Menna Hyde

This is so much more than a novel. Milan Kundera conveys theories on life and existence through the experiences of crafted characters who feel so real, not through physical description ( as they are rarely described with appearance in mind) but through mind and soul and childhood dreams. He comments on the communist occupation and the human condition with sensitivity but also a clear and refreshing certainty at times. ‘Before we are forgotten we will be turned to kitsch.’ He is bold and unashamed yet his writing strikes me as humble and filled with humility. I will never tire of the way Kundera’s mind works and his ability to consolidate thoughts, often obscure and abstract, into words on a page in a book that still reach out and touch something in me years on.