Tolstoys R Us

Another one down. Anna Karenina was slightly more focused than War and Peace, but only slightly. There were still a ton of characters with complicated names and titles, but at least Napolean doesn't get introduced in the last 1/4 for no apparent reason. Tolstoy's characters have deep, brooding feelings that he reveals to readers in a frank, understandable, but still artful way. It's just a shame his major works don't seem as focused (duh) as his shorter fiction like The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

I was also glad that I went to the library and got a contemporary translation. I read the Constance Garnett edition of War and Peace and while it may have more accurately represented the pomp and manners of some of the society scenes (balls/salons/et al), it was a bit of a chore. I checked out the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation of Karenina and was glad to have something a little less stuck-up. The main characters were compelling and the story moved well, but I could have done without some of the side plots. On the whole I enjoyed it, and it was a nice change of pace from some of the other stuff I've been reading in that it had complex female characters. A nice touch from the bearded oldster seen above.

Since Jeffrey Eugenides seems to be dragging his feet on a new novel and also because this project is dragging and inherently stupid; I decided I'm gonna re-read Middlesex while reading Flann O'Brien's volume of complete novels.

Tomorrow, some thoughts on Updike's short stories.