The Unbearable Lightness of Being Summary

The narrative commences with a philosophical exploration contrasting 'lightness' and 'heaviness'. Drawing from Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence versus Parmenides's perception of life as being light, the author ponders whether life can bear any meaning or significance without the prospects of comparison. The protagonist, Tomas, is a renowned Prague surgeon who embodies this concept of lightness in his adventurous love exploits. Despite his past marriage and a son, Tomas finds comfort in his perpetual bachelorhood until he meets Tereza, a waitress. Their meeting sparks a romantic interest in Tomas, one he initially resists but eventually succumbs to.

Tereza, hitherto leading an unfulfilling life, finds an intellectual and dreamer in Tomas and falls for him instantly. Despite their cohabitation, Tomas fails to let go of his extramarital affairs, causing Tereza emotional distress and increasing suicidal thoughts. To appease her, Tomas marries Tereza but retains his mistresses, including his long-term lover, Sabina, a talented painter. Interestingly, Tereza forms a friendship with Sabina, who finds Tereza a job as a photographer in Prague. However, the Soviet military occupation of the city following the Prague Spring causes Sabina to flee first, then Tomas and Tereza, to Switzerland.

In Zurich, Tereza finds herself unemployed and irritated by Tomas's unceasing affairs. Consequentially, she decides to return to Prague, followed by Tomas, a move that implicates their freedom. Following his refusal to denounce his anti-Communist article, Tomas is stripped of his position as a surgeon. His son tries to persuade him to join the dissidents, but Tomas rejects the idea. Tereza, now a bartender, succumbs to an affair in desperation to understand Tomas's lifestyle, which only yields more misery. Eventually, they move to the country and live peacefully until they die in a car accident. In Geneva, Sabina is involved with Franz, a professor whose ideology is more aligned with Tereza's. When Franz decides to leave his wife for Sabina, she abandons him and moves to Paris, then America, where she learns of Tomas and Tereza's death. Franz finds solace in a student who adores him but never truly comprehends Sabina's betrayal. Upon his death, his wife claims his body and inscribes "A return after long wanderings" on his tombstone.