“I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.”
“I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.”
I've never tried to read War and Peace. I am now convinced that I should...before its too late!!!
ReplyDeleteI found an old, yellowed printing of "Krieg und Frieden" in a German used book store. No date in it, but it was translated by "Dr. Ernst Strenge" (what a name - Dr. Serious Strictness), boasts that the translation was authorized by Tolstoy himself, and is printed in the old German "Fraktur".
ReplyDeleteI started reading it while in Germany and soon realized I needed to keep track of the characters in the story, as I was getting them all confused. As I reread the book from the beginning, I proceeded to write them down on a piece of paper I used for a bookmark, but that didn't hold enough information. I never got very far, but now I've lost my place and find I've got to start reading all over again! Thanks for the encouragement. Now... have you ever read War and Peace? :-)
Nope, haven't ever read War and Peace. I have it on a book shelf somewhere, but after reading Anna Karenina and Resurrection I wasn't too excited about trying W&P. I was on a Dostoevsky kick at the time, and Tolstoy's writing just felt boring to me. I should try it again, though.
ReplyDeleteI can feel my reading habits changing, too. I don't think it's the length of something that makes it difficult. I'm picky or moody. I'll read some stuff that's plenty long, and at the same time drop something else that I just lost interest in. For instance, I started reading White Noise by Don DeLillo a few weeks ago. After about 50 pages I decided I that I really didn't like the voice or writing style. (It reminded me of the way that the dad in The Squid and The Whale talks, too intellectual and disinterested.) So I stopped reading. In the past, I think that I would have just finished it anyway.
Russian literature is a lot like broccoli: occasionally delicious, but often just good for you.
ReplyDelete