Milan Kundera Book Club Discusses The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Please join us for a series of events 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 that 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.

Robert Cremins and Dan Price from the Honors College at the University of Houston will lead us in a discussion of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a best-seller that became a popular film. They will be in conversation with Houston author and physician Ricardo Nuila from the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab (HEAL) at Baylor College of Medicine.