Book Review: Anna Karenina

From Goodreads: Leo Tolstoy’s classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
In their world frivolous liaisons are commonplace, but Anna and Vronsky’s consuming passion makes them a target for scorn and leads to Anna’s increasing isolation. The heartbreaking trajectory of their relationship contrasts sharply with the colorful swirl of friends and family members who surround them, especially the newlyweds Kitty and Levin, who forge a touching bond as they struggle to make a life together. Anna Karenina is a masterpiece not only because of the unforgettable woman at its core and the stark drama of her fate, but also because it explores and illuminates the deepest questions about how to live a fulfilled life.

Thoughts: Yay!! I finished! All 38 hours done.  Now to try and review it.

I'm glad I chose to listen to this rather than read. Last year I had an aborted attempt to read Les Miserables, mainly because I struggled with the huge swathes of text that had nothing to do with the story. I found the same with this - pages on farming techniques and political processes that appeared to have little or nothing to do with the main story. However, listening to it seemed easier than reading it - maybe I should try listening to Les Miserables instead.

I find I have to constantly remind myself of the time and era books such as Anna Karenina were written and set in. In particular, I have to remind myself how different the world was for women and how devastating it could be for them to be left on their own. Leaving your husband also meant leaving any children and destroying any social standing you had.

None of the characters in the book really endeared themselves to me. The amount of time spent worrying about what others thought, or assuming what others thought frustrated me beyond belief. Second guessing your decisions constantly also annoyed me. Again, something I think I must accept as part of the time.

But what most probably confuses me the most about Anna Karenina is why it's named Anna Karenina. Her story is only part of the book, and Levin seems to be a much more central character.

In the end, I'm glad I've read (or at least listened to) it, if only to say I have. Would I choose to read it again? Most probably not. I will however, track down a movie version. Any recommendations?

Anna Karenina gets 2 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Dracula

From Goodreads: The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers' imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man's struggle to recover his "deepest sense of himself as a man", making it the "ultimate terror myth".

Thoughts: I read this as part of my 100 best books list challenge, the classic category. Dracula is a proper vampire - no glittering, love lorn pretty boys here, just pure blood sucking evil!

Using diaries, letters and personal recounts, Stoker leads the reader down the dark paths the characters follow to track and destroy Dracula. When reading the classics I often have to remind myself about the realities of being a woman in the time to the book is set. This of course means that often they have little, if any power and their gentle sensibilities need to be taken into account. Female characters in Dracula were no different. Mina obviously has a brain and used it, but in the end, all the heavy lifting is left to the men. The men however, did have their own weaknesses and foibles and in the end they had the best interests of Mina and the rest of humanity at heart.

Anyone who claims to be a fan of vampire fiction needs to read this. While it may not be the first book to feature vampires, it was the first widely popular one and as such, it set many of the vampire conventions – blood sucking, stake through the heart, aversion to garlic.

I don't know if I'm getting better at classics as I found this easier to read than I normally do. Maybe there is hope for me yet! Glad I took the time to read it.

Book Review: Candide

From Goodreads: Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man, whose tutor, Pangloss, has instilled in him the belief that 'all is for the best'. But when his love for the Baron's rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered, Candide is cast out to make his own way in the world.
And so he and his various companions begin a breathless tour of Europe, South America and Asia, as an outrageous series of disasters befall them - earthquakes, syphilis, a brush with the Inquisition, murder - sorely testing the young hero's optimism.

Thoughts: After our last book group discussion of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, one of our members recommended we read Candide by Voltaire - another story where the main character has a very whatever will be will be attitude. I approached it with trepidation - classics and I often don't mix, but what I found was an rollicking read that had me laughing out loud and completely enjoying the total unbelievability of Candide's adventures. His focus on finding his true love,
Cunegonde (whose name I pronounced in my head at least a dozen different ways, none, I'm sure, correct!) gives the story ongoing motivation. Rather unsettling though was the very matter of fact, off hand way Voltaire often described rather horrific events such as wars, rapes and general mistreatment of others. At only 94 pages, Candide is not at all daunting and well worth the read.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice

From Goodreads: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian George Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the "most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author's works," and Eudora Welty in the twntieth century described it as "irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

Thoughts: Yay! I finished! And ahead of time! As you may or may not recall, I was reading this as part of a challenge I set back in May. The idea was to have read the book by the end of August, but I found I was losing momentum by sticking to a timeline so in the end I just kept reading until I was done!
It was worth it. As I got closer to the end, I got more and more engrossed .I knew what was going to happen (I'd watched the Keira Knightly movie and the BBC production), but I wanted to know how Austen had written it. In the end I loved it. I still don't find the classics easy to read, but knowing the story via movies or television definitely makes it easier and makes me stress less about the language.
I've also finished the last part of the challenge - watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries  - but that's another post! In the meantime, I've signed up to Miss Dove's Emma Challenge. Bring it on!

Challenges: eBook challenge, P&P challenge