War and Peace: Days the first.

Sorry for the disappearance, guys. I'm currently visiting my parents for T-giving, and... well, it doesn't matter. Let's just say that life reared its nasty little head. I have been reading, not as much as I'd like, but I did finish a book (more on that when I get back and can actually have the book in front of me.) and I'm working on the Huge Ponderous Russian Tome.

My first thoughts about War and Peace are actually quite simple. What the heck? The book starts in the middle of things, at a salon in Russia, where half of the dialogue is in French with English footnotes, and people are talking about everything from the usual 'who's marrying who' to what's going to with Bonaparte and France.

Just like Anna, Tolstoy seems to love bouncing back and forth between people, situations, and times. He introduces both major and minor characters with the same brush, sometimes even making minor characters seem more important than they turn out to be, such as the woman running the salon in the first few chapters. This even got so bad that at one point, I needed to turn back and re-check out who one of the characters was.

I'm still giving it a chance, but I'm thinking that I'm not going to like it as much as Anna. I guess we'll see.

Days: 355
Books: 98 (I did finish one, really! Just... it'll be written about later.)

Tolstoy and The Ponderous Russian Tome

I've never been one to shrink from a challenge, and as I am currently jobless, I've decided to take on two of the thickest and longest books on the list: Anna Karenina and War and Peace.

After scanning a few of the copies from different translators, I was pleased to find the library had a copy of each from the same pair of translators. Win!

So, let's start, shall we?

Anna Karenina and what is said by most to be the biggest doorstop book ever, War and Peace were written in Tzarist Russia (1860s-1870s) by Count Leo Tolstoy. Said Tolstoy was a reluctant academic and solider, preferring to spend most of his life running his family farm with a wife and a number of kids.

Both of these books have made their way into popular culture, Anna Karenina with numerous film, musical, and ballet adaptations, and War and Peace mostly because of its length. However, as familiar as the names of both of these books are, how many people actually know what they're about? I certainly don't hear much discussion about exactly what's going on in War and Peace on the street. Karenina I know slightly more about, but again, not much.

Let's have an adventure, shall we? Off to the land of the Ponderous Russian Tomes!


Days left: 364
Books left: 100