The Unbearable Lightness of Being :'A dark and brilliant achievement' (Ian McEwan)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being :'A dark and brilliant achievement' (Ian McEwan)
paperback
Published:
21 August, 2000
Popular Books by Milan Kundera
View All Books by Milan Kundera
Description
The bestselling modern classic for fans of Dostoyevsky's White Nights and Sabahattin Ali'sMadonna in a Fur Coat: the iconic novel of love, angst and politics in communist Czechoslovakia.
A young woman is in love with a successful surgeon: a man torn between his love for her and his womanising. His mistress, a free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals, while her other lover stands to lose everything because of his noble qualities. In a world where lives are shaped by choices and events, and everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance and weight - and we feel 'the unbearable lightness of being'.
Kundera's classic provoked a whole generation, encompassing passion and philosophy, body and soul, the Prague Spring and modern America, political acts and private desires, comedy and tragedy - in fact, all of human existence.
What readers are saying:
'Some books change your mind, some change your heart, the very best change your whole world ... A mighty piece of work, that will shape your life forever.'
'One of the best books I've ever read ... A book about love and life, full of surprises. Beautiful.'
'This book is going to change your life ... It definitely leaves you with a hangover after you're done reading.'
'Kundera writes about love as if in a trance so the beauty of it is enchanting and dreamy ... Will stay with you.'
'Shamelessly clever ... Exhilaratingly subversive and funny.' Independent
'A modern classic ... As relevant now as when it was first published. ' John Banville
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780571135394 |
| ISBN10 | 0571135390 |
| Number Of Pages | 320 |
| Item Weight | 241 g |
| Product Dimensions | 128 x 198 x 23 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Faber & Faber |
| Format | paperback |
| Edition | Main - Re-issue |
Media Reviews
Brilliant . . . A work of high modernist playfulness and deep pathos. -- Janet Malcolm, New York Review of Books Kundera has raised the novel of ideas to a new level of dreamlike lyricism and emotional intensity. -- Jim Miller, Newsweek Kundera is a virtuoso . . . A work of the boldest mastery, originality, and richness. -- Elizabeth Hardwick, Vanity Fair
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
The French-Czech novelist Milan Kundera was born in the Czech Republic and has lived in France since 1975. He died in Paris in 2023.