Tolstoy and Anna Karenina

Following Clifton Fadiman's book, The Lifetime Reading Plan, I picked up Anna Karenina off my shelf (it's been sitting there for a long time). Why? Just because I have heard many people say that this is the best novel of all time (of course, some might say it's War and Peace - also by Tolstoy. Imagine that! Two books that you written are on the greatest of all time list)

So, I vowed to not only finish Anna, but to read every single word of it. And not just read, but understand every sentences. If it is unclear, I'd read it again and again until I feel I have understood the meaning of it. So, all in all, I've read ever word that makes up 790 odd pages of this novel (my patience ran out for the last 30 pages of the book). For two weeks, it's Anna by my side - I read the book during lunch time, traffic, before going to bed, in the bathroom, etc. In short, Anna occupied every single moment of my free time.

Overall, I like the book up until when Anna commits suicide. I could care less about Levin and his religious angst that makes up the last 30 pages of the novel. But, for all the life of me, I really don't feel emotionally connected to any of the characters.

I find Anna to be shallow, stupid and self centered. Levin and his angst towards everything annoys me. Kitty I find to be a goodie two shoe that she makes me nauseous. Vronsky, I feel sorry for him at the end because he really came to love Anna. The only character that I like is Stiva and his flirtatious, noncommittal attitude.

What I like most about this novel is the beautiful Tolstoyian sentences. I read somewhere that Tolstoy is like a painter. First, he sketches the painting then he fills in the details. As a result, reading this novel, we get a sweeping scenes of 19th century Russian society, the lives they lead, the activities, the customs...

So, on to the next book on Fadiman's list: Bleak House by Dickens...it's winter, it's depressing, daylights are short, nights are long.