? oct - ? 

★★★★★
hooooly fuck holy moly. this took me way too long to get through don't even ask why because there's no good answer, since i love love loooved this more than words can describe. refusing to read anything else by Kundera for the forseeable future for fear of ruining this- perfect in isolation. ending was so quiet, out of nowhere, flipped the page several times in confusion. only made it better. affirmed my love for coincidence and the meaning we take from it. last chapter heartwrenching. God i'll never read like that again. God bless Karenin.

★★★☆☆
(written retroactively, 20 nov)
felt like the deeper meaning of this was a little lost on me. from my perspective, a very fun book, so much so that i only realised near the end how swept up i'd been in the literal. felt that the biblical accounts dragged a little, maybe i wasn't as devoted to them as i should have been, and by the end they only served to confuse me. i'm sure there was beauty in them that i overlooked. great fun with Margarita & the Devil, delight in freedom and possibility. the early twist took me by surprise for sure, i'd expected it to hang over the rest of the book. my reading was tedious but i enjoyed some parts immensely.