Milan Kundera: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The most popular of Kundera’s novels is set during the Russian invasion on Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the beginnings of the communist regime in the country. In this light Kundera sets his characters – Thomas, a surgeon who chose not to work with the communists and ended up washing windows in Prague instead of treating his patients. Theresa, Tomas’ beloved wife and artistic photographer. Painter Sabina, Thomas’ lover. Franz, Sabina’s lover after her and Thomas’ ways went in different directions. All totally different but equally interesting.

Kundera plays with opposites here – soul and body, which for some people should be kept separate. Thomas treats sex and love as two separate things and for Theresa, brought up in a family where nudity was not a taboo up to the point where it become embarrassing and disgusting, even though she thinks love and sex should go together and suffers Thomas’ infidelities, she despises her body and rejects its existence.

The most important of the opposites Kundera debates here are the lightness and heaviness of being. Kundera says that we only live once and what happens in that life will never happen again. He enjoys the theory that we could live all the options of the choices we make in our lives to find out which of them turns out best. And then when we could relive our life we would know which choice to go for, which will be the best. But as that isn’t the case and our life happens only once it means it’s not meaningful at all (“einmal is keinmal”). And that’s the lightness and insignificance of it. And so to combat this insignificance we do things to add some “weight” to our lives – Thomas does it through sleeping with a number of women to leave something behind him, Sabina does it through her paintings but will it change anything?

"How can life ever be a good teacher if there is only one of them to be lived? How can one perform life when the dress rehearsal for life is life?"

Even though the novel has one main plot – the story of Thomas’ and Theresa’s life together, Kundera adds in many digressive stories on a side which only add to the enjoyment of the book. He talks a lot about communism and what it made of many intellectuals’ lives in Czechoslovakia at the time. Talks about love and its purity. He compares the love to pets to the human love and sees the first as something that is really pure as it is unconditional and with no expectations.

He also makes an elaborate discussion about kitsch and its importance especially in the world of politics but not only. He says that “brotherhood of all the people in the world can only be built on kitsch”. And whether you agree with it or not, he makes pretty strong arguments to support it.

There is also an interesting and funny debate over poo… But I won’t steal all the pleasure of reading this book for yourself.

Even though some of these subjects sound really heavy there is some lightness in the reading of this book that makes it really pleasant experience. And thus I truly recommend it.

My rating: YYYYY

Marian Keyes: Sushi for Beginners

Hi, I’m Ted. I work in the Ministry of Agriculture, writing reports on yearly sheep population growth. At least by day. By night I’m a stand-up comedian. I tell owl jokes in Dublin pubs and clubs in hope to finally find myself a girlfriend. My downstairs neighbour and good friend in our single’s misery is Ashling and it’s her that this book is really about. Her and Lisa. And maybe Clodagh (oh yeah, the beautiful Clodagh…).

So Lisa is a chief editor at Colleen, an Irish magazine. She got transferred here from London and I think considers Dublin to be hundred light years behind. She is a fashion freak and a workaholic, married to sexy Oliver (at least that’s what the ladies say…).

Ashling works as Lisa’s assistant, her Little Miss Fix-It. Her job is to photocopy, write, read, call and from time to time, when Lisa’s got a good day, attend the fashion and beauty events with her which she loves so much.

Clodagh is married to Mr Perfect (again, that’s what the girls say!). Has two kids, doesn’t need to work and is extremely pretty. She’s best friends with Ashling which only gives me hope to see her more often…

We all have our ups and downs, as do all the ladies mentioned. I quite enjoy listening to Ashling’s stories about her job, the articles she writes for the magazine and people she meets. All sounds really cool, maybe except for Lisa who can be a real b*tch. But hey, job’s a job. Until at some point it all falls apart. The reason? Yeah, men, women, relationships - as ever.

But it all ends well, as you would expect from such a book. I finally manage to feel happy again! (who would have thought). Homeless people get jobs, people get divorced and married. People screw up and fix things.

All over, I’d recommend you reach for this book and read more about us. It’s good fun, we won’t bore you here. We may just make you crave for sushi as the end result…

PS. And I think it’s the easy-read factor that I enjoyed the most reading this book, after (and before) the heavy ones from the challenge list! So if you're a woman and you're after something light this book is a good cboice. I give it 3 hearts as I don't think I'll remember the book for long - it's more of a time-nicely-spent thing. (Joanna)

My rating: YYYYY

David Malouf: Remembering Babylon

I have to admit, this was the first book by an Australian I ever read. And, I’m pretty sure, the first one about Australia and its history too.

The story is about Gemmy, an English boy who at young age finds himself shipwrecked at the coast of Australia and gets adopted by a tribe of Aborigines and spends 16 years living with them. After that time, as the settlers start to inhabit the land, he encounters a group of white kids and goes with them back to their village. And that’s where Gemmy’s trying to regain his “whiteness”, ability to speak English again and fit in with the local society. It proves difficult, for both, Gemmy as well as those who decide to provide him with a place to sleep and a seat at their dinner table.

In the end things don’t end as we’d like them to – the smooth assimilation of two cultures isn’t easy and the question is whether anyone even makes an effort to make it happen or whether people just prefer to push through, whatever the cost.

There are a few interesting characters in the book. There is of course Gemmy himself and the kids that find him in the swamp. There is the schoolmaster, George Abbot, an Englishman who got send to Australia by his rich uncle, not exactly by his own choice. He tries to fit in and find himself a purpose but struggles terribly. Until he meets Leona, a girl his age who lives with her aunt in a house away from the village. Mrs Hutchinson and Leona are considered a bit crazy by the villagers as they live on their own and do not integrate with the rest of the society. But that’s exactly where Gemmy finds himself a shelter when everyone else gave up on him.

Interesting read, definitely a breadth of something new for me, very enjoyable and so I’ll give it 3 hearts for that.

But now I need something light, women’s literature maybe to get a bit of a rest from the challenge. But I’ll be back to it soon!

My rating: YYYYY