SYNOPSIS

The story is about four characters and their existential doubts about life as a couple. Tomas is a successful Czechoslovakian surgeon who lives in Prague in the 1960s with Teresa, a photographer he is in love with but who he cheats on with other women because he is unable to endure the temptation. Sabina is one of his lovers and a free spirit who also has a relationship with Franz, a married man with a daughter, who seeks refuge in a new romantic relationship to escape from his life of obligations that no longer makes him happy.

REVIEW

The story is set in a social and political context that makes the plot more interesting, because it recalls the book 1984 by George Orwell in which society is controlled by the secret police that intervenes in every situation considered suspicious of heterodoxy, which goes against the dominant ideology. In this specific case, communism controls the country and especially the artists and intellectuals who can “negatively” influence public opinion. Furthermore, the author talks about philosophy, theology, music and other social issues that, from my point of view, are the most stimulating part of the reading.
The narrator is the author of the book who occasionally intervenes in the story to give some explanations about the characters. A presence that in some ways is uncomfortable because it interrupts the tale charm by often reminding the reader that it is a fiction, but that is perhaps the effect that the author himself wanted to achieve. The characters are well constructed from a psychological point of view, but the little information on their physical appearance does not allow you to mentally visualize them while reading. The way in which the author presents the facts is through indirect speech, so there are less dialogues and the narrator summarizes the thoughts of the characters and does not dwell much on the descriptions of the places where the actions take place. As for time concerns, some leaps between past and future create confusion and when you go back to the present, you do not know exactly where you are. Finally, on the narrative space, the narrator does not always clearly separate his and the characters’ dreams and thoughts from the plot, and this technique raises some doubts about what is really happening in the story.