Milan Kundera Book Club: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Please join us for an evening exploring the work of Milan Kundera (1929-2023), the Czech writer whose books became an international phenomenon. During the Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia, Kundera reminded the world of his native country’s central place in European culture. His formative influences included the composer Leoš Janáček and the modern myth-maker, Franz Kafka. Kundera was also drawn to the imagination of France, where he settled in 1975. The cultural form that preoccupied Kundera was the novel. He leaned into its skepticism and comedy to contemplate societies distorted by ideology and vacuousness.