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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
This book is LOOOOOOONG. I listened to the audiobook, which was 35 hours long and had to work my way up to over 2x speed or I never would have finished it.
That being said, it's beautifully written. The level is description is amazing and there was certainly enough time to properly characterize even the minor characters in the book. It was like a very detailed portrait of Russian life that was also like a soap opera.
If you would like to read something that takes forever to get through, I would recommend it!
That being said, it's beautifully written. The level is description is amazing and there was certainly enough time to properly characterize even the minor characters in the book. It was like a very detailed portrait of Russian life that was also like a soap opera.
If you would like to read something that takes forever to get through, I would recommend it!
one of the worst classics ive ever read. back of the book says we follow levin finding a "happy marriage" (levin and kitty constantly fight and argue and levin barely even loves his child) and anna cheating
this book is overwritten to high hell, we need to normalise skimming classics where they were paid per fucking chapter. i want to read the constrasting stories. i dont give a fuck about levins farm and how many god damn trees hes going to sell. i dont care about whoever it was going into debt. i dont care about whoever it was giving this much money to that person and that much money to this person holy shit.
the women (kitty and anna mostly) were written like shit of course. they overreacted to every little fuckin thing and then annajust kills herself over these overreactions.
940 pages this book couldve been a god damn novella for all the nothing that is in it
this book is overwritten to high hell, we need to normalise skimming classics where they were paid per fucking chapter. i want to read the constrasting stories. i dont give a fuck about levins farm and how many god damn trees hes going to sell. i dont care about whoever it was going into debt. i dont care about whoever it was giving this much money to that person and that much money to this person holy shit.
the women (kitty and anna mostly) were written like shit of course. they overreacted to every little fuckin thing and then anna
940 pages this book couldve been a god damn novella for all the nothing that is in it
Quotes:
Vronsky meanwhile, despite the full realization of what he had desired for so long, was not fully happy. He soon felt that the realization of his desire had given him only a grain of the mountain of happiness he had expected. It showed him the eternal error people make in imagining that happiness is the realization of desires.
—————————
‘I have no opinion,’ she said, ‘but I’ve always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.’
Vronsky meanwhile, despite the full realization of what he had desired for so long, was not fully happy. He soon felt that the realization of his desire had given him only a grain of the mountain of happiness he had expected. It showed him the eternal error people make in imagining that happiness is the realization of desires.
—————————
‘I have no opinion,’ she said, ‘but I’ve always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.’
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a time commitment, but so very worth it. I listened to the audiobook performed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, which I cannot recommend enough. It was just lovely.
Hallelujah. Finished this lengthy classic tome, which some say is the greatest novel ever written. I can't join those ranks.
The overwrought ponderings of the characters and writing style did not speak to me. It took all my determination to finish. This had better give me "cultural literacy points"!
The overwrought ponderings of the characters and writing style did not speak to me. It took all my determination to finish. This had better give me "cultural literacy points"!
If I could use one word to summarize this book it would be tragic. Both Anna and her brother seem like two people who would never have been satisfied; there would always be something prettier to chase. The grass would always be greener on the other side. Beyond being supposedly so insanely beautiful, I had a hard time really understanding why every man she meant became completely enamored with Anna. Even Kostya, who is arguable the best character in the book, falls for her at one point despite being married and in love with Kitty. Although, Kostya seemed to always having some kind of existential crisis and constantly looking for answer to it. Honestly, everyone in this book could have done with a couple trips to a therapist if such a thing existed in 1870’s Russia. I do wonder how much of Tolstoy is actually in the book. Like how much of the characters are projections of Tolstoy’s own self loathing, fears, and views on society.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes