“I always feel a little guilty if I didn't like something that so many people seem to value, but since variety is the spice of life -- certainly the lead character in this novel would agree -- I will post my brief, negative response to this book. I liked the Kundera's use of language, which really ran an energy of lightness and liveliness and emptiness over serious human suffering. I was interested in the philosophical question the narrator poses regarding how much meaning does life have if it is repeated only once versus if one is doomed to repeat the same things over and over again. However, I lost interest and stopped reading after his main mistress hid his sock. I just didn't care about the characters. The man's emotional immaturity combined with his sexual appetite and the suffering of his jealous beloved, even with his empathy (to a degree) with her suffering, was not compelling to me. Perhaps if I had not seen the movie and also disliked that years ago and did not know the basic plot and ending, I might have been intrigued enough to finish the book. But who can say?”
posted Tuesday, May 6 2008