The Unbearable Lightness of Being released in Czech Republic

Yes, you read that right: Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being has finally been released in the Czech Republic.

Nesnesitelna lehkost byti, or The Unbearable Lightness of Being, was originally written in Czech in 1982. This was shortly after Milan Kundera, who was born in Moravia left Czechoslovakia and settled in Paris. Its first publication was a French translation in 1984. The novel was soon translated into English, German, Hungarian, Polish and Russian, and received international acclaim. But surprisingly it has never been released in his homeland. The only edition ever released in Czech was that published in 1985 by the publishing house, Sixty-Eight Publishers, run by Josef Skvorecky and his wife, Zdena Salivarova, in Toronto, Canada.

Radio Praha's website reports (quoting Jiri Srstka, Kundera's Czech literary agent): At first glance this doesn't appear to be a big deal, but in the case of Milan Kundera, who is known
for his perfectionism, this is a huge job. Also because the Toronto edition was published under difficult circumstances, and therefore Kundera had to read the entire book again, re-write sections, make additions, and edit the entire text. So given his perfectionism, this is was a long-term job, but now readers will get the book that Milan Kundera thinks should exist.

Milan Kundera's own message to the Czech people: The Unbearable Lightness of Being … (is) a novel, a tale of love, and not as a work of political commentary.

Hmmm.