《不能承受的生命之轻》英文简介

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Czech: Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí) is a 1984 novel by Milan Kundera, about two women, two men, a dog and their lives in thePrague Spring period of Czechoslovak history in 1968. Although written in 1982, this novel was not published until two years later, in a French translation (asL'Insoutenable légèreté de l'être). The original Czech text was published the following year.

Premise[edit]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes place mainly in Prague in the late 1960s and 1970s. It explores the artistic and intellectual life of Czech society from the Prague Spring of 1968 to the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and three other Warsaw Pact countries and its aftermath. The main characters are: Tomáš, a surgeon; his wife Tereza, a photographer anguished by her hu**and's infidelities; Tomáš’s lover Sabina, a free-spirited artist; Franz, a Swiss university professor and lover of Sabina; and finally Šimon, Tomáš’s estranged son from an earlier marriage.

Characters[edit]

Tomáš: A Czech surgeon and intellectual. Tomáš is a womanizer who lives for his work. He considers sex and love to be distinct entities: he has sex with many women but loves only his wife, Tereza. He sees no contradiction between these two positions. He explains womanizing as an imperative to explore female idiosyncrasies only expressed during sex. At first he views his wife as a burden whom he is obliged to take care of. After the Russian invasion, they escape toGeneva, where he starts womanizing again. Tereza, homesick, returns to Prague with the dog. He quickly realizes he wants to be with her and follows her home. He has to deal with the consequences of a letter to the editor in which he metaphorically likened the Czech Communists to Oedipus. Eventually fed up with life in Prague under the Communist regime, he moves to the countryside with Tereza. He abandons his twin obsessions of work and womanizing and discovers true happiness with Tereza. His epitaph, written by his Catholic son, is "He Wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth".

Tereza: Young wife of Tomáš. A gentle, intellectual photographer, she delves into dangerous and dissident photojournali** during the Soviet occupation of Prague. Tereza does not condemn Tomáš for his infidelities, instead characterizing herself as a weaker person. Tereza is mostly defined by her view of the body as disgusting and shameful, due to her mother's embrace of the body's grotesque functions. Throughout the book she fears simply being another body in Tomáš' array of women. Once Tomáš and Tereza move to the countryside, she devotes herself to raising cattle and reading. During this time she learns about her anima through an adoration of pet animals, reaching the conclusion that they were the last link to the paradise abandoned by Adam and Eve and becomes alienated from other people.

Sabina: Tomáš' mistress and closest friend. Sabina lives her life as an extreme example of lightness, taking profound satisfaction in the act of betrayal. She declares war on kitsch and struggles against the constraints imposed by her puritan ancestry and the Communist Party. This struggle is shown through her paintings. She occasionally expresses excitement at humiliation, shown through the use of her grandfather's bowler hat, a symbol that is born during one sexual encounter with Tomáš, before it eventually changes meaning and becomes a relic of the past. Later in the novel she begins to correspond with Šimon while living under the roof of some older Americans who admire her artistic skill.

Franz: Sabina's lover and a Geneva professor and idealist. Franz falls in love with Sabina, whom he considers a liberal and romantically tragic Czech dissident. He is a kind and compassionate man. As one of the novel's dreamers, he bases his actions on loyalty to the memories of his mother and of Sabina. His life revolves completely around books and academia, eventually to the extent that he seeks lightness and ecstasy by participating in marches and protests, the last of which is a march in Thailand to the border with Cambodia. In Bangkok after the march, he is mortally wounded during a mugging.

Karenin: The dog of Tomáš and Tereza. Although she is a bitch, the name is a masculine one and is a reference to Alexei Karenin, the hu**and in Anna Karenina. Karenin displays extreme dislike of change. Once moved to the countryside, Karenin becomes more content as she is able to enjoy more attention from her owners. She also quickly befriends a pig named Mefisto. During this time Tomáš discovers that Karenin has cancer and even after removing a tumor it is clear that Karenin is going to die. On her deathbed she unites Tereza and Tomáš through her "**ile" at their attempts to improve her health.

Challenging Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence (the idea that the universe and its events have already occurred and will recur ad infinitum), the story's thematic meditations posit the alternative: that each person has only one life to live and that which occurs in life occurs only once and never again — thus the "lightness" of being. In contrast, the concept of eternal recurrence imposes a "heaviness" on life and the decisions that are made--to borrow from Nietzsche's metaphor, it gives them "weight". Nietzsche believed this heaviness could be either a tremendous burden or great benefit depending on the individual's perspective.

The "unbearable lightness" in the title also refers to the lightness of love and sex, which are themes of the novel. Kundera portrays love as fleeting, haphazard and perhaps based on endless strings of coincidences, despite holding much significance for humans.

In the novel, Nietzsche's concept is attached to an interpretation of the German adage Einmal ist keinmal ("one occurrence is not significant"), namely an "all-or-nothing" cognitive distortion that Tomáš must overcome in his hero's journey. He initially believes "If we only have one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all," and specifically (with respect to committing to Tereza) "There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison." The novel resolves this question decisively that such a commitment is in fact possible and desirable.

intellectual life是什么意思

intellectuallife指理性的而不是感性或需要动脑筋的“精神生活”，例如：

Intellectual life in France was **othered by the occupation.  在被占领期间法国的精神生活受到了压制。

Curiosity is the taproot of an intellectual life , the most valuableof our simian traits.  好奇是精神生活的根源，也是我们类人猿特征中最有价值的部分。

It is curious to note how slowly the mechani** of the intellectual life improves.  奇怪的是, 精神生活方面的设备改进得非常缓慢。

形容态度的英语词语

形容态度的英语词语

Formal(informal) 正式, 礼仪, 拘谨 (非正式, 不拘礼, 通俗)

Matter of fact 实事求是, 以事实为依据

Pedantic 迂腐, 卖弄学问, 学究式的, 空谈, 自夸学问, 书呆子气的

Personal(impersonal) 人性的, 涉及隐私的, 私人的, 人称的, 亲自的, 身体的 (客观的, 和个人无关的, 没有人情味的, 非人的)

Respectful 表示尊敬的, 有礼貌的, 谦恭的

Disdainful 轻蔑的, 居傲的, 鄙视的

Adulation(adulatory) 谄媚的, 过分称赞的

Wonder 奇迹, 惊讶, 难以置信的

Affection(affectionate) 深情的, 亲切的, 挚爱的

Amusement(amusing) 有趣的, 使人发笑的, 消遣的, 愉快的

Approval(disapproval) 赞成的, 满意的 (不以为然的, 不赞成的, 非难的)

Reverence(irreverence) 虔诚的, 表示尊敬的, 充满崇敬心的 (不敬的, 不逊的, 无礼的)

Disappointment 使人失望的, 令人沮丧的,

Sarca**(sarcastic) 讽刺的, 讥讽的

Didactic 说教的, 教训的

Persuasive(convincing) 令人信服的, 有力的, 使人心悦诚服的

Diffident 无自信的, 谦虚谨慎的, 羞怯的

Indifferent 漠不关心的, 不重要的, 冷淡的

Kindly indulgence 温和地纵容, 任性的, 温和地宽容

Condemnation(condemnable) 该受责备的, 可非难的, 该罚的

Scientifically detached 学术上超然的, 学术上分离的, 科学态度冷淡的 Apologetic 道歉的, 急于认错的, 辩护的

Frustrated 挫折的, 挫败的, 无益的

Contemptuous 轻蔑的, 鄙视的, 瞧不起人的

Condescending 谦逊的, 故意屈尊的, 有优越感的

Paternal 父亲的, 似父亲的, 家长式统治的

Cynical 愤世嫉俗的, 讽刺的, 冷嘲的

Pitying 怜悯的, 遗憾的, 同情的

Bitter(bitterness) 痛苦的, 怀恨的 (悲痛, 怨恨)

Factual 事实的, 实际的

Humorous 富幽默感的, 滑稽的, 诙谐的

Inventive 善于创造的, 发明的

Self-righteous 自以为是的

Insincere 不诚实的, 无诚意的, 伪善的

Matter-of-fact 事实的, 实际的, 事务性的, 平淡的

Share intellectual life 共享知识

Gloat over difficulty 在困难时幸灾乐祸

Slyly introduce the fact 狡猾地介绍事实

Stick to established facts 坚持已确立的观点

Impatient 不耐烦的, 着急的, 急切的

Adverse critici** 反向批评, 逆向评论 Violent distaste

极度的厌恶, 剧烈的嫌恶

Pleasure 心情舒畅的, 愉悦的

intellectual life 怎么翻译阿？谢谢

知性人生,知性的生活方式,充满智慧的生活方式, 充满智慧的人生

其实,要看你这个短语放在什么地方用的了...