What Are You Reading

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

^ After the 1914-18 First War British losses consigned Great Britain to generational spinsterhood.
A horrific social affliction that claimed over a million wedding nupitals, this effect was written about
in a book titled The Forgotten Women. Cannot recall its author's name but a riveting read.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Great review of Ex-Wife. I especially liked hearing the confirmation that, no matter how the decades tic by, a lot of human behavior remains unchanged.

 

[Tiki Tom]

When I was contemplating reading this book, a friend said to me “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have read Anna Karenina, and those who have not. You definitely want to be in the former group.” Nonetheless, I hesitated. Was I really ready for 800+ pages about a fallen woman? But eventually I dove in and spent almost 3 months reading this thick, dense tome filled with Russian brooding and angst.
Verdict: I loved it. it is one of the few books where I can honestly say that I was sorry to see it end. I will be thinking about the characters and their actions for a long time.

Now I’m going to try to convince you to buy Anna Karenina and spend the summer reading it.

First off, I read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation which was smooth and easy to read. Additionally the book is organized into very short chapters of three to five pages, which makes it very easy to set a goal of reading one or two chapters a day. Warning: the book is so compelling that, although I set myself the goal of one or two chapters, I often wound up reading five or six.

Anna Karenina is, IMHO, a better book than War and Peace. It is more tightly plotted and written, and lacks the pointless digressions that slow down W&P.

The book is only partly about Anna’s downfall. The book follows three couples plus the ex husband. In addition to the scandal and downfall of Anna and the dashing cavalry officer, Count Vronsky, there is also the upward trajectory of the heart warming love of Kitty and Levin. Interestingly, Levin is Tolstoy himself. More about that later. A third couple, Dolly and Oblonsky, is thrown in to show us how Saint Petersburg/Moscow aristocrats live and highlight the differences between city and country elites and between the younger and older generations. A large number of peasants, aristocrats, intellectuals, and merchants also cross the stage.

One of the things that I like about AK is that Tolstoy writes it so that you get to know each of the main seven characters in such a way that you get to kind of like each of them, despite their faults. For example, Oblonsky —representing the younger generation of cash strapped, party hard aristocrats— is a shallow, womanizing lightweight. Nonetheless, you can’t help but like the guy because he’s so cheerful and is always wiling to help a friend.

Levin is my favorite character. As mentioned, he is patterned after Count Tolstoy himself. Levin lives in the country and takes seriously the responsibility of running his large agricultural estate and seeing after the peasants who were freed from serfdom only ten years earlier. Levin is a bit socially awkward whenever he has to go into the city and deal with the slick, fashionable set. Levins courtship and marriage with Kitty is very honest and sweet. Although sometimes gruff, Levin actually has a heart of gold.

So, what is Anna Karenina about? Yes, it’s a cautionary tale about going against the norms of society (affairs were not uncommon. But Anna was just too open and honest about it.) But the book is about so much more. It’s about Tolstoy’s search for the meaning of life. He finds it at the end of the novel in a satisfying manner. It’s about the soul of Mother Russia as she plunges towards modernity. Yes! We even meet an early communist. It’s about the church and Christianity and pan-slavism and Russias views about Europe and its place in the world. It’s also about understanding death. More than that, Anna Karenina is about how men and women misunderstand each other but still fall in love. Men and women grind against each other like tectonic plate; creating both earthquakes and soaring mountains. I am not making this up: Anna Karenina contains emotions that I did not know existed before reading this book! Ha! The novel is about delusional egos and putting on appearances and doubts and fears and faith and hope. It is a peek at the very fabric of Russian society in about 1870. And yet the story and the people are strangley timeless. Did I mention that Levin stumbles across the meaning of life?

Anyway, Anna Karenina is now one of my favorite novels. Next time you are in a bookstore, at least take a look at it. There are worse ways to spend a summer than in the company of Tolstoy.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Men and women grind against each other like tectonic plate; creating both earthquakes and soaring mountains.
I am not making this up....

I believe you Tik. .....

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Nota bene, Dostoyevsky foresaw the emergence of communism in his The Brothers Karamazov.
There is a darling film romance set approx 1917 with splendid direction but its title eludes, though not Zhivago.
Russian women are lovely and I've been fortunate to know several post Cold War. They're well schooled in the
whole of Russian lit and for most, Anna K is a subject of acidic criticism. My professed admiration for her is quickly waved away with being British usually faulted. Dickens often dragged in leaving me a mere whipping boy for defending Anna.

 

[GHT]

When I was contemplating reading this book, a friend said to me “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have read Anna Karenina, and those who have not. You definitely want to be in the former group.” Nonetheless, I hesitated. Was I really ready for 800+ pages about a fallen woman? But eventually I dove in and spent almost 3 months reading this thick, dense tome filled with Russian brooding and angst.

Three months! It took me almost a year. Back in the days when I was a penniless student, being unable to indulge in the national sport of all students, involving copious amounts of alcohol, owing to my penniless state, I spent my spare time in the company of Anna Karina and Count Vronsky.

For the benefit of those who might read it, Leo Tolstoy’s epic 1878 novel, is the tale of a beautiful but unhappily married Muscovite who begins an affair with a dashing young cavalry officer. When their dalliance is discovered, scandalising Russian high society, Anna’s world begins to unravel and, well, locomotive tragedy ensues.

 

[Fading Fast]

When I was contemplating reading this book, a friend said to me “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have read Anna Karenina, and those who have not. You definitely want to be in the former group.” Nonetheless, I hesitated. Was I really ready for 800+ pages about a fallen woman? But eventually I dove in and spent almost 3 months reading this thick, dense tome filled with Russian brooding and angst.
Verdict: I loved it. it is one of the few books where I can honestly say that I was sorry to see it end. I will be thinking about the characters and their actions for a long time.

Now I’m going to try to convince you to buy Anna Karenina and spend the summer reading it.

First off, I read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation which was smooth and easy to read. Additionally the book is organized into very short chapters of three to five pages, which makes it very easy to set a goal of reading one or two chapters a day. Warning: the book is so compelling that, although I set myself the goal of one or two chapters, I often wound up reading five or six.

Anna Karenina is, IMHO, a better book than War and Peace. It is more tightly plotted and written, and lacks the pointless digressions that slow down W&P.

The book is only partly about Anna’s downfall. The book follows three couples plus the ex husband. In addition to the scandal and downfall of Anna and the dashing cavalry officer, Count Vronsky, there is also the upward trajectory of the heart warming love of Kitty and Levin. Interestingly, Levin is Tolstoy himself. More about that later. A third couple, Dolly and Oblonsky, is thrown in to show us how Saint Petersburg/Moscow aristocrats live and highlight the differences between city and country elites and between the younger and older generations. A large number of peasants, aristocrats, intellectuals, and merchants also cross the stage.

One of the things that I like about AK is that Tolstoy writes it so that you get to know each of the main seven characters in such a way that you get to kind of like each of them, despite their faults. For example, Oblonsky —representing the younger generation of cash strapped, party hard aristocrats— is a shallow, womanizing lightweight. Nonetheless, you can’t help but like the guy because he’s so cheerful and is always wiling to help a friend.

Levin is my favorite character. As mentioned, he is patterned after Count Tolstoy himself. Levin lives in the country and takes seriously the responsibility of running his large agricultural estate and seeing after the peasants who were freed from serfdom only ten years earlier. Levin is a bit socially awkward whenever he has to go into the city and deal with the slick, fashionable set. Levins courtship and marriage with Kitty is very honest and sweet. Although sometimes gruff, Levin actually has a heart of gold.

So, what is Anna Karenina about? Yes, it’s a cautionary tale about going against the norms of society (affairs were not uncommon. But Anna was just too open and honest about it.) But the book is about so much more. It’s about Tolstoy’s search for the meaning of life. He finds it at the end of the novel in a satisfying manner. It’s about the soul of Mother Russia as she plunges towards modernity. Yes! We even meet an early communist. It’s about the church and Christianity and pan-slavism and Russias views about Europe and its place in the world. It’s also about understanding death. More than that, Anna Karenina is about how men and women misunderstand each other but still fall in love. Men and women grind against each other like tectonic plate; creating both earthquakes and soaring mountains. I am not making this up: Anna Karenina contains emotions that I did not know existed before reading this book! Ha! The novel is about delusional egos and putting on appearances and doubts and fears and faith and hope. It is a peek at the very fabric of Russian society in about 1870. And yet the story and the people are strangley timeless. Did I mention that Levin stumbles across the meaning of life?

Anyway, Anna Karenina is now one of my favorite novels. Next time you are in a bookstore, at least take a look at it. There are worse ways to spend a summer than in the company of Tolstoy.

Outstanding review/comments, I enjoyed reading them.

AK Is one of my favorite books. I read it in my twenties and remember wanting my work day to end so I could get home to see what was happening to all these people I cared so much about. I also remember waiting in a doctor's office and being annoyed when the nurse called my name because that meant I had to stop reading it.

Now, touching sixty-years old, I am torn between the perennial conundrum of reading it again at some point or reading one of the many great books I haven't yet read.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Three months! It took me almost a year.

Well, I am retired now. I got into the habit of reading for a couple of hours after lunch, during the heat of the day. Then a quick dip in the pool followed by cocktails!

 

[Tiki Tom]

I am torn between the perennial conundrum of reading it again at some point or reading one of the many great books I haven't yet read.

Exactly! I almost said that I would even consider reading it again, but I know myself too well. I’m always looking for “ the next thing.” (Sort of like travel. Do you return to a favorite city or opt for undiscovered destinations?)

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

When I was contemplating reading this book, a friend said to me “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have read Anna Karenina, and those who have not. You definitely want to be in the former group.” Nonetheless, I hesitated. Was I really ready for 800+ pages about a fallen woman? But eventually I dove in and spent almost 3 months reading this thick, dense tome filled with Russian brooding and angst.
Verdict: I loved it. it is one of the few books where I can honestly say that I was sorry to see it end. I will be thinking about the characters and their actions for a long time.

Now I’m going to try to convince you to buy Anna Karenina and spend the summer reading it.

First off, I read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation which was smooth and easy to read. Additionally the book is organized into very short chapters of three to five pages, which makes it very easy to set a goal of reading one or two chapters a day. Warning: the book is so compelling that, although I set myself the goal of one or two chapters, I often wound up reading five or six.

Anna Karenina is, IMHO, a better book than War and Peace. It is more tightly plotted and written, and lacks the pointless digressions that slow down W&P.

The book is only partly about Anna’s downfall. The book follows three couples plus the ex husband. In addition to the scandal and downfall of Anna and the dashing cavalry officer, Count Vronsky, there is also the upward trajectory of the heart warming love of Kitty and Levin. Interestingly, Levin is Tolstoy himself. More about that later. A third couple, Dolly and Oblonsky, is thrown in to show us how Saint Petersburg/Moscow aristocrats live and highlight the differences between city and country elites and between the younger and older generations. A large number of peasants, aristocrats, intellectuals, and merchants also cross the stage.

One of the things that I like about AK is that Tolstoy writes it so that you get to know each of the main seven characters in such a way that you get to kind of like each of them, despite their faults. For example, Oblonsky —representing the younger generation of cash strapped, party hard aristocrats— is a shallow, womanizing lightweight. Nonetheless, you can’t help but like the guy because he’s so cheerful and is always wiling to help a friend.

Levin is my favorite character. As mentioned, he is patterned after Count Tolstoy himself. Levin lives in the country and takes seriously the responsibility of running his large agricultural estate and seeing after the peasants who were freed from serfdom only ten years earlier. Levin is a bit socially awkward whenever he has to go into the city and deal with the slick, fashionable set. Levins courtship and marriage with Kitty is very honest and sweet. Although sometimes gruff, Levin actually has a heart of gold.

So, what is Anna Karenina about? Yes, it’s a cautionary tale about going against the norms of society (affairs were not uncommon. But Anna was just too open and honest about it.) But the book is about so much more. It’s about Tolstoy’s search for the meaning of life. He finds it at the end of the novel in a satisfying manner. It’s about the soul of Mother Russia as she plunges towards modernity. Yes! We even meet an early communist. It’s about the church and Christianity and pan-slavism and Russias views about Europe and its place in the world. It’s also about understanding death. More than that, Anna Karenina is about how men and women misunderstand each other but still fall in love. Men and women grind against each other like tectonic plate; creating both earthquakes and soaring mountains. I am not making this up: Anna Karenina contains emotions that I did not know existed before reading this book! Ha! The novel is about delusional egos and putting on appearances and doubts and fears and faith and hope. It is a peek at the very fabric of Russian society in about 1870. And yet the story and the people are strangley timeless. Did I mention that Levin stumbles across the meaning of life?

Anyway, Anna Karenina is now one of my favorite novels. Next time you are in a bookstore, at least take a look at it. There are worse ways to spend a summer than in the company of Tolstoy.

Excellent review - you have convinced me to try it.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I thought today was Kentucky Derby day in America. A week early it seems I be, but the omens here are real
what with the Guard mounts wild break thru London streets. Still, another week the wait to handicap meself toward a race purse or two.