" This is a multi-layered novel with various narrators. On one level it deals with the quashing of individualism by communism, and the central protagonist's long-held desire for vengeance on those who pilloroed him for what amounted to a careless comment. On another, it deals with a romance borne out of a spontaneous need within two individuals to seek solace in the embrace of another lost soul. Kundera deals with these two strands wonderfully and it is the quality of these two aspects which carry the novel. For this reader, the digression offered by the thoughts of the other narrators, and discussion of traditional folk music pale significantly by comparison. As such, the novel holds promise of a gifted writer yet to fully hone his skills. "
— Steve, 2/16/2014