Kim W. (kimery) reviewed on 1/19/2008 + 224 more book reviews

This is a beautiful book from the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It is not a light read, but it is worth the trouble. I was going to try to give a flavor of what it's about, so here goes...There are two parallel stories, one about a seduction by a woman of a young nobleman in the eighteenth century. The other story takes place in the same chateau near the end the twentieth century, when a young intellectual experiences a less successful night. The statement on the book jacket which I think captures it is: "Underlying this libertine fantasy is a profound mediation on contemporary life; about the secret bond between slowness and memory, about the connection between our era's desire to forget and the way we have given ourselves over to the demon of speed.

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