The tFS Book Club (please see rules/guidelines in post #1)

[tigerrouge]

When I started to read the book, I was approaching it in a half-discouraged mindset, due to the amount of hype that's always surrounded this work, and given that the first real character that we're introduced to is Tomas, that didn't improve matters for me.

However, when it got to the stage where the book was looking at the same events but through the eyes of different characters, then I began to enjoy it, because of the layers of interpretation.

But for all the formal talk about philosophy, I felt that an important idea was being expressed through the death of the dog, which was the most emotionally moving part of the entire novel.

When Kundera writes about the "true moral test" being our attitude towards animals, it's almost as if he's bringing the book to a close by putting us through this experience of the dog's death, to remind us that we're capable of passing this test and caring in a pure way. And if we can care about the death of a fictional dog, then we are capable of going out into the world and caring in some small way about the fate of other people, even though relationships are based on mistrust and self-deception.

 

[Eyrene]

^ I agree. The dog's death was the most touching part IMO. Karenin is probably the most likable character too. He lived for his owners until the very end and didn't demand anything more. Basically because he wasn't human, the readers liked him.
I really enjoyed the book, Milan Kundera's words actually matter to me. I don't particularly like any of the main characters, but I don't hate them either. And weird as it may sound, I actually like Tomas & Tereza's relationship. It's tiring, irritating, but never ended, because both of them seemed to love each other too much to let go of what they had.
I suck at writing reviews

 

[indepwe]

I actually never finished the book because I never got into it . There was something about it that I just didn't like and I'm sorry guys but I will finish the next one, I promise. It was very well written but there wasn't an ounce of joy or humour anywhere in the book which made it sort of hard to read on and there didn't feel like a flow anywhere. Not one funny line or moment where anyone was enjoying their life or themselves - not even in the love scenes . For me that part of the book gets pretty boring pretty fast. I didn't even like Tomas or Tereza or Sabina or Franz. Also, the author is too much in my opinion and trying to be the new Plato or something because there is always an explanation in this book which gets annoying.

I would personally give it 1.5/5

 

[paz2992]

i just realize this thread excited, what a nice idea... i'll wait for the second book

 

[Alvedansen]

^speaking of...when do we start with "Never let me go"? and what is the deadline? when will we vote for the next book?

 

[Chanelcouture09]

As Discussion of the current book is coming to and end, nominations for the next book can be submitted as of now.
and The reading of Never let me go can start now too.

 

[L.A.Woman85]

I am a little late on my review for the 1st book but here goes...
Wasn’t too impressed with the book at all. At times I was interested and couldn’t put it down, other times I too had to re-read certain parts over again due to confusion (I think this was attributed to his writing style) Most characters were unlikable, I only liked the dog!!!
The lead men annoyed me, unsatisfied with their wives, they cheated repeatedly on them with multiple women, without a second thought, almost as if they were allowed to and it was their RIGHT because they are men!!! Ha!
The wives were both portrayed as prudes, whinging, annoying, “typical” wives, the wives that man get bored with and therefore cheat! There is a lot of talk about love, even between the two marriages, which I find laughable!!! You can’t write about love between a marriage, when the husband repeatedly cheats, even if he does keep coming back to his wife!
Just felt this book was written by a man who thinks it is ok to cheat and lye within a marriage.
Anyway, I have started the next book, and I cannot put it down, definitely looking forward to finishing it!!!

 

[Belowen]

The Unbearable Lightness Of Being - I really enjoyed the first half of the book, found it interesting and got quite interested in the character development and relationships. But about halfway through I found the book seemed to lose it's steam, and the chopping and changing between character perspectives probably didn't help. I struggled through the last 100 pages, with the only part really capturing my attention being the slow demise of Karenin. I did love some of the quotes in the book, and a lot of them will stay with me for a while I think. A particular favourite is "metaphors are not to be trifled with. a single metaphor can give birth to love." All in all I would rate the book 4/10

I am still waiting for my copy of Never Let Me Go, and I've noticed we've not set a cut off date for reading yet. Shall we make it the 20th of September?

 

[snowqueen]

20th sounds good by me

 

[indepwe]

Sounds perfect.

 

[FleurDeLys]

Anyone know a good discount code for Amazon? I'm ordering from the french Amazon, don't know if that matters..
I've never ordered from Amazon before, I've always bought my books at Fnac .

 

[Islandili]

Hi guys, I'd like to join you. Just got the book today, really interested in why you chose it.

 

[tigerrouge]

I got a copy out from the local library, really liking it so far.

In terms of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, because the book makes mention of so many philosophical concepts that I don't really feel that qualified to talk about, I'm left with the sensation that there's not much that I can discuss, other than the emotional side of things.

It's not that I don't have a casual acquaintance with the philosophers mentioned, but more that I didn't always follow how the characters were supposed to illustrate a theory in action. I'm sure if I sat down and re-read it, and really thought about it, the novel would yield more on that point, but I wasn't engaged enough to want to do that.

Perhaps it's context - perhaps this novel was more revolutionary in structure and approach when it was published, and the period of history it touches on, much more of a burning issue at that time. But in comparison to other multi-layered narratives, Unbearable seems mostly flat and uncharmingly disjointed, with characters brought into being and used as pawns to prove the author's philosophical point in a manner that doesn't make me want to solve the mystery. It's not that I want a writer to make things easy for me, but it's usually good if they make it beguiling, so that I want to step into the universe of their book, and when it's over, want to know more.

 

[fantastical]

I agree with those who said that the book sort of lost its...."charm" about halfway through the book. I found myself trying to make the connections between the juxtapositons of lightness and darkness and other contrasts directly to the characters, but eventually I just lost interest in the characters themselves.

I also agree with tigerrouge, I have a feeling if I sat down and read it again, and maybe put more effort into it might engage me to what the author was trying to show between the polarity of the different characters.

 

[ChrissyM]

i read the book years ago, but just from scanning a bunch of the comments quickly i feel a bit of relief...
i remember at the time thinking, "shouldn't i be getting more out of this? shouldn't i be enjoying it more? why isn't this blowing me away?"
maybe the hype sort of killed it for me...

i would like to read it again some day...
i think i would have a better understanding of it now, 6 or 7 years after my initial reading...

going to jump in here with the second book... just ordered my copy

 

[tigerrouge]

One thing I like about the two books chosen so far is that - as was mentioned earlier - there are film versions. I haven't seen either of them, but it adds another dimension to my thoughts, because after I finish reading the books, I start wondering how you could film certain scenes, and what might happen to the storylines to make them more entertaining for moviegoers.

 

[Belowen]

Any suggestions for the third book?

 

[papa_levante]

I am going to throw out Hemingway A Farewell to Arms

 

[Belowen]

^ Ooh, I've read that and it's tough going but worth the read

 

[indepwe]

I would really like to read a real story? They really do interest me.