I made a mistake this morning. I picked up Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and read the first sentence, then I read the first paragraph and before I knew it, I was two chapters in and now I am hopelessly committed to reading the book again, for the fifth time. Don’t be too impressed. The chapters are very short, about 4 pages apiece. But it is all about the book.
It is just that good. It is just that great a story, rather, a compendium of stories. The writing is just that magical. The translation is that wonderful. It is intoxicating. I can’t put it down. I imagine that this is what a drug addict goes through. I can’t help myself. Only this addiction doesn’t destroy your life and heart; it enlarges both. So count on some quotes from the best novel ever written, IMHO.
But don’t take my word for it. Please don’t take my word for it. Here’s the link to amazon.com and the particular translation. Go buy it yourself. Go to the library and check it out. But read it. It is impossible to make the investment and be disappointed. The Kindle version is under $5; a paperback edition is under $9 plus shipping. The Library of course, is free.
I think it was after my second read of the book, years ago, that I wrote this paragraph in the first blank page I could find at the front on the book.
“It is about an age in a turmoil, of value without value, of trivial pursuits and eternal consequences. It about men and women destroying themselves with adultery and betrayal. It is about grasping at a retreating happiness and being bitten by an immense sorrow. And it is about a simple, small man, an inconsequential man who finds happiness despite a sorrow, who finds contentment in the midst of longing. It about the idols of our hearts and how our worship either destroys or exalts us. And it is about the odd path of our thoughts when sentiment rather than righteousness is allowed to light the way forward.”
Live your life.
Don’t miss this book.
And don’t settle for any of the movies. Some of them are disasterously bad. None of them do the book justice.
And one word of advice, read no reviews or summaries. Have a pure reading experience, unguided by anyone else’s perspective.
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