Book Review: Identity

My first reading of Kundera (The Book of Laughter and Forgetting) was not very appealing. I was probably not prepared for it or did not have the leisure to engage with it in the way it was meant to be read. I was quite sure I wouldn’t pick up another Kundera. It was this apprehension that kept me away from picking up this one. However, my interest in reading about identity led me to pick up this book. I am not disappointed with my choice, however, I still maintain that Kundera should be read at leisure.


The story revolves around a lady who reflects on her sense of self in various ways including thinking that she is no longer an interest for men. Her boyfriend plans to change this perception. The events that unfold provide food for thought for understanding self and relationships. I found myself drifting away on various issues when reading the book. 


I think it was author’s deliberate attempt to shift between fiction and philosophy. The story was secondary and by the end of it, it took me time to remember the characters in the book. The concerns of identity, created, imagined, blurring the lines between the real and imaginary, have stayed with me.