whatif

In truth I did not get this book. I enjoyed reading it. The language was good. And as a window into Prague this book is well worth reading. But I just did not feel that I "got" what the author was trying to say. --- I reread this book. I got it this time. It is very good. I don't normally like nooks as heavy handed as this one, but this was well done, and thats why I rate it so highly. To handle the ideas of eternal return versus the fact that people only get one shot at life and then weave into this the concepts of lightness and weight into it is a tall order to pull off and Kundera does. The structure of the novel is interesting as well since portions of the story repeat but with different narratives. I found this very interesting given that he begins the novel talking about the concept of eternal return. This is well done because you can enjoy the novel despite the gymnastics Kundera is pulling off here. I was impressed once I realized that I could read this with enjoyment while he was working at multiple levels in his craft of this book. He even breaks the fourth wall at some point speaking directly to the reader as himself analyzing his own characters, and it works. The narrative rises to the level of self-consciousness speaking directly to the reader then dips immediately back beneath the surface, to dive into the narrative of his ideas and then deeper into the dream of his fiction. It is done seamlessly. That alone is why I rate this highly. Very well done as I could enjoy the novel without being distracted by this. Its also a good historical piece given the author's own experience with the soviet invasion of his country, and the prague spring before that.

2023-03-03 03:02