The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, including love, politics and the meaning of life. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 56-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Milan Kundera
• Presentation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• Summary of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• Character study
  • Tomas
  • Tereza
  • Sabina
  • Franz
• Analysis of The Unbearable Lightness of Being
  • Form
  • Themes

About The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is Milan Kundera’s best-known novel. It charts the ways that the lives of its four main characters converge, diverge and intertwine, combining a fictional narrative set against the backdrop of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 with philosophical reflections on the meaning of life. A film adaptation of the novel starring Daniel Day-Lewis was released in 1988.

About Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera is a Czech-born writer who became a naturalized French citizen in 1981, having fled his homeland following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. His books were banned by the Communist regime during the occupation. From 1993 onwards he has written all of his novels in French, and personally revised the French translations of his earlier works. He is consistently rumored to be in the running for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but has yet to receive the award.