As a result, many Czech intellectuals emigrated from the country in the 1970s. The Russians were there to make sure that political reformists kept quiet, so the activists had to go underground or risk persecution by the Russians. There was no military resistance on the part of Czechoslovakia, but during the occupation political tensions were high. The Russians didn't take well to this, so in August of 1968 they invaded Czechoslovakia with military force. The phrase 'Prague Spring' refers to this period of attempted reform. Dubcek attempted to give back to the people rights that had been taken away by the Russian communist regime (like freedom of speech and press). This reform was spearheaded by Czech leader Alexander Dubcek, who came to power in January of 1968. Needless to say, this made the Czechs unhappy, and there began a period of attempted reform. Czechoslovakia was largely under the control of Stalinist Russia, which began to use the smaller country largely for its own interests. Political activism was strong in favor of communism, particularly among young people. After World War II, Czechoslovakia started taking steps toward becoming a communist nation. Let's get some background on the political history before diving into the novel. The narrator frequently interrupts the story to analyze his own characters and discuss the fictional plotline in the context of the novel's central philosophy: the dichotomy between lightness and weight. Set mostly in Prague during the Russian invasion of Prague in the late 1960s, the novel focuses on the love lives of four Czech intellectuals as they struggle with relationships, sex, politics, and the military occupation of their country.

The novel is a genre-defying mix of historical fiction, love stories, philosophy, and experimentation with narrative technique.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being was published in Paris in 1984 by Czech author Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being Introduction

The unbearable lightness of being book