tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post242176199305838301..comments2023-09-22T02:24:42.144-07:00Comments on a light inside: Currently Reading: Anna KareninaJenna St.Hilairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16528611770211261141noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-66654690034090563732012-01-23T14:37:26.999-08:002012-01-23T14:37:26.999-08:00oh jeeeeeez, awful this film may be, but if it has...oh jeeeeeez, awful this film may be, but if it has BOTH Sean Bean AND Alfred Molina in it I might have to watch it anyway. Sorry to derail your thoughtful comment with useless fangirling, but. . . not sorry enough, clearly. I LOVE THEM BOTH. <br /><br />And just to veer back on topic for a second, those "infinitesimal moments" are one of the things Tolstoy is more awesome at than anyone else, I think. W&P is full of them -- and of their inverse, intense life-changing revelations later revealed to be false starts.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-18721108011469406272012-01-22T22:33:39.671-08:002012-01-22T22:33:39.671-08:00...In other words, the War parts are only boring b......In other words, the War parts are only boring because there's no romance in them! :DMarianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-62358196167466376932012-01-22T22:26:52.852-08:002012-01-22T22:26:52.852-08:00I hate war stories too, though oddly, I usually fi...I hate war stories too, though oddly, I usually find I become absorbed in them if I will give them 20 minutes. "Band of Brothers" is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, ever (minus one totally out-of-the-blue and unnecessary sex scene).<br /><br />But if it helps at all: the "war" parts in W&P are not exactly about the war itself. That is, they are not about the logistics of this battle and that. It's more like Tolstoy is using the war as a backdrop to develop characters and examine interpersonal dynamics and also as a vehicle to probe the idea of cause and effect. In War & Peace, Tolstoy seems to be thinking through the problem of ultimate causes. The winning or losing of a battle is traceable to the smallest of actions, and yet without the collusion of all the other actors, it might still have ended differently. This seems to be a source of fascination for Tolstoy.Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-13149228710950377202012-01-22T19:38:50.569-08:002012-01-22T19:38:50.569-08:00Really great thoughts, Maria. Yeah, this was a rev...Really great thoughts, <b>Maria.</b> Yeah, this was a review that I couldn't make very short. There was just too much present in the story.<br /><br />Alexey Alexandrovich was very compelling. I loved him for caring about little Annie, even when I got sick of his buying in to Lidia Ivanova's absurdities.<br /><br />Oh, and I've totally forgotten somehow about Levin's dissing of the dissonance. But that sounds awesome. I might have to go back and look at it. :D<br /><br />OK, I hate war stories. :P That's the biggest thing keeping me from diving into W&P... but I've got it on the Kindle, and should start pushing my way through it one of these days. Maybe when I get done with The Silmarillion. One effort-heavy read at a time is enough.Jenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-8345216942745107012012-01-22T19:08:21.604-08:002012-01-22T19:08:21.604-08:00The other thing that stuck with me, which I mentio...The other thing that stuck with me, which I mentioned in my criticism of Twilight, is that Anna always insists that she has sacrificed everything for Vronsky out of love, when the truth is the opposite. She is willing to give up everything for him except her own lust. She does not love him enough *not* to hurt him by participating in an illicit relationship that on top of being sinful, will ruin his career.<br /><br />Anna is all the more pitiable because she is so likable. Another scene that is inscribed in my mind is of Anna showing off her little girl to a friend and it coming out that the little girl has a new tooth that Anna did not know about until the friend's visit occasioned this ingression into the nursery. A little thing, and yet so tragic, so telling! What a student of human nature Tolstoy was. I suppose this is why he is still revered after two centuries. <br /><br />Alexey Alexandrovich is a compelling character, too, especially because of, in the midst of his own pain, his kindness to the child he knows is not his own and who is moreover the fruit of his wife's betrayal of him. Anna seems shocked to realize that it was within her power to wound him so terribly, but the realization is in the doing, and the damage is done.<br /><br />This is one of those books I've been looking forward to re-reading since the moment I put it down.Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-86486194904847451442012-01-22T19:07:48.373-08:002012-01-22T19:07:48.373-08:00Great review, Jenna, as always. Except that I wan...Great review, Jenna, as always. Except that I want about 8 pages more. :) Anna Karenina is so vast -- there is so much going on there, so much complexity, so much typical Tolstoy brilliance. Good observation on the connection between Levin and Tolstoy. From what little I know of his life, I would definitely agree that Levin is autobiographical. Pierre in W&P is a searcher of the same ilk, a wonderer, a philosopher. <br /><br />*Be warned, by the by, when you head into W&P, that there are torturous amounts of War in between the Peace. In order to help me slog through the War (which by the end I realized was integral to the story and valuable in its own right), I used to flip through the chapters until I found where the Peace resumed and stick a bookmark there as a kind of mile-marker. ("Only 50 more pages until I reach the oasis!") Also there is about 5(? - going from memory here) random pages of Tolstoy's philosophy inserted toward the end. Don't skip those either even though it may be tempting.<br /><br />Back to Anna. One of my favorite scenes, though not an important one, was of Levin at the symphony where some modern, dissonant music is being played. The modish set is all pretending to exult in it, while Levin cannot figure out why it is driving him crazy. Tolstoy's dissection of dissonant music is so thoroughly satisfying that at the end of it I think I actually jumped up and hollered, "YES!!!", fist pumping and all.<br /><br />I did not expect to like A.K. and avoided it for years. This was mostly due to having seen an awful film version starring the exquisitely beautiful Sophie Marceau, Sean Bean as Vronsky, and Alfred Molina, who was not nearly handsome enough to be Levin. The adultery storyline was so badly mishandled that it turned me off the book completely. I thought, how could such an awful topic be worth attending? How could there be any benefit to studying a subject like that? I do not often seek out tragedy in literature or film because it takes so much more emotional energy and because it's often badly done. But perfectly executed tragedy is worth the effort.<br /><br />One thing that struck me the most about A.K. was the infinitesimal moment that was the beginning of the affair. I don't have the text in front of me, so I'm going from memory, but I remember the exact moment at which the choice was before Anna. It was an incredibly small action, but it was the first thread that she willfully pulled from the tapestry, only later realizing when she could not stop pulling it that it would end with her whole life in ruins around her. <br /><br />That moment illustrates so well how mortal sins do not start as such and things like that cannot be toyed with even for a second. They must at all times be unthinkable, even in the incipient stages. Bernard of Clairvaux or somebody said these have to be dashed against the Rock of Christ before they have a chance to take root.Marianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-79908799891255943252012-01-19T20:32:39.281-08:002012-01-19T20:32:39.281-08:00Yay, Masha and Laura! I thoroughly enjoyed reading...Yay, <b>Masha</b> and <b>Laura!</b> I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments... and Masha, the name clarifications helped a ton. Thanks!<br /><br />I definitely want to read <i>War and Peace</i> now, and the only thing stopping me is that it took me two and a half weeks to read Anna, plus I'm backed up on Christmas books and writing. :) But when the bottleneck clears, I'm on it.<br /><br />Laura said: <i>you never have to worry about running out of book! There's always plenty more where that came from.</i><br /><br />HAHAHAHA! True, that. :DJenna St. Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474588706124865006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-72133907558520715982012-01-18T21:33:58.751-08:002012-01-18T21:33:58.751-08:00JENNA JENNA I am so, so, so glad you love Anna! I ...JENNA JENNA I am so, so, so glad you love <i>Anna</i>! I have been anxiously awaiting this review ever since I heard that you were reading it! And M. explained about the English nicknames ALREADY, so I don't have to! <br /><br />I don't really have anything to add except oh my goodness, <i>this book</i>. Anna's death -- and that part where Anna is about to step off the platform and she suddenly remembers <i>swimming</i>-- has got to be one of the most brilliant things ever written by a human. Oh my goodness, reading this book is like being stabbed repeatedly in the heart <i>in the best way possible</i>. <br /><br />Next. . . <i>War and Peace</i>? Just as good in my opinion, but a very different reading experience-- though an emotional rollercoster for sure. And you never have to worry about running out of book! There's always plenty more where that came from.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22927650.post-58178074546156537932012-01-18T15:58:07.407-08:002012-01-18T15:58:07.407-08:00I'm so glad you love Anna!! It's amazing i...I'm so glad you love Anna!! It's amazing isn't it! I loved reading you thoughts and insights...and your right, vodka is essential, especially in the digressive sections. :)<br /><br />For clarity on the names, in Tolstoy's Russia, where Anna is placed, English nicknames are very popular, along with English fashion, English nanny's, and some English phrases. When you read War and Peace you'll see the same thing with French..except that French gained a way stronger hold. So That's why Kitty & Dolly have the English nicknames. As with the first vs. last names, its the same as with guys now..my husband works with three guys who go almost exclusively by their last names, some who go by their first, and some who switch it up. I'm not sure what it is about guys and last names, but it's definitly a consistent thing. :)Mashahttp://www.cyganeria-masha.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com