An honest and powerful report of antisemitism through the ages and one that is more relevant today than ever before. Required reading, especially for An honest and powerful report of antisemitism through the ages and one that is more relevant today than ever before. Required reading, especially for those who aren’t Jewish!!...more
Can’t believe I let this book ruin my life a second time. Review to come.
First read: I feel like I need to reread this to be able to write a review. Can’t believe I let this book ruin my life a second time. Review to come.
First read: I feel like I need to reread this to be able to write a review. Might use that as an excuse to reread it rn bc this shit was amazing ...more
“If you cannot love me, I will die. Before you came I wanted to die, I have told you many times. It is cruel to have made me want to live only to make“If you cannot love me, I will die. Before you came I wanted to die, I have told you many times. It is cruel to have made me want to live only to make my death more bloody.”
Giovanni’s Room is one of those books that, once finished, leaves you staring hazy-eyed at your bedroom ceiling for half an hour as you attempt (and fail) to wrap your head around the astonishing beauty of what you’ve just read. How such a complex and layered story could be summed up in only 150 pages without feeling too short has to be a kind of magic, and that is truly what it feels like as you’re reading. James Baldwin is a master of metaphors, pacing, prose, and making every word count. The utter perfection of this novel has left me awestruck, and I’m not sure I want to recover! All I can do is urge you to pick up a copy of this book, but be warned; it demands your heart, soul, and undivided attention until the very last sentence....more
Well, well, well. How to write a review for the book that changed me in ways I could never put to words? War and Peace transcends genre, categorizatioWell, well, well. How to write a review for the book that changed me in ways I could never put to words? War and Peace transcends genre, categorization, and literature as a whole. It is a universal commentary on the brutality of war and how its violence affects everyone from soldiers on the battlefield to socialites in drawing rooms, and all those in between. Within its (intimidating I’ll admit) 1,350 pages you’ll find star-crossed love stories, the most vividly crafted characters ever written, head-spinning philosophy, raw depictions of historical events, and so much more. It is a story of life and dead, of love and loss, of solitude and companionship, of war and peace. And though this is certainly not the book for everyone, I believe that everyone can certainly get something out of reading it.
Before picking this up, I never believed that a work of literature could affect me so profoundly and in so many ways. While I predicted loving it, the extent at which I do is still hitting me like a ton of bricks and I never want the beautiful scars of reading it to fade.The many people dwelling inside these pages have become so personal to me, it seems impossible that I only met them a month ago. Natasha, Pierre, and Andrei, so delicately intertwined by fate, explode off the page and straight into your heart. After hours upon hours spent in their stories, they become dear as friends to whoever is reading. Tolstoy has crafted this book so intimately that after a certain point you feel not only as if you know these characters, but that you yourself are one of them. By the end of my experience I wasn’t weeping for them, but with them; our tears, love, and grief in harmony.
I owe so much to this story, for it has truly changed me for the better. War and Peace has transformed the way I see myself and other people, expanded my knowledge and views on war, gave me some of the first characters I could truly see myself in, reminded me how beautiful literature can be, and much more that I could never describe with words. A piece of my soul has fallen into this story, and I have no plans to fish it out any time soon. If you want a book with prose so breathtaking that you can’t see the words through your tears, one with such agonizing tragedy that your heart and stomach will be weights within you, or one with characters so real you could reach out and touch them… look no further!
Now I’m not going to sit here and talk about how I was never bored, understood every word, and enjoyed every second of my reading experience since that would be a bold-faced lie. In fact I’ll admit that if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to summarize any of the battlefield chapters… bye bye world, tell my mom I love her! Though there were many times where I felt like throwing this book across the wall and yelling at Tolstoy to shut up, in a way I’m glad for those sections because they truly made my connection to the characters stronger. Through the hours of yawning and glazed eyes I began to miss them, and when the story finally circled back to Natasha or Pierre or even Andrei (who I honestly hated for the first few hundred pages), it was like coming home to the people I love.
While reading this, I think it is important to note that Sofia Tolstoya (Tolstoy’s wife) had heavy influence on this work of art, and transcribed the manuscript seven times by hand! All the while being abused by her husband and caring for their 13 children single-handedly so he could write. It is vital to acknowledge that War and Peace, though an iconic masterpiece, was created at the expense of this woman’s life and happiness. Do not forget her or her contributions that history has attempted to erase!
I know many of you want to delve into this book, but are (rightfully) intimidated by its vastness and dense material. Starting War and Peace is what I can only describe as getting into a relationship. It requires commitment, time, and love. All of these you will need in order to be fulfilled in your experience.
My advice!
1. Put yourself on a schedule, and stick to it! I read 45 pages every day to finish it in a month (which is extreme and not what I’d recommend), but it’s so easy to put this book down when you hit a boring section and never pick it up again which would be a shame! 2. Read from the Louise and Aylmer Maude translation; it is known as the best, especially considering they were friends of Tolstoy and worked with him during the process. A bad translation can completely ruin a story and its prose, so double check your edition before reading it. 3. Annotate, annotate, annotate!!! Don’t be afraid to mark up your copy if you choose to buy one! You will get so much more out of this story if you do, trust me. 4. Gather some basic knowledge of the time period. I watched The Napoleonic Wars Oversimplified videos on YouTube, which helped me to better understand and retain the information presented in the text. 5. No one will skin you alive for skimming through the boring parts. You can skip a lot without missing too much of the central story, but always pay attention to dialogue and characters even in the war scenes. 6. Sit back and let the book wash over you! Reading War and Peace becomes so much easier when you don’t stress over all the characters and how they relate to each other; only about 10-20 of the 500+ characters you’ll meet will actually be important.
Reading War and Peace has marked a huge milestone in my life, and I’m so lucky to be one of millions who have been touched by its beauty. My heart is full of love for not only this book and it’s characters, but for life and the world itself. In the words of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, “I want to weep for joy.”
Even better the third read, this book & series are nothing short of phenomenal. Sabaa is a genius. To say I am blown away by the art she has created wEven better the third read, this book & series are nothing short of phenomenal. Sabaa is a genius. To say I am blown away by the art she has created would be an understatement, you need to read this!! Right now!!...more
When Tolstoy’s work comes to mind, I think not of books but of life. It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think I ever feel as alive as I do while enveloWhen Tolstoy’s work comes to mind, I think not of books but of life. It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think I ever feel as alive as I do while enveloped in his work; it’s as if the very spirit of living has been written on the page, and I’ve caught it just by reading. No book I’ve read has ever captured the essence of humanity so perfectly as in his writing, and ‘Anna Karenina’ is no exception. In this vast yet intimate novel, we explore the delicate intricacies of human relationships and how love has the power to be both a poison and an antidote depending on whose heart it ails.
The social commentary and juxtaposition of everyone’s relationships to one another in this story is executed with a brilliance that is hard to find. I especially enjoyed seeing the differences between the adulteress Anna, and her adulterer brother Oblonsky. One being wholly shunned from society, while the other stays with his tortured wife and unhappy family to no disadvantage of his own. I’ll let you guess which is which. Even Vronsky (who is half the reason for the turmoil everyone experiences throughout the book, let’s not put this all on Anna) remains highly regarded by the general public, despite what everyone knows he has involved himself in. Yes, Anna displays quite despicable behavior, she is an anti-heroine after all, but does she really deserve the extent of her tarnished reputation when her equally guilty male counterparts remain unscathed?
One thing I will always commend Tolstoy for is his ability to test the limits of my empathy, especially when it comes to characters that are so easy to hate if you don’t look past the surface; but ‘Anna Karenina’ is a work of art painted in shades of gray, and in order to fully understand and appreciate the nuanced beauty of it, we mustn't try to find the black and white. I believe it is possible to feel greatly for Karenin, and also for Anna who caused him the devastation he feels as the novel progresses. Every character in this book is so vivid and fleshed out that I find it impossible to put them into boxes and wholly dislike any of them.
MAJOR SPOILERS ⬇️
I haven't felt so many emotions for a character in a long time, and my relationship with Anna is no doubt a complicated one. She is such a well-rounded and nuanced character that despite her abhorrent actions, I still experienced a near overwhelming sense of dread as the last pages of her life drew to a close. Anger, pity, and tentative understanding, mingled with grief for me as her story met its finale, the emotions so charged that there was a weight in my chest I couldn’t shake off for days.
Though its titular character’s life ended tragically, ‘Anna Karenina’ would not be the beloved story it still is today if not for Levin. His spiritual journey and character development brought this book to its true end which I ultimately believe is a happy one; though Anna broke my heart, I felt it mending piece by piece as Constantin found the meaning of his life. That last page will be a part of me for a long time, and my thoughts on it haven’t ceased since reading. Alas, it is now my time to invest some meaningful good into my own life; I am beyond grateful for the weeks I spent in this masterpiece and cannot wait to read it again and again… and again....more
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