Unbearable Goodness

Last week Sarah brought me a book, and told me to read it, that our conversations reminded her of it.

It's called "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". There's a very good chance you've heard of it, or read it yourself, but as for myself, I didn't know anything about it.

I opened it up on the train to Brussels last friday, and was hooked by the second paragraph.

I haven't gotten very far, but that's probably because I'm constantly stopping to scribble down all the great quotes.

I like the way Kundera writes. He seems to philosophize through his characters, and that keeps dialogue and description minimal. I am into minimalism, and I am into philosophy. So this is a very nice combination.

Here are lines that made me think or smile. Or both.

"He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural.

We can never know what we want, because living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come."

"We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold."

"..the heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignifigent.

What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"

I'm also excited to see the film once I finish the book. I'm a fan of Juliette Binoche, and it scored 100 on rotten, so it's gotta be great.