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“In the realm of totalitarian kitsch, all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions. It follows, then, that the true opponent of totalitarian kitsch is the person who asks questions. A question is like a knife that slices through the stage backdrop and gives us a look at what lies hidden behind it.”
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“Venice can wash through you all the memories you have never made.”
― The Way Back to Florence
― The Way Back to Florence
“You'd like to think the death of a person is like the death of a star, that it will enrich the cosmos with precious elements, with added meaning.”
― The War in Venice
― The War in Venice
“His true goal was not to free the prisoners; it was to show that people without fear still exist. That, too, was playacting. But he had no other possibility. His choice was not between playacting and action. His choice was between playacting and no action at all. There are situations in which people are condemned to playact. Their struggle with mute power (the mute power across the river, a police transmogrified into mute microphones in the wall) is the struggle of a theater company that has attacked an army.”
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“Not long ago, I caught myself experiencing a most incredible sensation. Leafing through a book on Hitler, I was touched by some of his portraits: they reminded me of my childhood. I grew up during the war; several members of my family perished in Hitler's concentration camps; but what were their deaths compared with the memories of a lost period in my life, a period that would never return?”
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
― The Unbearable Lightness of Being
21st Century Literature
— 3570 members
— last activity 3 hours, 47 min ago
We read literary fiction from 2000 to present, with the intent of finding those literary gems of timeless and enduring quality. We're less focused o ...more
The History Book Club
— 25997 members
— last activity 17 minutes ago
"Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club is the largest history and nonfiction group on Goodread ...more
Historical Fictionistas
— 16053 members
— last activity 1 hour, 1 min ago
Welcome to Historical Fictionistas! We want to experience all different kinds of HF with all different kinds of people. The more diverse, the better. ...more
readers advisory for all
— 5706 members
— last activity Mar 10, 2026 04:29AM
life's too short to read crappy books. this is why readers' advisory exists. feel free to join if you are looking for "a book like____" or "a book tha ...more
Historical Fiction!
— 100 members
— last activity Oct 17, 2018 08:00AM
Historical fiction books setting set in WWII,Korea or Japan
Violet’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Violet’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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