The book primarily follows Tomas and Tereza, two lovers who have encountered one another purely by chance. It is hard to say where this book begins, physically as with all books it begins at page one but the narrative of Tomas and Tereza does not begin till chapter three. Right from the beginning Kundera lets us know that this is as much a book on philosophy as it is a story of love, already by the time Tomas is introduced we have peered into the world's of; Nietzche, Paramedies, Aristotle and even Jesus Christ himself.
From the start it becomes apparent that Tomas and Tereza are never going to have a conventional relationship. Prior to his meeting with Tereza Tomas was a notorious womanizer, and even after meeting Tereza he continues in this vain, much to her annoyance. Here in lies the dichotomy of the novel, Tomas seeks the weightiness, the "unbearable," of being in a relationship with Tereza, whilst also aiming to achieve the "lightness," of his various affairs. Clearly these two world's cannot exist alongside one another and herein lies the crisis of the novel, Tomas begins to act in a more obscure and unpredictable way in order to fulfil these needs. Outside of his relationship with Tereza, Tomas, functions as Kundera's voice in the novel, he is used to explore the dangers of the communist regime and the oppressive way in which it acted toward intellectuals. With such complexity in his life contrasted against the way in which the regime wish to opress him, Tomas' tale could never be a straight forward one...
The narrative is simply brilliant, all the way through Kundera's voice is never lost. Just as the story begins to progress Kundera intervenes and shows us another side to the story or introduces some obscure philosophical concept that can be related to the story. He does this without ever making the story feel stale, he creates an atmosphere that is so intimate we don't mind being removed from the narrative for a while as it ensures Tomas and Tereza cannot be harmed, for the time being.
The characters themselves are varied and interesting. Tomas manages to cheat on his wife numerous times whilst still being likeable, and even attracts sympathy when his life begins to go downhill. Perhaps the greatest criticism that can be levelled against this book is that Tereza is somewhat dull, for all she is presented as being the victim of the novel her refusal to leave Tomas yet constantly verging on suicide is somewhat tiresome.
Kundera has achieved something truly magnificent. There are few novels that are as effectively comedic and tragic. Truly, truly, truly, an amazing novel.
