"All happy families are similar."
Posted by sanna on September 16, 1998 at 00:27:44:
In response to beautiful, yes, written by Emmy on September 15, 1998 at 23:04:45
] The translation I have is by Rosalind somebody I think... I'm just saying that off the top of my head, since I don't have the book with me. It's the newest Penguin one, at any rate.
] It's a shame that you aren't getting a sense of Tolstoy as a master craftsman-his novel is really beautifully put together.
] I agree with you on that, and I hope that I'm not comming across as saying that I don't think that wonderfully written, because my opinion is the complete oposet. I suppose that comparing it to A Room With A View is maybe not the best idea, since, as Eva sais, they are totally differant subjects, and therefore take differant aproaches to writing. What I meant more was that the styles contrasted so much, and while I'm truely enjoying Anna Karenin, and will no doubt love the whole thing, even though I'm not very far through it, I find that Forster's style in his book is probably more apealing to my view on life, and so I look back to it when I read other things. I did it with Rebecca, and several other books I've read since ARWAV, but these contrast so much that I notice it more.
] Emmy
Always try to take part in Tolstoy discussions, although feebly without the books at the moment:
Tolstoy´s style is realism and Forster´s sort of impressionism, so they differ so much it is a little bit like comparing apples and oranges. And the translation reeeally makes the difference, too: the language does become "drier" when translated and the setting of Anna Karenina grows from a culture quite far in time and geography and moral values. But since I´m very much "in" for comparing different things, I like the idea that the famous one-liner "All happy families are similar to each other. Unhappy families are very different all in their own way" is the topic of Forster, too, but not perhaps in A Room With A View but in Howard´s End.
But then AK is not really about families, it is about personal tragedies and yes, it is amazing you don´t begin to judge the characters…That´s the greatness of Tolstoy. I read the 2nd part again this summer and enjoyed especially the story of Kitty and Levin this time. There are always new perspectives on "new reads", it´s delightful.
- Tolstoy and realism Susan H 20:47:41 9/16/98
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