I have been engrossed in Anna Karenina for about a month now (the upside of reading a 750+ page book is that it lasts a long time) and I am not only loving it, but wishing everyone else in the world was reading it too, so we could all discuss the excellence. Tolstoy is an incredible writer. He writes about the experiences common to man-- love, marriage, death, birth, work, family, art-- in a way that is so descriptive that you feel almost as though he is looking into your brain and writing the things you have felt and dreamed. Then there is the beautiful realization that we all hold these things in common, and your eyes are opened to the fact that what you thought was uniquely your own has been shared throughout time, cultural boundaries, and even gender.
The characters, too, are woven together quite seamlessly, and even though I don't approve of some of their choices, I can't help but like them and be interested in their stories. There is no villian, just a lot of broken and complex people, and he takes the time to develop them well. It's fascinating.
This is the second Russian novel I have read (the other being Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment) and it's not difficult to see why these authors were so highly praised... they seem to take more interest in the smallest details than any other author I have had the pleasure of reading. I have already put The Brothers Karamazov and War and Peace on my to-read list.
It can be hard to find a good book, and I really love fine literature, it makes my brain come alive and makes me want to write essays and dissertations.
I know, I'm a nerd.
Has anyone else out there read this book?
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4 comments:
I'm seriously glad you're not reading Harry Potter. Again.
Anna's on my bookshelf and I'll admit it has been there for awhile. Bravo for taking on that one!
I think you'll love Brother's, I particularly enjoy a short story within the story itself that has been dubbed The Grand Inquisitor. Profound thoughts!
Enjoy!
I'm glad that you're enjoying the book. I found that all the description was just too much for me, and, I didn't find one character that I liked. That made it difficult for me to get through the book.
I love it, too, for all the reasons you mention, plus the fact that Tolstoy somehow manages to capture archetypes of people in such a sensitive way that I can "see" my neighbor, co-worker, friend in characters like Levin, Anna and Vronsky. Isn't it strange to think that an 18th century Russian officer can seem just like my neighbor down the street???
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