Notes to 'The Golden Apple of Eternal Desire', a short story by Milan Kundera in the collection 'Laughable Loves': Very funny! Made me smile. Narrator talks about his friend Martin, forty, who is happily married, but is constantly in pursuit of women. An 'absolute pursuit'. '... A self-deluding game with which Martin wants to retain for himself the illusion that nothing has changed, that the beloved comedy of youth continues to be played, that the labyrinth of women is endless, and that it is still his preserve'. Levels of acquaintance: 'registration', 'contact' (sometimes 'practice contact'), and above that, 'only one last level of activity'. Nevertheless, Martin never betrays his wife. He loves her dearly, for him she is the absolute best. I've read 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' a few months ago. There, the theme of the 'absolute pursuit' appears again.