Anna Karenina

I finally finished listening to an unabridged audio version of Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.  It was a long book and I felt it.  I'm not one who regularly tackles long books, so maybe I'm just a wimp, but if I were to do it again, I would try an abridged version.

What made it so long?  I think Tolstoy got carried away with descriptions of social issues and philosophies of the time.  In his defense, most of the issues he has his characters discuss or think about endlessly are still quite relevant today; things like social classes, labor issues,  and women's vs. men's rights.  That is probably why the book is seen as classic literature even after so may years.

Did I like the story?  At times.  I really liked some of Tolstoy's descriptions and comparisons, though I couldn't think of any to share.  However, I  found an article through Google that included a lot of my favorite lines in her list of favorites.  Go here if you want to read some of them.  I don't know if they will be meaningful if you haven't read the book, but in case you are interested, it is there.  

The problem was I  really didn't like a lot of characters.  The upper class and nobility in this time period are so awful. Their arrogance,their pampered lives and the amount of time they spend thinking about themselves and their mostly petty problems like what to wear, the latest fashions or who is going to invite them or who they will invite to some snobby social function, wears on me.  

However, I genuinely liked the character of Levin.  Though he was of the noble class too, he was a good man and I liked that he didn't know how good he was. Throughout the book, he struggles with his religious beliefs and with the meaning of life and his flaws.  Near the end of the book, he comes to terms with religion and his beliefs.   His realizations are so genuine.  That was my favorite part of the book, I think.  I liked Kitty too, though I didn't think she was as interesting or her character as well-developed.  

I never mustered up much sympathy for Anna though.  After I finished the book, I read a few reviews of it.  The reviews pointed to reasons that her character was worthy of sympathy for her tragic life, but it just didn't happen for me. She just seemed controlling and selfish to me most of the time.  Her lover, Vronsky, seemed shallow to me.  I didn't find him very interesting or likable either. 

  If I am going to read about people like this, I need it to be laced with humor and that is one thing I thought this book seriously lacked.  I only remember one brief comment by one of the characters that made me even smile.  Okay, maybe two, but I needed more.  When I have read books by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, I have found enough humor in them to keep me happy.  Maybe I value humor too much, but I'm glad my ancestors were English and not Russian.  If Russians were funnier, maybe they wouldn't have to drink as much vodka in order to cope with life.

So, would I do it again?  Yes, but I think I would get an abridged, printed version.  That way, I could mark the passages of thought or description that I really liked so I could enjoy them again.  That is one drawback of listening to audio versions of books.  BUT  this book was so long, I was glad I could listen to it while I was doing dishes or walking or something, and you can't do that while reading an actual book.  

There are lots of different translations, abridgments, and audio versions of this book available.  The one I listened to was narrated by Davina Porter.  She was an excellent narrator.  It didn't say who did the translation.  I definitely give it a thumbs up, and if we are giving stars, I think I have to say 3.75 out of 5.

I'd be interested to hear impressions any of the rest of you have about it or if you think tackling War and Peace would be worth it.      

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

I finished reading this book over a week ago.  Actually, I listened to the audio version.  I really liked it, but I'm not sure what to say about it.  It is quite different from any other book I've read or listened to.  My first thought was, HOLY BIG WORDS!   There were quite a few words I didn't know the meaning of and quite a few French words too.  (I knew they were speaking French when the words started sounding like they had swallowed some Elmer's Glue.)  Anyway, combine those two things with some rants on philosophy the author gets into and the beginning of this book could scare you off.  Don't let it though.  I think you will like it if you keep at it.


It isn't a story that is plot-driven.  This one is all about the characters. The story has two narrators and the audio version I bought from Audible had two different readers.  The part of Madame Michel was read by an older woman, who, at first, sounded like she probably bought her cigarettes by the carton or maybe the case.  I grew to really like her reading though.  She was spot on with emphasizing the right words, making the pauses just right, and adding some dramatics to it without getting weird.  She really brought Madame Michel to life for me.  The younger narrator was really good too, but for me, her character wasn't as easy to like.


Renee Michel is a  54-year-old widowed concierge of  an upscale apartment building in Paris where Paloma Josse , the other main character and narrator, lives.  Paloma is the super-intelligent 12-year-old daughter of a diplomat and a socialite.  She doesn't relate well with her parents or her older sister and she plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday unless she finds something in the world worth living for.  Madame Michel is a very intelligent, well-read, self-taught  lover of art, books, music and movies.  She tries to hide behind a mask of stupidity or at least a mask of averageness, if that is a word, and doesn't want the upper-class people of the apartment building to know about her secret life.


I kept wondering when the two characters would interact, but when the elegant Japanese gentleman, Kakuro Ozu, moves into the building, it finally happens.   All the other tenants are intrigued by him and they all seem anxious to be in his favor.   But it is Renee and Paloma that catch his interest.  The story really picked up as the book becomes more about the relationship of these three.


 Renee's character was my favorite.   She had this extraordinary mind, inside a such a  seemingly ordinary person.   A review I read said, "She's a character we can all relate to, because don't we all feel just a little bit misunderstood, and wouldn't we all like to say we are more than what meets the eye? "   She told herself she didn't want others to know the real her and went to great lengths to keep her secrets, yet, I think she actually enjoyed being discovered;  finally being seen and fully understood by Paloma and Mr. Ozu.  We all tend to keep parts of ourselves hidden until we totally trust another person and when we find a person we fully trust, we want them to know us, the real us. 


I think I will try to buy this book in print.  There were some passages that were worth reading  over a few times and really savoring.  It's not necessarily the philosophical stuff. I doubt I'd have missed that if the author had left it out.  Sometimes I thought she was just writing it to show off.  Having said that, it was nice to have a book that made me  think and one of the main things I discovered is that I don't really think enough.   It was a smart book, that sometimes made me feel stupid, but it is a book with feeling too.  I definitely give it a thumbs up.  

This would be a fun book to have a live discussion about.  There are so many interesting little passages and discussing them would broaden my understanding and my appreciation of it.  


The references to Tolstoy and especially Anna Karenina made me want to read that next.  I know it is long and I'm not usually in to really long books.  I'm just wondering if anybody has read it and has an opinion about whether it's worth the time commitment.

  

Here's a picture of the most elegant hedgehog I could find on Google Images; just for your viewing pleasure.

To Kill A Mockingbird

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This year is  the 50th anniversary of  To Kill A Mockingbird, a great American classic.  I decided to read it again since it had almost been 50 years since I read it.  (I'm just kidding about that.  I'm not that old.) I didn't remember too much about the book except that I had enjoyed it.

You all know the story as most of you probably had to read it and discuss it and study it in high school.  It seems like that can either make you love a book more or hate it, but I think it would be pretty hard not to like this book.  It has great characters.  Scout and Jem are delightful and in my mind Mr. Darcy,  has nothing over on Atticus.  Maybe that just shows my age, I don't know.  

Anyway, I don't really know how to review books and I don't think this one needs reviewing, so I will just leave you with a few tidbits about Harper Lee that I have gleaned from the Internet, so I know they are all true.

First of all Harper Lee is a woman.  If you can believe it, I didn't know whether Harper was a man or a woman.  (Please, Kate and Rebecca; no comments about West Jefferson High School : )

To Kill a Mockingbird was the only book she ever had published.

She was a childhood friend to Truman Capote.  In fact the character, Dill, was based on him.  There was even a rumor that Truman Capote actually wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and had her put her name to it, but that was pretty much disproved through the years.

Her father was a well-respected lawyer in a small town.

Aunt Alexandra's character was based on her mother.

She has done very little public speaking in her lifetime.  When she does show up to receive an honor, she doesn't give acceptance speeches.

She became good friends with Gregory Peck, who played Atticus, in the movie adaptation of the book.  She knew his family well too.  In fact, one of Gregory Peck's grandsons, Harper Peck Voll,  is named after her.   I guess I wasn't the only one that couldn't figure out if Harper was a name for a girl or a boy.

She never married.  She is 84.

There is a TON of info out there in webland about the book and a lot more about her too, so if this peaks your curiosity, you've got some surfing to do.

I have never watched the movie.  Should I make the effort to find it for more reasons than to compare Atticus to Mr. Darcy?   If any of you have things to add about this book; what you liked, what you didn't, things you learned, etc., feel free to add to this.  Like I said, I really don't know how to review books.