The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
Related History & Literature on Shmoop
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- Tell Me About Your Mother
The Unbearable Lightness of Being references the story of Oedipus a few times. It also has several characters at odds with their relationships with their parents. Oedipus is basically the original dude to have mommy issues. See how his troubles relate to the novel, then go hug your family—but not too tight. - The Political Machine
Until Kundera burst on the scene, Czechoslovakia had only one literary hero: Franz Kafka. Like Kundera, Kafka wrote some popular works that could be interpreted as anti-communist or some sort of allegory for god, freedom, and sex. Those Czechs and their psycho-sexual communist allegories, right? Kafka's The Trial, like Kundera's work, is a screed against the wacky, but terrifying, effect Stalinism has on ordinary people.