When I first opened the pages of The Unbearable Lightness of
Being and saw a philosophical consideration of Nietzsche’s theory of eternal
return waiting to greet me, my heart sank, thinking I was about to wade through
300 pages of the same.
Thankfully, this turned out not to be entirely the case.
Following the story of Tomas and Tereza – he a surgeon who
can’t keep his dick out of other women (or his hair, which often smells of the female
genitals with whom he’s indulged in a spot of extra-curricular rubbing) and she
an occasional waitress/photographer tormented by the jealous dreams his
infidelities inspire, set against a backdrop of the Prague Spring on 1968 and
the subsequent invasion by the Soviet Union, Tomas’ state of being is light –
the attachments he forms are fleeting and his consideration of others minimal
(he’s even jettisoned a son because he couldn’t be arsed with custody
arrangements), while Tereza’s is heavy, her insecurities and her love for Tomas
a weighty burden.
There’s also another pair of lovers – Sabina and Franz – who
sort of meander through this, connected by the fact that Sabina is one of Tomas’
more long-standing mistresses, but I found their sections almost disappeared
behind the story of Tereza (the more interesting character in this, for me).
While this was very readable – I tore through this in a
couple of sittings – with some wonderful passages and moments of insight, I
found that for something dealing with quite big themes it all felt rather
ethereal and fleeting and, much like
Tomas, I imagine I’ll soon be distracted by something new and shiny and forget
this altogether.
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