I am so embarrassed to admit that I have not read Anna Karenina yet and I want to SO BAD and your write-up makes me feel that so urgently. I think I will make it a slow-reading challenge, just to remove the pressure from myself.
P.S. Thank you so much for the shout-out. I am so glad you enjoyed that post, I have become so obsessed with the Notes app and I am finding it incredibly helpful in my reading life but in other aspects of managing my day-to-day existence as well.
I liked that I slow read Anna Karenina. I read other books in between it and it felt like meeting a friend again after months apart when I go back to AK.
Yeah I liked your TBR notes system especially when keeping track of a series. Also because I don’t have to install another all for that. The Notes app, well, it’s just there.
I read Watching You this month too, but I think some of Jewell’s other books are better. I just might tackle Anna Karenina this fall. Which translation did you read? I have the Peaver and Volokhknsky translation.
I’ve read her The Family Upstairs and it was so good! Which one do you recommend I read next? Yes, I have the same translation from P&V. It was so easy to read and I heard they’re the best one.
I also read Anna Karenina in September, and I also preferred Levin/Kitty's storyline to some of the others! I wasn't very familiar with the novel at all before reading, so I was pleasantly surprised to find an entire cast of characters outside Anna and her immediate romance/relations. I read it over three weeks but last winter read Middlemarch over four months and felt similarly to you --that by the time I made it to the end, I might have already been missing integral aspects of the beginning. Planning a more fast-paced Middlemarch reread in the next month or so, since it's on a syllabus for a course I'm taking, and curious to see how I feel about it at a new tempo!
Me too lol! I never expected so many characters! Yes I am planning to reread AK too in a much faster pace. Let me know if the new tempo worked for you.
Tracy’s outlook & positivity is so inspiring, what a great way to know her better. I often wish I can read memoirs of people I know.
It’s been over 10 years (I read it when I was 17) since I first read Anna Karenina, but I remember that like you, I also enjoyed Levin’s sections - the way he grappled with religion and the life at the farm, and the hopeful tone he brought to the novel. I read somewhere that Tolstoy wrote Levin as a sort of stand-in for himself in the novel, his alter-ego.
I enjoyed you Anna Karenina review Jam - I really want to read it now! I agree so much with your point about not dissecting the classic too much and just embracing enjoying it - that is definitely how I managed to get through Master & Margarita this summer haha. I think with big big books it is so hard to remember what went on at the beginning unless you're taking extensive notes, and not many of us have the time for that!
It took me 2 years to read Anna Karenina. Very unusual for me, to be honest. I read the first half last year and finished the second half this summer. It was because of one of those farming chapters that I dropped AK for so long.
In the end, though, like you pointed out, those chapters had their use for character development. It was a great book!
I am so embarrassed to admit that I have not read Anna Karenina yet and I want to SO BAD and your write-up makes me feel that so urgently. I think I will make it a slow-reading challenge, just to remove the pressure from myself.
P.S. Thank you so much for the shout-out. I am so glad you enjoyed that post, I have become so obsessed with the Notes app and I am finding it incredibly helpful in my reading life but in other aspects of managing my day-to-day existence as well.
I liked that I slow read Anna Karenina. I read other books in between it and it felt like meeting a friend again after months apart when I go back to AK.
Yeah I liked your TBR notes system especially when keeping track of a series. Also because I don’t have to install another all for that. The Notes app, well, it’s just there.
I read Watching You this month too, but I think some of Jewell’s other books are better. I just might tackle Anna Karenina this fall. Which translation did you read? I have the Peaver and Volokhknsky translation.
I’ve read her The Family Upstairs and it was so good! Which one do you recommend I read next? Yes, I have the same translation from P&V. It was so easy to read and I heard they’re the best one.
I loved The Family Upstairs! Read the sequel—The Family Remains! I also heard it’s a good translation.
ohhhh I’ll check the sequel!
If you liked the first one you’ll definitely like the sequel!
I also read Anna Karenina in September, and I also preferred Levin/Kitty's storyline to some of the others! I wasn't very familiar with the novel at all before reading, so I was pleasantly surprised to find an entire cast of characters outside Anna and her immediate romance/relations. I read it over three weeks but last winter read Middlemarch over four months and felt similarly to you --that by the time I made it to the end, I might have already been missing integral aspects of the beginning. Planning a more fast-paced Middlemarch reread in the next month or so, since it's on a syllabus for a course I'm taking, and curious to see how I feel about it at a new tempo!
Me too lol! I never expected so many characters! Yes I am planning to reread AK too in a much faster pace. Let me know if the new tempo worked for you.
Thank you for the mention! Pre-ordering books is so important, so I'm thrilled to see the message being passed around.
Re: Anna Karenina. I read it and it was tough, I'll be honest! I also have nothing profound to say about it other than it's a classic for a reason.
Thanks for your post too, Kolina! Reading Anna Karenina was a pleasureble thing. I just let it take me without analyzing it too much.
That’s a great way to read it!
Tracy’s outlook & positivity is so inspiring, what a great way to know her better. I often wish I can read memoirs of people I know.
It’s been over 10 years (I read it when I was 17) since I first read Anna Karenina, but I remember that like you, I also enjoyed Levin’s sections - the way he grappled with religion and the life at the farm, and the hopeful tone he brought to the novel. I read somewhere that Tolstoy wrote Levin as a sort of stand-in for himself in the novel, his alter-ego.
It’s so rare to read to read a memoir by a person you personally know right!
Yes I read too that Levin was a stand-in for Tolstoy himself. I think that’s why some of his chapters are a bit preachy too lol
I enjoyed you Anna Karenina review Jam - I really want to read it now! I agree so much with your point about not dissecting the classic too much and just embracing enjoying it - that is definitely how I managed to get through Master & Margarita this summer haha. I think with big big books it is so hard to remember what went on at the beginning unless you're taking extensive notes, and not many of us have the time for that!
agree and the note taking kinda takes away the momentum of reading! maybe for my second reading I will be able to take notes.
It took me 2 years to read Anna Karenina. Very unusual for me, to be honest. I read the first half last year and finished the second half this summer. It was because of one of those farming chapters that I dropped AK for so long.
In the end, though, like you pointed out, those chapters had their use for character development. It was a great book!
2 years wow. I understand why people would be put off with the farming chapters. Mine was Alexei’s politics chapters 😂 I just skimmed through it.
It took me something like 3-4 months to read Anna Karenina. You are not alone.
Such a thick book!