One thing I love most about his books is his contrast of characters' perspectives of situations. He will paint the most symbolic picture of a situation, where every action speaks to that persons history and builds up the experience of X. Then he will rewrite the scene from a different point of view, and conclusively state that, no, actually everything meant Y.
And then he will go on an, as a critic, analyze the book right there for you and what it means, in between the story.
I love how he uses ideas from Hegel, Nietsche, Beethoven, Bach Stravinsky (all music history), etc. etc. etc. and dives deep into the poetry of one idea. For example in Unbearable, the eternal recurrence. That singular points of experience are as the tree falling in the forest when no one's around, it has no impact. That for an event to have weight it must happen repeatedly, in different contexts, stories, etc, but essentially the same occurrence, over and over again. What does that mean for your life and the patterns of your life?
How much I've gone into rabbit holes of some great people exploring Kundera, and how much more beautiful Beethoven is to me now. He's made his Op. 111 one of my favourites.
And then he will go on an, as a critic, analyze the book right there for you and what it means, in between the story.
I love how he uses ideas from Hegel, Nietsche, Beethoven, Bach Stravinsky (all music history), etc. etc. etc. and dives deep into the poetry of one idea. For example in Unbearable, the eternal recurrence. That singular points of experience are as the tree falling in the forest when no one's around, it has no impact. That for an event to have weight it must happen repeatedly, in different contexts, stories, etc, but essentially the same occurrence, over and over again. What does that mean for your life and the patterns of your life?
How much I've gone into rabbit holes of some great people exploring Kundera, and how much more beautiful Beethoven is to me now. He's made his Op. 111 one of my favourites.