I have a somewhat embarrassing admission to make. It's probably not something the average person would care about, but remember, I was an English major in college. OK. Here goes: I have never read The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace or Anna Karenina in their entirity. I cannot tell you how many times I have started The Brothers Karamozov, and I truly think it is brilliant, and enjoy reading it. But for whatever reason, around page 600 on that book or any book written by Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy, I lose the thread of the narrative and find it covered in dust a month later, when I have no hope of remembering all the Russian names and complicated back plots enough to finish the book, and I give up in defeat.
I mention this because I am currently on about Month Two of struggling through Anna Karenina, and I don't know if I'm going to make it. I find this particularly painful to admit, because I decided on about page 200 that Tolstoy was, essentially, writing the "Desperate Housewives" equivalent of his day. Yes, it's well written, has great character development, and is an interesting portrait of Russian society and mores of the day. But essentially, it's a story about a woman who marries a man she doesn't love and subsequently cheats on him. It's fluff, with, as far as I can tell, no great redemptive message. (Granted, it's not over yet. Not by a long shot.)
And now I will make the most truly shocking admission of the day: I'm starting to wonder how these books became great staples of literature in the first place. Perhaps it's because Anna Karenina, when it was written, was breaking new ground, but these days, stories about dysfunctional marriages are everywhere. The other thing I wonder about the great Russian novels is if everyone just decided they must be significant because they're so daggum long. I don't include the Brothers Karamozov in this, because based on what I've read, I'm pretty sure it really is a great book and it's just my own lack of attention span that is depriving me of the privilege of reading it. But in general, I'm not sure laboring over obscure back plots to the point that your novel reaches 1,200 pages is really good writing. Maybe what these boys needed was a good editor, but at this point, I would just about kill for some brevity. And some shorter names. Furthermore, if someone had forced me to read these books in junior high or high school, I probably would have stopped reading forever. We bemoan the fact that Americans are illiterate television gazers, but is it any wonder when we force kids to read this stuff at an impressionable age?
So now you can report me to the Literary Police and have them strip me of my English degree. But in the meantime, can anyone tell me if I'm really really wrong and should keep charging ahead with Karenina? At this point, I'm seriously considering viewing it as a handy ten pound weapon should anyone ever attempt to break into my home. Because you could drop a moose with that book.
Comments (7)
Great post Haley!
Just know that you are not alone! I am not an English major. Honestly, I'm not even close. I have a degree in Geography...and a Bachelors of Science at that. There, I said it. But, the fact of the matter (in my case) is that I really enjoy great literature, a strong narrative, and good character development. And more than that, I'm just a fan of good fiction.
With that being said, I own Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov. I've tried to read the Bro K once with three of my good friends, half of which WERE English or History majors with a lot more patience that myself. I fumbled through 250 pages of that book, trying to justify the whole time that I was cultured enough to keep going and would thank myself in the end that I had read the long story. Eventually I gave up and realized that Dostoyovsky was a crazy Russian who rambled too much and that I hated long, rambling Russian fiction with enough subplots for HBO to a make mini series off of. If Peter Jackson ever decided that he wanted to make a Trilogy out of the book with each movie weighing in at around 4 hours each, I might would watch the first movie, but that is the only way that I would, in might right mind, give Dostoyovsky another chance. To be blunt about it, It was one of the most miserable 250 pages I've ever trudged through in my measly literary catalog.
By the way, sorry that my last comment posted 5 times! It was, however, great to be recognized in the infamous Wachdorf blog! I hope all is well in the Southwest...
Posted by chriscarr | October 23, 2006 9:28 AM
Posted on October 23, 2006 09:28
http://www.tredways.org/archives/000208.html"
Haley, I've linked to my review of the book. I read it during Livia's adoption, of all crazy times to pick up a Russian novel!
Posted by Rebecca | October 23, 2006 10:13 AM
Posted on October 23, 2006 10:13
My area of expertise lies in the Fitzgerald to Faulkner era, but I did read Anna Karenina during college. To impress a boy. I vaguely remember finding the Anna/Vronsky section of the story way more interesting than the Kitty/Levin section, and that Christian literary critics liked that the adultery wasn't particularly glamorous and glitzy, and had devastating consequences.
These Russians wrote lots of refreshingly SHORT things as well. Tolstoy's "What Men Live By" is good, as I recall.
Posted by Micah | October 23, 2006 12:26 PM
Posted on October 23, 2006 12:26
As a fellow English major (and now English teacher), I have to admit that I agree with you on Tolstoy. But Dostoyevsky is incredible.
Posted by RickCapezza | October 23, 2006 7:36 PM
Posted on October 23, 2006 19:36
The most important feature of a Russian novel is that one can keep reading it throughout the entire (long) Russian winter. Very few outside the nobility had any gaslight energy, so a few paragraphs now and again was probably how it was meant to be read. Russian don't have the problem with patromynics that Yanks (pardon the expression)do because those names are a normal part of identification... (There are really only three or four characters, they just have mulitple names). I write the several names on an index card and use it as a bookmark. It is one of the wonders of being older, that one gets away with index card cheat sheets in lieu of memory. There is a new, 21st C. author named Boris Akunin who writes wonderful 1870's czarist period murder mysteries if you get tired of the "Greats". "The Winter Queen" is the first and I would be glad to lend it to you. From my pedestrian reading list you can tell I was not an English major. Fine Arts for me!
Posted by Mary Jo | October 24, 2006 9:43 PM
Posted on October 24, 2006 21:43
This reminds me of my favorite question: "What's the best movie you've ever seen that you hated?" Mine is Pulp Fiction.
Posted by Julie | October 26, 2006 10:18 AM
Posted on October 26, 2006 10:18
Aah. Whatever, you don't have to like everything.
I'm a musicologist and have a hard time sitting through Wagner. (or a Russian opera for that matter!)
Posted by Jeannette | October 26, 2006 9:35 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 21:35