I just finished reading "A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov, and am ready to paddle through some Tolstoy. If I was to only read one book by him (which will hopefully not be the case), what should it be?
I just finished reading "A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov, and am ready to paddle through some Tolstoy. If I was to only read one book by him (which will hopefully not be the case), what should it be?
Between the two options you pointed out...I prefer War & Peace. I've read it twice. Then again as a male I just couldn't get into the titular heroine Anna. You could try something shorter, maybe 'The Death of Ivan Illyich'.
"I am glad to learn my friend that you had not yet submitted yourself to any of the mouldy laws of Literature."
-John Muir
"My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - It gives a lovely light"
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
War and peace by a country mile.
Anna Karenina - you will like it a lot and then you'll look for War and Peace. I am male and I really can't...spoiler
At thunder and tempest, At the world's coldheartedness,
During times of heavy loss And when you're sad
The greatest art on earth Is to seem uncomplicatedly gay.
To get things clear, they have to firstly be very unclear. But if you get them too quickly, you probably got them wrong.
If you need me urgent, send me a PM
Oh dear, Three replies and three different answers
Actually, I do believe it is two for War & Peace, and one for Anna Karenina.
"I am glad to learn my friend that you had not yet submitted yourself to any of the mouldy laws of Literature."
-John Muir
"My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - It gives a lovely light"
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
The former. I read both and loved them both. But I'll have to vote for "AnnaK".
--oh by the way-i'm male
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald
I think it doesn't really matter. They're both easy to get into, and when you've read one you'll probably want to read the other. Of course, War and Peace is BIG!I think I like it better than Anna Karenina.
Last edited by mona amon; 01-07-2009 at 04:40 AM.
Exit, pursued by a bear.
Thanks everyone. I figured I couldn't go wrong either way, but was curious if there was an obvious choice. I guess not. I got War and Peace out of the library last night. I wonder how many times you can renew a book...
I guess you will find out.
At thunder and tempest, At the world's coldheartedness,
During times of heavy loss And when you're sad
The greatest art on earth Is to seem uncomplicatedly gay.
To get things clear, they have to firstly be very unclear. But if you get them too quickly, you probably got them wrong.
If you need me urgent, send me a PM
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