Literature, emotions and language… a reckless marriage?

Czech novelist, Milan Kundera, died aged ninety-four on July 11, 2023, in Paris, France, after a prolonged disease. He left his homeland for France in 1975 after being expelled from the Czech communist party —despite being an enthusiastic member when young— and had a notorious career for half a century as a short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet.

He lost his Czech nationality in 1979 and became a French citizen in 1981. kundera and his wife Vera regained their Czech citizenship in 2019.  

He was the son of a renowned concert pianist and studied music early in his childhood but turned to literature years later.

Kundera was famous for several novels, including, the unbearable lightness of being.

I read this novel about a decade ago and still remember how I felt when I read it. Some novels can leave such a print of joyful sadness in your heart.

I read this novel in French and it left an undertone of bittersweet in how I see this language to this day.

The story is set in Prague Spring of June 1968, the Soviet invasion and the subsequent liberalization of the country. It revolves around the lives of two couples. The main character’s name is Thomas, a successful surgeon, member of the Czech communist party. He is in love with his wife, Tereza, but can’t help committing adultery with other women.

Tereza offers a complete devotion to her husband, whereby the representation of heaviness is fully expressed. She lives in constant distress because of Thomas’ infidelities, but she acknowledges the fact that Thomas saved her from her own mother.

Sabina is Tomas’ mistress. She represents in her anonymous light-spirited relationship with Thomas the lightness of being.

When the Soviet tanks rolled in the city, the three characters decide to flee and leave for Switzerland. Tereza decides to come back and lets Thomas decide which road to take. Thomas finally decide to come back home choosing heaviness.

The philosophical underpinning of the story brings us back to Nietzsche and challenges the idea of the continuous return; that is, the idea that the universe and its events have already occurred and will occur in perpetuity. The main idea based on the meditations of the novel is that human beings only live one life and all of the things that happen in that life only happen once, ergo, they live under the spell of the lightness of being.

Thomas and Sabina represent in their respective behavior the lightness, while on the contrary, Tereza represents heaviness or duty.

This novel questions the idea of wholeness in love and fulfillment in sentimental relationships:

The false dichotomy between the pursuit of lust and sex, by the male, whose life often feels empty and lonely, lacking excitement and freedom; and the pursuit of a sick-like kind of love and understanding, by the female, whose life often feels purposeless and empty without male companionship.

Does it make sense to live a life carrying the heaviness of being or does it instead not make sense to live such a life? if we interpret life’s occurences as merely happening once in our life are we constrained in favor of the principles of the lightness of being?

I can’t emphasize enough how much this book changed my perception of depth of the French language when I read it.

Have you ever read a book that changed the perception of the language you’re learning? If so, let me know in the comment section below.

May literature be your best ally.