This book is perfect.
*
I wanted to leave the review as just that, but I felt like that may have been too dramatic. However, I knew that were I to write an actual review, I would be at a loss for words when it came to describing why I loved it so much. For this reason, I have been unable to write this review for nearly a month.
The novel consists of two intertwining stories, that of Tereza and Tomas and that of Sabina and Franz. The former begins as the story of a young Tereza falling madly in love with Tomas, a womaniser. Yet he falls in love with her too and so begins one of the most perplexing reflections on what love really is, as he is unable to tame his desire for other women. The latter, Sabina and Franz, is a story where the roles are reversed in a way, as Sabina is a free-spirited person and so Franz is her slightly awkward, faithful lover.
I’m usually someone who seeks to identify with the characters I read about, yet in this book I didn’t feel as though that was necessary. The story is quite fragmented whereby Kundera does provide the reader with ample amounts of descriptions of the characters lives, but he mostly uses these descriptions to then segue into philosophical musings. For this reason I can understand some of the critiques which claim that the relationship between the two main characters is superficial and nonsensical as it is difficult to understand why they stay together, with their thoughts being repetitive, yet disjointed. Yet for me Kundera’s way of exploring the minds of the characters and why people feel the need to stay in relationships was fascinating. Because there was so much in the novel that was focused on this, I can only attempt to summarise this by first including Tereza’s thoughts towards the end of the book and then Tomas’;
Perhaps the reason we are unable to love is that we yearn to be loved, that is we demand something (love) from our partner instead of delivering ourselves up to him demand-free and asking for nothing but his company.
Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe and save it, have the additional effect of cutting it short.
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He tried to picture himself living in an ideal world with the young woman from the dream. He sees Tereza walking past the open windows of their ideal house. She is alone and stops to look in at him with an infinitely sad expression in her eyes. He cannot withstand her glance. Again, he feels her pain in his own heart. Again, he falls prey to compassion and sinks deep into her soul. He leaps out of the window, but she tells him bitterly to stay where he feels happy, making those abrupt, angular movements that so annoyed and displeased him. He grabs her nervous hands and presses them between his own to calm them. And he knows that time and again he will abandon the house of his happiness, time and again he will abandon his paradise and the woman from his dream and betray the ‘Es muss sein!’ of his love to go off with Tereza, the woman born of six laughable fortuities.
These two versions of perceiving love may seem different at first, but it is frightening to notice how similar they actually are. Tereza wants nothing more than Tomas’ love and yet while she is unable to fully obtain it, she is willing to stay in the relationship, sacrificing her own happiness. Tomas does the same, only for a sense of guilt that he often mistakes for love. It’s a melancholy and painful story, but one which is so well-written that it is a true pleasure to read and re-read (while picking out the right quotes, I delved into much of the book for a second time).
This novel is also great for dismissing the feelings of those who seek to romanticise the Soviet/communist regimes. It is mostly set in Prague in the 1960’s during the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. When it comes to this aspect, the story gets progressively darker, the lives of the characters more miserable, which is emphasised beautifully by creating a steadily greyer atmosphere and increasing the threat of the Secret Police, which looms in the background. Kundera includes great anecdotes, explains interesting concepts (such as totalitarian kitsch) and overall is able to provide a gripping account of this moment in history. Another political element which is explored in a fantastic way is political activism in general. This is mainly done through the characters of Franz and Sabina, as the former keeps searching for an idealistic cause which he can devote himself to, while the latter wishes to remove herself from the realm of politics in general after having had to participate in political propaganda/activism as a result of the Soviet regime. Franz’s journey is at times funny, but it does shed a light on some of the more absurd aspects of activism and the fine line between when it is meaningful and when it has no purpose at all.
I read this book over two days and I remember waking up early on the second day, making my morning coffee and with sleep still in my eyes, immersing myself in this story again, because I missed the setting and mood of it. This novel is clearly a favourite of mine and I would recommend it to everyone. Kundera is an excellent writer – a master of details, originality and evoking reflections within the reader, whose works I will definitely read again.
I give this book five out of five wine bottles.
Books and wine. 