The Unbearable Lightness of Being Summary and Reviews

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
List Price: $14.99
Our Price: $6.85
You Save: $8.14 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.51 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Milan Kundera
Translator: Michael Henry Heim
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-04-07
ISBN: 0060932139
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780060932138
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Book Review: "To live once is to not have lived at all..."
Summary: 5 Stars

In short: magnificent. Kundera provides psychological sketches of his major characters and outlines how they interact. Couples brought together by fortuitous coincidences, mistresses exercising their power, secret police probing the populace - it's all here, told from various points of view, each adding more depth to the events that unfold.

I wonder what was lost in translation from Czech to English? The point about the roots of the word "compassion" in Czech vs romance languages provided a better basis for understanding the character of Tomas. There are too many philosophical underpinnings to discuss in a short review, but the variability of connotation, the play of "einmal ist keinmal" off of "es muss sein," and the conception and expression of love are themes that evolve throughout the story.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Not just thought provoking, but soul stirring. Highly recommended.

Classics Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native son ImageNative son
by Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Born ImageNative Son: And How Bigger Was Born
by Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Raphael and the Noble Task ImageRaphael and the Noble Task
by Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops: $20.00
Island (Perennial Classics) ImageIsland (Perennial Classics)
by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ImageA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops: $23.99
The Great Divorce CD ImageThe Great Divorce CD
by C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.06
Price in other shops: $22.00
Great Expectations ImageGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $12.10
This Side of Paradise ImageThis Side of Paradise
by Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $6.95
Black Coffee (Poirot) ImageBlack Coffee (Poirot)
by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s) ImageSlouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)
by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Copenhagen ImageCopenhagen
by Michael Frayn
Anchor; Published: 2000-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops: $14.00
Four Major Plays: Doll's House; Ghosts; Hedda Gabler; and The Master Builder (Oxford World's Classics) ImageFour Major Plays: Doll's House; Ghosts; Hedda Gabler; and The Master Builder (Oxford World's Classics)
by Henrik Ibsen
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-07-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.57
Price in other shops: $9.95
The Joke (Definitive Version) ImageThe Joke (Definitive Version)
by Milan Kundera
Harper Perennial; Published: 1993-02-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops: $13.99
Existentialism Is a Humanism ImageExistentialism Is a Humanism
by Jean Paul Sartre
Yale University Press; Published: 2007-07-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.54
Price in other shops: $9.95
Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues (The Paul Carus Lectures) ImageDependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues (The Paul Carus Lectures)
by Alasdair MacIntyre
Open Court; Published: 2001-05-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops: $24.95
Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future ImageBeyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future
by Friedrich Nietzsche
Vintage; Published: 1989-12-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Diary of a Country Priest: A Novel ImageThe Diary of a Country Priest: A Novel
by Georges Bernanos
Spring Arbor/Ingram; Da Capo Press; Published: 2002-01-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.63
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Spirit of the Liturgy (Milestones in Catholic Theology) ImageThe Spirit of the Liturgy (Milestones in Catholic Theology)
by Romano Guardini
The Crossroad Publishing Company; Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops: $12.95
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) ImageDeath Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics)
by Willa Cather
Random House; Vintage; Published: 1990-06-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.42
Price in other shops: $13.00
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting ImageThe Book of Laughter and Forgetting
by Milan Kundera
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 1999-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.19
Price in other shops: $14.99