Started: Jan. 8
Finished: April 22
Notes: I've read quite a bit of Tolstoy's work, and a fair bit about the man, mainly because I've been intrigued by him as an individual and as a writer, but for years I've been putting off this, one of his most famous works, because of its length. Well, that ends today.
Mini review: It took me long enough to read this one, but not as long as it did War and Peace. What's to say? Most modern readers will find much of this dry, especially the somewhat lengthy sections on farming in Russia in the mid-1870s and the politics of the same era, but all of that slower material serves a purpose in pointing out what Tolstoy considers truly important or unimportant. This is really two lengthy stories that connect only through occasional characters, one tale that of a young nobleman and how he finds happiness in farming and eventually marriage and fatherhood and ultimately to a belief in God or at least a universal goodness, while the other tale is the exact opposite, the tragedy of a young woman who leaves her husband and son for another man. There is a death scene near the end of this book that is not gory, but it is disturbing emotionally after a lengthy buildup. Following that death scene, most of the rest of the novel, something like 30 to 50 pages, is mostly a philosophic debate a character has with himself about the meaning of life, religions, goodness, God, etc. My guess would be most readers will drawn more toward the tragic tale told here, but I believe Tolstoy's point was more focused toward the less melodramatic of these two stories, the philosophical one. But that's mere conjecture on my part. Not a difficult read as far as understanding goes, or at leas my translation proved helpful with all its notes, but this isn't a novel to be gulped down in a matter of days. No, this is a book that needs to be read slowly and steadily, and should be given some thinking. That type of thing isn't for everyone, but I'm glad I read this one.
