The Unbearable Lightness Of Being By Milan Kundera
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera has four main characters which go through lightness and heaviness alternately during the course of the book. It is a book of variations and themes, and it is through these variations (strengths and weaknesses) that the author brings alterations in the life of his characters. The plot moves forward with the help of complicated chronology (which means you will have to jump from one time to another), though the book also has a lot to do with misunderstood words, totalitarianism, death and many other things to add to the puzzle. The style remains the same in the title Encounter by the same author.
Tomas, an Extreme Womanizer
Even those bits of texts which were left out earlier are taken care of by the author Milan Kundera later. The end result is a slight increased level of difficulty in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Tomas, a Czech surgeon is the main protagonist of the book, who is termed as an extreme womanizer by Milan Kundera. He has invented the term erotic friendship through which he enjoys several mistresses but is not responsible for any of them in any manner.
Old Habits Die Hard
The next woman he meets is Tereza who hails from a country town and is a simple waitress but an intense woman. Tomas cannot resist her and wants to love her back, but old habits die hard. Due to his continued womanizing ways, Tereza is deeply hurt. The 1968 crisis took place next and the Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Tomas made a mistake by publishing an anti-party article in a newspaper, and then took up a job in Zurich. Tereza also went along; believing exile will make their relationship better. Sabina is another Czech immigrant with whom Tomas is romantically involved, whereas Sabina in turn was involved with Franz who got involved with The Grand March later (he gets mugged and killed there).
Tomas Couldnt Live Without Her Anymore
Tereza thought her presence was making life difficult for Tomas, so she left Zurich for Czechoslovakia. Initially, Tomas felt good but he soon realized he couldnt live without Tereza anymore. He also returned to Czechoslovakia where his past political mistakes started to create trouble for him. He was asked to sign a retraction, but he refused.
As A Window Washer, the Opportunities Increased
He was demoted from surgeon to general practitioner, and then to window washer. In this position, he got many more opportunities to become erotic friends with many more women as a window washer, and the problems of Tereza came back to haunt her. Sabina first moved to Paris and then to US, where she got to know of the death of Tomas and Tereza. The characterization by the author in the novel is not that rich as they appear to be superficial, though the contrasts they struggle with is explored more by Milan Kundera.
Tomas, an Extreme Womanizer
Even those bits of texts which were left out earlier are taken care of by the author Milan Kundera later. The end result is a slight increased level of difficulty in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Tomas, a Czech surgeon is the main protagonist of the book, who is termed as an extreme womanizer by Milan Kundera. He has invented the term erotic friendship through which he enjoys several mistresses but is not responsible for any of them in any manner.
Old Habits Die Hard
The next woman he meets is Tereza who hails from a country town and is a simple waitress but an intense woman. Tomas cannot resist her and wants to love her back, but old habits die hard. Due to his continued womanizing ways, Tereza is deeply hurt. The 1968 crisis took place next and the Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Tomas made a mistake by publishing an anti-party article in a newspaper, and then took up a job in Zurich. Tereza also went along; believing exile will make their relationship better. Sabina is another Czech immigrant with whom Tomas is romantically involved, whereas Sabina in turn was involved with Franz who got involved with The Grand March later (he gets mugged and killed there).
Tomas Couldnt Live Without Her Anymore
Tereza thought her presence was making life difficult for Tomas, so she left Zurich for Czechoslovakia. Initially, Tomas felt good but he soon realized he couldnt live without Tereza anymore. He also returned to Czechoslovakia where his past political mistakes started to create trouble for him. He was asked to sign a retraction, but he refused.
As A Window Washer, the Opportunities Increased
He was demoted from surgeon to general practitioner, and then to window washer. In this position, he got many more opportunities to become erotic friends with many more women as a window washer, and the problems of Tereza came back to haunt her. Sabina first moved to Paris and then to US, where she got to know of the death of Tomas and Tereza. The characterization by the author in the novel is not that rich as they appear to be superficial, though the contrasts they struggle with is explored more by Milan Kundera.
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