Reading time!!

I am writing this to celebrate the fact that I finally have an actual day off. Since we got home in January I have been working and also doing a particularly difficult summer semester unit in order to finish my Bachelor of Arts. I had my exam for the summer unit yesterday morning and the person I was filling in for at work returned this week so finally I have some time to get things done!!


On my list of things to do on my four days off (other than cook and clean) is some serious blogging and reading. I want to finish reading A Midsummer Nights Dream (I only have Act III to go) and read some more of Anna Karenina that I am really into at the moment.


I will keep you updated with how I go!

January Prompt-Anna Karenina

‘All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ Page 1.


Pages read: 240

November’s Autumn is conducting the 2012 Classics Challenge where a prompt will be posted each month that is general enough to apply to whichever classic you happen to be reading.


This months level two prompt is:
What do you think of their writing style? What do you like about it? Is there a particular quote that stood out to you?


Anna Karenina would have to be one of the most engaging and well-written works I have read so far. One of my favourite things about this novel is the fact that the omniscient narrator tells us the story of several main characters, not just Anna herself. This means that the book is constantly changing pace as it switches between the various characters. As a result there is little time to become ‘bored’ because when one character or storyline may be getting slow we are instantly transported to the world and perspective of one of the other characters. The most engrossing thing about Tolstoy’s writing style is that he manages to capture each and every character perfectly and this makes me really ‘care’ about what happens to them.


Favourite quote: see above. No one can tell what goes on behind closed doors or judge the lives of others.



If you can’t tell already I am a huge fan of Anna Karenina so far!



What are your thoughts on Anna Karenina? Should it be considered a classic? If so, why?

Anna Karenina

I need to make a confession. A Midsummer Nights Dream has been left totally by the wayside in favour of Anna Karenina. This book has me totally absorbed.


Anna Karenina follows the love affair between Anna, a married woman, and the affluent and charming Count Vronsky. The novel provides an insight into the life of affluent Russians and the social circles within which they move. However, the novel is also primarily concerned with love and relationships. Not only the illicit relationship between Anna and Vronsky but also the married relationships of those around them, such as between Dolly and Oblonsky, and the courtship of Kitty and Levin.


I have just finished the first part of Anna Karenina that is written in two volumes that each comprise of four parts. The first part of the book sees the very beginning of the relationship between Anna and Vronsky from when they first meet at the train station and then dance at a ball to when Vronsky follows Anna when she returns home to Saint Petersburg.


I find the relationship between Anna and Vronsky to be intriguing. This is obviously a case of love at first sight-a concept of which I must admit I am a bit sceptical…Does this ever happen to anyone outside of movies and books? However, in this case it seems somehow believable. I am wondering whether this has something to do with the relationship between Anna and her statesman husband Alexis Karenin? Their relationship seems to be less based on true romantic love and more upon social standing and the practices of wealthy Russian families. For me their relationship seems to make the possibility of Anna falling head over heels in love with anther more realistic.


Tolstoy’s writing and characters are absolutely engrossing. You find yourself wholly invested in the Russian aristocratic world that he presents. I can’t wait to see where he takes Anna’s character as she is shaping up to be one of my favourite literary characters so far!!

Tackling Anna Karenina

I reviewed my list of books for the 2012 Classics Challenge. Here is a reminder of what I chose:

1.    Moby Dick (Herman Melville)-This has been on my shelf for a while and I haven’t been game to pick it up yet.

2.    Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)-same us above. Its size is rather intimidating.

3.    The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)-I have read The Count of Monte Cristo and really enjoyed it so I want to give this a go.

4.    Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)-I have heard good reviews about this one and am interested to check it out.

5.    Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)-I am slowly making my way through the complete works of Austen.

6.    The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorn)

7.    Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)

Since this is quite an ambitious list I thought I had better get started on something along with my reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I have decided to start with number 7 and tackle Anna Karenina. I have read half this book a few years ago and remember really enjoying it but for some reason I got distracted and put it down and have never picked it back up again. This time I am in for the long haul!

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act I

‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind’ Act I, Scene I.


I must say I have really been enjoying reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Reading Shakespeare Challenge. I have just been reading a few pages each night before bed and am steadily making my way through the play.


The play is primarily concerned with love. It follows two young couples, Hermia and Lysander and Demetrius and Helena, whose love is turned upside down and downside up in the woods at night by the fairies. The young love is held in contrast to the other couples in the play (Theseus, Duke of Athens and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and the fairy King and Queen Oberon and Titania). Shakespeare supposedly wrote the play for entertainment at the wedding of a wealthy couple. Taking this context into consideration it is no surprise that love and marriage is the primary focus of the play.


My impression so far is that the portrayal of the young lovers, while mixed with some lighthearted comedy and mischief, is quite accurate. It is obvious in Act 1 that Hermia and Lysander are deeply in love and that this has made them oblivious to all else, including the anger of Hermia’s father and the advice of Duke Theseus. In my opinion young love is often like this in reality, it is blind to the faults of our lover or to the reasons not to be together. Young lovers see only each other. In the same way who has not seen a case of unrequited love, perhaps not to the extremes depicted in the play, such as that of Helena for Demetrius.


This play also has a magical and mysterious feeling throughout Act I. There are several allusions made to the moon and other such mystical elements. I expect that these will be more pronounced in Act II when the action moves to the woods outside Athens at night. Under the light of the moon who knows what mischievous acts will take place!

Review: A Christmas Carol

Sorry for the longer than planned hiatus from the world of blogging. I have been travelling around over the Christmas/New Year period visiting family and friends and attending weddings. As such I haven’t had a chance to post my review of A Christmas Carol. So here it is:


I must admit that I had high expectations for this novel, as it was my first Dickens. That being said I was a little disappointed. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book. I found it be too short and the characters not explored enough for me to be really invested in their lives. After hearing and seeing so much about Ebenezer Scrooge in popular culture I guess I expected to me more attached, more interested in the outcome of his story. Likewise, I expected the story of Tiny Tim to really tug at my heart strings but instead felt that the character was rather thinly written and explore an, therefore, I didn’t have enough of an emotional connection to the character.


I also found Dickens’ writing to be very male in style. I will be interested to read one of his novels, rather than a short story, in order to allow myself some more time to explore and get used to his writing style.


Overall A Christmas Carol provides a fairly short and easy Christmas themed read but don’t expect the characters to leave a lasting impression.


Rating: 2 out of 5.


I am trying to get back in my reading and am about to begin A Midsummer Nights Dream for the Reading Shakespeare Challenge so will keep you updated!

Update

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas.

Sorry for the blog silence over the past couple of weeks. I have been visiting family for the holidays and have been without a computer. After eating way too much food and receiving a Macbook Pro for Christmas I am back online now and so will be able to post regularly again. I finished A Christmas Carol in the lead up to Christmas and will be posting a review soon. In order to psych myself up for the hectic months ahead of reading challenges and Shakespeare I am currently relaxing with some Harry Potter. My book equivalent of comfort food.

Keep safe and happy blogging