the unbearable lightness of being goodreads

As the years pass, Tomas continues to see other women even though he now finds it distasteful. As Tomas and Tereza spend more time together, she becomes aware that she is not in a monogamous relationship, a fact that Tomas initially denies before confessing, rationalising and justifying.īut as this country girl begins to establish herself in the city, making her own friends, developing her own career Tomas unexpectedly finds himself experiencing feelings of jealousy and possessiveness. Not wanting to change his lifestyle, he asks one of his other lovers, Sabina, to get Tereza a job while he gets Tereza her own apartment. Tomas devises a system that will let him have his cake and eat it too.

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come. He remained annoyed with himself until he realised that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural. Is he in love? How can he know? What does he want? The situation makes him pensive and unsure what to do. Yet, now, with no plan or effort on his part, he finds himself with a live-in girlfriend.

The divorce was now ten years ago and ever since he has been living as a promiscuous bachelor. His parents, outraged, disown him and Tomas finds himself without any family, or family obligations, at all. He comes to the conclusion that it is not worth it. After the divorce, in order to continue seeing his son, he had to bribe his ex-wife. Tomas was married for two years and had a son. She soon returns to Prague, with a copy of Anna Karenina, possibly to find a job and moves in with Tomas. Then, she comes down with the flu and ends up staying a week in Tomas’ flat before going home. She comes back to his flat with him and they make love. One day Tomas, a single divorcee and surgeon living in Prague, meets Tereza, a waitress from a small Czech town.

The unbearable lightness of being goodreads