Unbearable lightness?

The idea of eternal return is a mysterious one..

If every second of our lives recurs an infinite number of times, we are nailed to eternity as Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. It is a terrifying prospect. In the world of eternal return the weight of unbearable responsibility lies heavy on every move we make. That is why Nietzsche called the idea of eternal return the heaviest of burdens (das schwerste Gewicht).
If eternal return is the heaviest of burdens, then our lives can stand out against it in all their splendid lightness.
But is heaviness truly deplorable and lightness splendid?

The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.
Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant.
What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?

~MILAN KUNDERA

Book review!

Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson

This 150 odd pages book starts off by describing how the writer first got acquainted with the B n B ,pretty much the same way i came across the book personally - "If you get there,it will be in your own time and way".

The twins Hector and Virgil run this place where "reading will not be a possible distraction or subsidiary activity but the entire thrust of my excursion".The whole book has 4-5 pages of stories from the lives of the twins and the boarders told with quirky humor. The subject can vary from the love of the life to the household cat!(Thankfully :mg:). The theme of books and good reads does play out in the background in a pleasant fashion,to my liking. The whole style of tasteful humor,not-over the top nor deliberate, used to tell short tales is addictive. You start identifying with the scene or wondering about the persons involved, over the due course their thoughts grow over you. Its like those conversation over cup of tea,munching muffins,taking break from the chores of the world...delightful,pleasant and a welcome change!

My first acquaintance of a B and B was formed by the Gilmore Girls ,i thought the experiences usually involve overtly flowery rooms,uneasy prodding into personal life by over friendly boarders,nature watching activities and muffin baking!I am happy this book presented the other hopeful face of B and B.(Though i still consider Lorelai's opinion in most matters)
I would definitely call it a good read and as my well-informed cover informs me,it had been awarded the Stephen Leacock Award for Humor..so its official :D
check out the extract ,it will be worth the effort(the only one i found readily available on net-to avoid pain of typing :P)


PS- I can't believe i got a perfectly good original copy of the book for as low as 10 rupees in the used books market...i also got the nanny diaries for 20 bucks!!(My first chiclit!)