Tag Archives: Kundera

Sometimes a thought left over from a reading kind of just sits there in your brain and I’ve been thinking again about Kundera’s ending. Yes, the knowledge of Tomas and Tereza’s mode of death somewhere early in the novel left … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve reread the last few pages and must admit that I don’t think I’m getting the idea behind Kundera’s choice in closing the story. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem to really provide resolution in the final scenario, where … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just finished this, and I can’t really get my head around the ending right now. Tereza’s dream of Tomas turning into a rabbit appears to confirm the prior leanings towards natural instincts being more in tune with man’s potential intent. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As I come to within the last eight pages, I slow down, reluctant to let it end. There is no need as in adventure and mystery to rush to the answer at the end; in books such as these, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting, this; as Tomas has operated on a cancer in their beloved dog, Karenin, and brought him home after surgery: They lifted him onto their bed, where he quickly fell asleep, as did they. (…) But when he suddenly came … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just an interesting thought here; Kundera being honest enough to tell us that his characters are not real but of his own creation, perhaps the result of the egg of ego and the sperm of structure, has no problem with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Franz is with a small group of humanitarians (along with an actress, a singer, and 400 cameramen and newsmen) attempting entry into Cambodia on a mission to help its people during the Vietnamese occupation. Who was he to jeer at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And as I read a few pages on, my thoughts are confirmed: As soon as kitsch is recognized for the lie it is, it moves into the context of non-kitsch, thus losing its authoritarian power and becoming as touching as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m getting into some heavy shit here as Kundera moves into the realm of kitsch. For me, it’s both a revelation of the times in a foreign place (since the novel is contemporary to me) and an exquisite explanation of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Shit is a more onerous theological problem than is evil.  Since God gave man freedom, we can, if need be, accept the idea that He is not responsible for man’s crimes. The responsibility for shit, however, rests entirely with Him, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In bringing in Yakov Stalin–the son of that Stalin, Joseph–as an example of opposites or extremes becoming instead  alike, I come to a place where I must ponder heavy stuff about the "unbearable lightness": If rejection and privilege are one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

With Tomas’ decision come questions not only of a moral value, but of repercussions that trace a line in history: Another way of formulating the question is, Is it better to shout and thereby hasten the end, or to keep … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There were a few–not many–times that this book switched from third person to first, and maybe it can all be considered first but then, I’d have to go back and assure myself that Kundera’s narrator was always on the scene, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Going back to the notion of life having weight based on its recurrence versus its lightness as events occurring only once, I find something in Tomas’ reaction to meeting his grown son whom he has never spoken with since the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s no reason to believe that gender is not as strong an influence as experience on author input, and though I’d like to believe that I have a more balanced female/male way of thinking, I’m not quite getting Kundera’s statement … Continue reading → Continue reading →