Here's what I wrote about this read in 2008: "Only slightly recall, and very sparse online reviews. Kundera is Czeck, but matured and lives in France. Good cross-cultural novel, about a poet growing up in Communism; should probably re-read."

Note that LibraryThing classifies Kundera as a French author (he naturalized as a citizen in 1981 after exiling there in 1975). ( )

Kundera's writing always has a profound effect on me. There is someone able to capture and express the living of life. Subtlety and nuance that captures the moment and experience of human frailty. I have found no other writer of his ability but I will keep searching. ( )

Life is Oedipal - 3.5. ( )

My late 20s illustrated a certain cooling of conviction. It was a grassy hill in early spring, I believe I had bought this new and found my own views on poetry and revolution echoed, Hell, anticipated by Kundera. This is a novel of resignation. ( )

Like falling from one dream into another this novel takes you on a journey into the adolescence of a poet. Peeling away layers of personality the poet protagonist is revealed to be a human with all the ridiculous accouterments that attend to the artist. For those who enjoy ideas and feeling the sublime this is a great novel. ( )