How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph), with the exception of Part V, which runs (Part#. "Short Title". Paragraph). Part V has no numbered chapters—only title headings.
Quote #4
That is the period commonly referred to as the "Prague Spring": the guardians of the idyll saw themselves forced to remove microphones from private apartments, the borders were opened, and the notes were escaping from the enormous Bach score for everyone to sing in his own way. (I.10.2)
After some years of Communist rule, the people of Bohemia rise up and try to reassert their rights to things like freedom of speech. They had some success, but it was really pretty short-lived. By August of that year (1968), Russian tanks had arrived in Bohemia to crush this movement. Side note: Kundera got into a written debate with Vaclav Havel over whether or not the gains of the Prague Spring had disappeared completely by the autumn. It was a very public and hostile exchange of ideas.
Quote #5
I too once danced in a ring. It was in 1948. In my country, the Communists had taken power, the Socialist and democratic Christian ministers had taken refuge abroad, and I took other Communist students by the hands or shoulders and we took two steps in place, one step forward, raised the left leg to one side and then the right to the other, and we did this nearly every month, because we always had something to celebrate... (III.6.1)
Kundera has a complex relationship with Communism. In the beginning, he too was a "guardian of the idyll." But after some time, he became dissatisfied with the way things were going and spoke out against the party. This didn't sit well with the regime, so they began to take action against him: he lost his job, his books were banned, and he had no social life to speak of. This effectively cut him off from the world. Because of this isolation, Kundera can't help but yearn for the past days of solidarity with his countrymen—even if they were tied to a political party out to destroy all personal freedoms.
Quote #6
She signed the statement and two days later the editor in chief called her in and told her she was dismissed, effective immediately. The same day she went to the radio offices, where she had friends who had long been offering her a job. They greeted her happily but when she came the next day to fill out the forms, the head of personnel, who liked her very much, met her with a look of distress: "What a stupid thing you've done my dear!" (III.7.7)
Kundera's young friend, R., who created an anonymous writing job for him at her publication when he had gotten on the bad side of the Communist Party, feels the wrath of the regime herself. It just goes to show that there's no such thing as an insignificant private citizen in a totalitarian state—everybody is important enough to destroy.