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Identity

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( 32,481 ratings, 2,606 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Identity by Milan Kundera is a poignant exploration of the complex relationship between a couple living in France. As Chantal and Jean navigate their sense of self and the shifting dynamics within their relationship, the novel delves into themes of love, perception, and existential questioning. The narrative subtly examines how identity is both personal and dependent on how one is perceived by others.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate intricate explorations of love and identity, woven through a narrative that blends philosophical musings with emotional depth. It appeals to those who are intrigued by the psychological nuances in relationships and the existential questions surrounding personal and shared identities.

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Identity

Sometimes - perhaps only for an instant - we fail to recognize a companion. When this happens to lovers, the effect is acute: for a moment the identity of the loved one ceases to exist, and we come to doubt our own. Such a situation - and the resulting wave of panic - is at the core of Kindera's new novel.

A philosophical masterpiece by the author of modern classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Sometimes - perhaps only for an instant - we fail to recognise a companion; for a moment their identity ceases to exist, and thus we come to doubt our own. The effect is at its most acute in a couple where our existence is given meaning by our perception of a lover, and theirs of us.

With his astonishing skill at building on and out from the significant moment, Kundera has placed such a situation and the resulting wave of panic at the core of the novel.

In a narrative as intense as it is brief, a moment of confusion sets in motion a complex chain of events which forces the reader to cross and recross the divide between fantasy and reality.

Profound, sad and disquieting but above all a love story, Identity provides further proof of Kundera's astonishing gifts as a novelist.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Identity by Milan Kundera explores the complexities of personal and relational identity in the context of a couple facing existential and emotional challenges. It has been praised for its poetic language and deep philosophical insights, although some readers find its introspective style and fragmented narrative challenging. Critics often appreciate Kundera's ability to blend the psychological with the philosophical, creating a thought-provoking examination of human nature and relationships.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571195671

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 April 1999

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main - Re-issue

Contributors:

  • Translated by Linda Asher
  • Translated by Linda Asher

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 131g

Pages: 160

About the Author

Milan Kundera, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, was a student when the Czech Communist regime was established in 1948, and later worked as a labourer, jazz musician and professor at the Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies in Prague. After the Russian invasion in August 1968, his books were proscribed. In 1975, he and his wife settled in France, and in 1981, he became a French citizen. He is the author of the novels The Joke, Life is Elsewhere, Farewell Waltz, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and Immortality, and of the short-story collection Laughable Loves - all originally in Czech. His most recent novels, Slowness, Identity and Ignorance, as well as his non-fiction works The Art of the Novel and Testaments Betrayed, were originally written in French.

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