There are times when you do not know what you want to read. May be it should be a detective story, or some romantic novel, or interesting biography. It was this period of hesitation when I came upon the book of Milan Kundera which is called “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and understood at once that it was exactly what I needed.
Kundera was a Czech writer who lived in a historical epoch and witnessed the establishing of communist regime in his country. He was greatly interested in acute political issues and wrote a lot about the political situation in the country. But at the same time, he managed to reveal his talent in creating some painfully beautiful love story. “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” tells the story of Tomas and Tereza. Their love is so natural that it looks almost impossibly real. Another interesting feature of this novel is its unique style. It seems that the words addressed not to the readers’ eyes and minds but to their hearts instead. Kundera has a wonderful talent of presenting even the most routine things in the poetic light and, what’s even stranger, it does not sound pathetic at all.
The book conveys also an interesting philosophical concept that we live only once and all the moments and feelings we experience are unique due to their soleness. The life is light because it does not burdened with any previous experience and will not repeat in other incarnations. Political issues, romantic plot and philosophical background are combined in a single pattern of the story. Kundera makes his book look like the story of your own life which you have never had.
All in all, if you do not know what to read, if you can not even define your present state of mind and your attitude to the world I recommend reading “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”. This book will not provide you with answers, but give you inspiration to continue the search of your own truth.
