Anna Karenina
I recently finished Leo Tolstoy's provocative look at Russian society near the turn of the century, "Anna Karenina." For those of you who haven't read it, I highly encourage doing so. I don't consider myself a huge reader, but thankfully there are audio books these days and I was able to make it through that mega-work in only a month or so. (If you know me, you know I have many books sitting around half finished, so this is quite the accomplishment, if I may so shower accolades on myself.)
Tolstoy begins with the famous proposition that "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Actually, he begins with the epigraph: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." Those propositions are dually and integrally woven into the theme, which, ultimately, appears to be that in the eternal struggle between self-will and God's ordered design, the pursuit of selfish desires inevitably leads to unhappiness and ruin, while those who recognize an ordered existence greater than self - and respect that order - will find meaning and happiness. That simple explanation, however, offers no justice to the depth of the book. Throughout, there are numerous issues of great significance in Tostoy's day - many of which continue to be important social issues - that are debated in great detail, with very stimulating and persuasive arguments for each position. What I found most stunning, though, was the incredible accuracy and detail in the character studies and interior monologue of the plot's main characters. Sometimes offering multiple chapters to describe a few hours of an ordinary day, Tolstoy often leaves little room for conjecture, describing even the innermost thoughts in minutia. (On occassion, he even offers a brief monologue on behalf of Levin's hound dog, which I found to be rather entertaining.) Unlike another famous Russian author, Tolstoy's minute character depictions are not only plausible, but stunningly accurate, and leave the reader with a the truest sense of identification in a fresh world they regret to close the pages to.
A thorough and excellent review of the book can be found here.
Tolstoy begins with the famous proposition that "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Actually, he begins with the epigraph: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." Those propositions are dually and integrally woven into the theme, which, ultimately, appears to be that in the eternal struggle between self-will and God's ordered design, the pursuit of selfish desires inevitably leads to unhappiness and ruin, while those who recognize an ordered existence greater than self - and respect that order - will find meaning and happiness. That simple explanation, however, offers no justice to the depth of the book. Throughout, there are numerous issues of great significance in Tostoy's day - many of which continue to be important social issues - that are debated in great detail, with very stimulating and persuasive arguments for each position. What I found most stunning, though, was the incredible accuracy and detail in the character studies and interior monologue of the plot's main characters. Sometimes offering multiple chapters to describe a few hours of an ordinary day, Tolstoy often leaves little room for conjecture, describing even the innermost thoughts in minutia. (On occassion, he even offers a brief monologue on behalf of Levin's hound dog, which I found to be rather entertaining.) Unlike another famous Russian author, Tolstoy's minute character depictions are not only plausible, but stunningly accurate, and leave the reader with a the truest sense of identification in a fresh world they regret to close the pages to.
A thorough and excellent review of the book can be found here.
posted by jph | 5:56 PM
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