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foxynz 's review for:
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
This year I wanted to read some more classics. Although I loved English at school, my career took me in other directions, and my education is sorely lacking many of the classics. So it was time to finally see for myself the origin of so many famous quotes, and for some reason I chose " All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" as the place to start.
I began this book quite ignorant of the size of this lengthy tome (one of the disadvantages of Kindles) and expecting quite a different story to what lay before me. I do prefer to read novels without preconceptions, but it can be difficult with famous stories to be completely free of them. Anna Karenina does not appear early on in the book, and when she does, not in the way I expected.
This book has taken me longer to read than any other in my life- 3 weeks! Partly because it is a long story, but mostly because it didn't demand my constant attention. At the beginning I was very frustrated by what I felt was waffling on about irrelevant points, and wanting to know what happened to Anna. Midway through the book, I did read a review to try understand what I was missing in the famous epic. And I realised nothing was going to 'happen' in the way we expect modern novels to keep us entertained, but rather, this was a story of real life, and like real life, there would be periods of plenty, and of few. That sometimes appreciating and accepting the monotony of a task like scythe mowing can give its own pleasure. When this happened, I relaxed into the book and started enjoying what it was rather than constantly demanding more from it.
There are passages that amaze me, for their profound observations on human nature and thoughts. Somehow quoted here out of context, they are not so powerful, but at the time they struck me enough to mark them.
"His father always talked to him - so he felt- as if he were addressing some imaginary boy, one of those that exist in books, but quite unlike him. And he always tried, when with his father, to pretend he was that book boy."
"A man can spend several hours sitting cross-legged in the same position if he knows that nothing prevents him from changing it; but if he knows that he has o sit with his legs crossed like that, he will get cramps, hi legs will twitch and strain towards where he would like to stretch them"
For these passages alone, the book is worth reading. And for just experiencing a classic like this, it is worth reading.
However, I can't say I loved it like many others have. It took effort at times to continue, and I was relieved it was over, even though it ended abruptly I felt. I am glad I read it, and I do believe it would improve on the second reading, although I am not certain I would ever attempt it again!
I began this book quite ignorant of the size of this lengthy tome (one of the disadvantages of Kindles) and expecting quite a different story to what lay before me. I do prefer to read novels without preconceptions, but it can be difficult with famous stories to be completely free of them. Anna Karenina does not appear early on in the book, and when she does, not in the way I expected.
This book has taken me longer to read than any other in my life- 3 weeks! Partly because it is a long story, but mostly because it didn't demand my constant attention. At the beginning I was very frustrated by what I felt was waffling on about irrelevant points, and wanting to know what happened to Anna. Midway through the book, I did read a review to try understand what I was missing in the famous epic. And I realised nothing was going to 'happen' in the way we expect modern novels to keep us entertained, but rather, this was a story of real life, and like real life, there would be periods of plenty, and of few. That sometimes appreciating and accepting the monotony of a task like scythe mowing can give its own pleasure. When this happened, I relaxed into the book and started enjoying what it was rather than constantly demanding more from it.
There are passages that amaze me, for their profound observations on human nature and thoughts. Somehow quoted here out of context, they are not so powerful, but at the time they struck me enough to mark them.
"His father always talked to him - so he felt- as if he were addressing some imaginary boy, one of those that exist in books, but quite unlike him. And he always tried, when with his father, to pretend he was that book boy."
"A man can spend several hours sitting cross-legged in the same position if he knows that nothing prevents him from changing it; but if he knows that he has o sit with his legs crossed like that, he will get cramps, hi legs will twitch and strain towards where he would like to stretch them"
For these passages alone, the book is worth reading. And for just experiencing a classic like this, it is worth reading.
However, I can't say I loved it like many others have. It took effort at times to continue, and I was relieved it was over, even though it ended abruptly I felt. I am glad I read it, and I do believe it would improve on the second reading, although I am not certain I would ever attempt it again!