialism with a Human face." Sexual Liberation et. al. Pose straw men and women and shake their hands, then take them to bed, several times moreover, and in different combinations. Mmm just can't get enough of that plaid . . . Just heavy enough to discipline a cat with (not quite 1 lb) and just ontologically void enough to deflate your mind and defuse the imagination before you are able to (some 320 pgs, being 100 shy of 420 pages). This is the novel that defined a generation: that elected ... Read More Rating:  - Mystical LoveThis book may not be for everyone but I simply loved it. A love story with a philosophical bent it leaves you questioning your own life and decisions. Burdened by love or light enough to achieve beauty or somewhere in between? This quote from the beginning of the book says it all: "The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of ... Read More Rating: - great but not the bestMilan Kundera's book, The Unearable Lightness of Being was a great, light but heartfelt read. I am sure can all relate to Sabine's sittuation with Tomas and the feeling of being/ seeming wonderfull but never being 'the one'. Kundera's reading reminds me of Salinger and Kesey's works but is not as good. |
