France in exile but later gained French citizenship. He grew up from a rich family. Kundera studied Musicology and is evident in this novel where there is a section devoted to Beethove’s Ess Muss Sein Kundera taught Literature at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts His first novel and one of his greatest works, Žert, was a comic, ironic view of the private lives and destinies of various Czechs during the years of Stalinism. Kundera had participated in the brief liberalization of Czechoslovakia in 1967–1968. After the Soviet occupation of the country, he refused to admit his political errors and was consequently attacked by the authorities who banned all his works, fired him from his teaching positions, and inevitably ousted him from the Communist Party. In 2018, The Guardian reported that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, has offered to restore Kundera’s citizenship almost 40 years after the country’s communist regime stripped him of it. The story was written in 1980s Europe. Due to the censorship of the Czech Government, some of Kundera’s books have been banned and remained banned until 1989 following the downfall of the Velvet Revolution. Kundera framed the story with Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence. The book was turned into a film in 1988 featuring Daniel Day Lewis as Tomas and Juliette Binoche as Tereza. The story is set Prague, Czechoslovakia, and various European nations in the ’60s and ‘70s. One of the main events in this story is that of Russia’s invasion to Czechoslovakia. The story ended in rural Europe where Tereza and Tomas found peace, or what is known to be ‘being’. The story, I think, relies on the setting of Europe. It makes sense that they’re all European in that I don’t think The plot is not linear. It’s not linear in a sense that, I think, Kundera is narrating the story through the eyes of all four major characters. However, I don’t think the plot is the most important part of the book in that at a basic level it tells a story of four people with different fates. The story itself does not rely on the plot but rather uses the characters to embody a certain philosophy. This part establishes the characters of Tomas and Tereza. Although Tomas loves Tereza, he cannot leave his other world that is filled with his mistresses. Tomas gets in trouble because of the political turmoil in Prague. The Communists were against one his works. He is offered refuge in Zurich as well as a job post there but rejects the offer for Tereza. Tomas and Sabina have continue their affair in Zurich. Eventually, Tomas finds a letter from Tereza that she’ll be going home to Prague. Tomas eventually goes home to Prague because he can’t last without Tereza. This part highlights the events in Tereza’s childhood that led her to become the woman she is today. It specifically highlights her mother. Tereza also meets Sabina here. She has been having nightmares about a studio where Tomas makes love with his mistresses. However, She does not realise that the studio was Sabina’s. They eventually befriend each other. This section discusses Franz and Sabina’s affair. True to the title, the section also defines some words that seem to be words that are misunderstood; presumably that of Franz and Sabina in their affair. The words are Woman, Fidelity and Betrayal, Music, Lightness and Darkness, New York, Sabina’s country, Cemetery, The Old Church in Amsterdam, Strength, Living in Truth. This is where the affair was also revealed; by Franz himself. Franz also criticizes Europe a lot in this section. This section goes back to Tereza and Tomas’ life in Prague. The two don’t meet that much often and only have breakfast together. Tomas is busy with work as well as listening to a show which plays secret recordings of dissidents discussing their plans. Tereza tries to flirt with other men here. She meets an engineer here after an elderly man accused her of serving a minor alcohol. In her dreams, Tereza asks help from Tomas on how to be light, which she then uses to flirt with the engineer. Tereza also realizes that the Russians are using the photos she and other photojournalists took for the invasion of Prague. This part is tricky though because the distinction between dreams and reality is unclear. In this section, we understand why Tomas was in trouble with the Communists. Tomas wrote an article, using the tragedy of Oedipus as a comparison to the Communists. Tomas refuses to sign a retraction notice for the Oedipus article. He loses his job and finds another one as a GP. Tomas is then approached by the Ministry of the Interior asking him to sign an affidavit stating that the editors only used him for the Oedipus article. This section also highlights Tomas’ serial womanizing ways. Tomas also meets two dissidents who want him to support a push calling for the stop of the rough treatment of other dissidents. Tomas also becomes more serious in this section; acting more on principle. The section opens with the story of Joseph Stalin’s son, Yakov. The section also discusses the state of Europe. Franz, who is still living happily in Geneva with his mistress, was invited to Cambodia for the Grand March. Tomas son, Simon, moves to another country and becomes a Catholic. Tomas and Tereza are killed in a car crash in this section. After Tomas and Tereza’s deaths, Simon writes to Sabina. Sabina now lives in California Franz is also killed in Cambodia during a robbery. This section happens before the death of Tomas and Tereza. They are seen here as living a happy and content life, far from the political turmoil of Europe. Karenin develops cancer. Tomas and Tereza eventually put it to rest and bury it. Tereza reflects and thinks she loves Karenin more than Tomas. Tereza also has nightmares about Tomas being shot and her returning to her home in Prague. There is no clear climax of the story but rather the four characters themselves have conflicts that is considered a burden on their individual lives. Tereza – Tomas’ wife and a photojournalist. Tomas – A serial womaniser who is in love with Tereza. He keeps telling himself that despite all of his mistresses, he loves Tereza unconditionally. Sabina – Tomas’ favourite mistress. She’s having a hard time finding herself as an artist. Franz - Sabina’s lover. He’s passionate about academic pursuits and joining protests and marches. He was injured during a robbery in a protest he attended. Karenin – A dog named after Anna Karenina. The dog was diagnosed with a rare cancer and dies. It seems like her death pushed Tomas and Tereza closer together. Marie Claude – Franz’ wife. The engineer The dissidents. Tomas’ boss The representative from the Ministry of the Interior The work was first published in French since it was banned from Czechoslovakia. It was later translated to Czech as well. Since the work is very philosophical, it has a lot of really long declarative sentences. The story itself is slow paced. It’s like being stuck in traffic; nothing’s really happening but one’s mind is racing 100mph, filled with thoughts. It’s as if the narrator is both narrating a story and talking with the reader at the same time. Fulfillment Love Compassion I feel like with the novel being so philosophical, it’s sort of distances itself from readers who aren’t really interested in philosophy that much. With the narration, it’s both a lapse and not a lapse in that I feel like the constant description of the characters’ thought process is distracting but at the same time it is what helps the readers come to the realization of the philosophy being highlighted by each character. I also feel that the numerous sex scenes in the novel were distracting. As a reader, I look for movement in the plot. There is already little movement in the novel and it’s constantly distracted by both internal dialogue and the sex scenes.
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, Local 1-1937 v. Taan Forest Limited Partnership, 2018 BCCA 322