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The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Narrated by: Richmond Hoxie
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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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.
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What listeners say about The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Charlie O'Doherty, London
- 04-04-20
Blissful and brilliant
Kundera is a master of truly touching writing. Few other contemporary writers come so close. If you haven't experienced this novel, go ahead right now. You'll be swept away by its beauty.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- woodwild
- 09-04-19
I love this book
I've read this book many times, hearing it was like reading it again for the first time, it is a great piece of writing
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alison Hallett
- 28-03-24
Interesting and reflective
This book wasn’t gripping but more a reflective and insightful book of philosophy through creation of characters and reflections on life and our ways of making what we can from it and finding meaning
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jason 2013
- 18-01-15
Emotional and happy memories
I read this at university and it brought back lots of memories. Great story bit of philosophy, bit of love, bit of history, and all good. Throughly enjoyed it, narrated well.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- London East
- 12-01-20
Amazingly beautiful
I have no other words but to repeat that this book is amazingly beautiful. And the performance is PERFECT.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- William
- 07-04-13
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. This is provocative philosophy wrapped in a vivid sugar coating of human endeavour and intrigue.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-06-20
Piece of art
Complex and profound. Philosophy, history, sex and love wrapped up in a soft honest narrative.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-07-23
Brilliant, entertaining, thought-provoking
Beautifully written, this kept me entertained and interested from start to finish. I loved how many moments throughout I found myself in deep thought over its concepts. Would definitely recommend.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mayuri
- 03-10-23
Enjoyable in parts
but left feeling a little deflated Expected more insight and a lot of jumping around the point
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ant
- 30-07-13
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.
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37 people found this helpful