Identity

Identity tells the story of a couple whose sense of self depends on how each lover sees the other. Sometimes, for an instant, one person fails to recognise a companion, and that person's identity seems to vanish. This can make them doubt their own existence too. A moment of confusion sets off a complex chain of events. The intense, brief narrative moves between fantasy and reality. It explores identity, love and panic, and is above all a love story about the meaning two people give each other.

Why You Should Read?

• Experience a brief but intense narrative that moves between fantasy and reality.
• Explore how a couple's perception of each other gives meaning to their existence.
• Follow a complex chain of events set off by one moment of confusion.
• Understand why doubting a lover's identity can bring a wave of panic.

About the Author

Milan Kundera was a Czech and French novelist. He left Czechoslovakia for exile in France in 1975 and became a citizen there in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was taken away in 1979, but he received Czech citizenship in 2019. The Unbearable Lightness of Being is his best-known work. Before the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia banned his books. He kept a low profile and seldom spoke to the media. He won the Jerusalem Prize in 1985, the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 1987, and the Herder Prize in 2000.