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Title: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Author: Milan Kundera

Narrator: Richmond Hoxie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-06-12

Publisher: Canongate Faber

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 62 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A young woman is in love with a successful surgeon, a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing. His mistress, a free-spirited artist, lives her life as a series of betrayals - while her other lover, earnest, faithful, and good, stands to lose everything because of his noble qualities. In a world where lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events, and everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence we feel "the unbearable lightness of being." A major achievement from one of the world's truly great writers, Milan Kundera's magnificent novel of passion and politics, infidelity and ideas, encompasses the extremes of comedy and tragedy, illuminating all aspects of human existence.

Members Reviews:

Love the guy who read this

Such a lovely calming voice. He got me through some hard slow parts. Some elements of the story were confusing for me but I'm sure some research will sort that out!

Kundera

Excellent book about a philosophical way of life. Recommendable for all audiences. My first Kundera experience and am looking forward to more!

An Absolute Joy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely. A delightful jigsaw of stories overlaid with non-judgemental "light" philosophical asides.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Unbearable Lightness of Being?

I enjoyed several of the "philosophical" tangents that the narrator took. They added depth to the story, gave us insight into the characters that we'd not have gleaned from the story alone, creating humanity beyond what would be in a more conventional storyline. A third dimension.

What about Richmond Hoxies performance did you like?

My impression is that Richmond Hoxie was extremely familiar with the book. He had just the right levity at times when it was needed but also created the characters perfectly.

If you could rename The Unbearable Lightness of Being, what would you call it?

I wouldn't.

Any additional comments?

This book lives up to it's hype. Worth the time, extremely enjoyable. More than "just a story".

Strives to be deep

There are parts of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. There are moments of great beauty through skilful prose and a thoughtful story. However, I think you can only enjoy an opinionated book if you agree with the opinions expressed. Unfortunately, in enough of the cases to spoil it, I did not.

My other complaint is quoting the ancients to prove your point rather than illustrate it. Euclid was a truly great mind - it took us a couple of thousand years to show his work as incomplete, but eventually we moved past him.

I would go as far as to say I could possibly be a fan of the author, but not the philosopher.

I know others have found this book very deep and enjoyable - it is well written, so I am wary of putting another reader off it just because I didn't enjoy parts of it.

A wistful and wise sideways look at "reality"

Kundera's work is always profound. His characters face all the usual dilemmas thrown at us by life and the complex business of being "human". Some characters soar above the mundane, others are sucked down by it. Kundera never tires of throwing us the deep questions - the plot is richly drawn with a sweet and sour mixture of humour and sorrow.