russian – Bookish Luna

Middle Mark

Hello and welcome to my mid month check in! This month I feel like I have been doing a ton of reading between buddy reads with Jenna @JK I’m Exploring, Reg @Bookish In Bed, and Amy @ Tomes with Tea. The Co-hosting a Count of MOnte Cristo readalong on instagram with Jenna. All of which I have been LOVING. I had no idea I would love Monte so much! Anyway, between reading those I was able to read

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Read 2
The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to say that the description for this book does not give it justice. There is so much more to this book, but I don’t want to give details and ruin the surprise. It was really magical and I loved the intertwining of fairy tales, history, and a thriller all mixed into one. The authors writing style is very flowery and enjoyable.

If you find the description interesting, I think you will like it even more than you think because there is so much more.
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Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall I thought this was a very unique and interesting series. The artwork was fantastic and I felt that it was the perfect match to the story line. For the size of this I felt that I read it fairly quickly, that was mainly because a lot of stuff happened for the first. 60-70% of this book. I felt like the thought process and mental games that were played in here were very well done. The main reason why I did not give this series more stars is because once a particular character died the quality seemed to go down with the mental games and I felt like at times there was something for the sake of events, but it seems kinda random and forced at times. I also felt that the story slowed down all of a sudden at a point and I felt like I had to push myself through because I came so far already.

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–The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas-

The Count of Monte Cristo

I am currently page 298 at the time of posting this, but as I have said already in my into I am LOVING this book so much more than I thought I would. Due to its size I thought it would be slow, but I feel like so much happens each chapter. It is mind blowing. I highly recommend this classic.

–War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy-

War and Peace

I am on page 154. Yes, I am making progress in my classic of the year while reading Monte as well. Since I am reading a book every 3 weeks, I have a lot of time to read others books. I have read one peace and one war section and so far I think I am enjoying the peace sections more. I think becasue I am seeing more class distinctions that I learned about when I was in college and I really love how the author made a point of adding those in there to showcase the class system in Russia, but also how they spoke more French than Russian.

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What are you reading? Have you read any of the books I have read or am currently reading?

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BookReview12:17 Anna Karenina Description:

Acclaimed by many as the world’s greatest novel, Anna Kareninaprovides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature – with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author’s own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, ‘He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, ‘Vengeance is mine, and I will repay. –goodreads.com

What I Liked

I liked that the story followed not just one person or one couple, but a mixture of couples who were connected, but dealt internally with different worries and moral issues. I felt that even though this was written so long ago, a lot of the ways these characters felt were relatable. I can see who people still talk and discuss this novel and it has held up to the test at time.

Also, this translation of Anna Karenina was done wonderfully. It kept the air of being a classic and used a lot of words that remind me of the time period, but they made it readable. I was not reading at a very slow pace, but it was not fully modern. They found a great balance.

What I Didn’t Like

At times I felt that I would have rather have read this story individually instead of intertwined, but it in no way ruined the story for me. I would say going over the spark notes and getting a list of of names (DO NOT READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTERS THERE BECAUSE OF SPOILERS) because having a running list is helpful because they sometimes use their proper names and then nicknames that seem to have no relation in english, they might in the texts original language of Russian.

Overall Thoughts

Overall I felt that this was a very wonderful book and it was very thought provoking. If you are interested in a soap opera type of book with deceit , betrayal, and scorned individuals this is a book for you. This is a wonderful and timeless novel, that is a commitment. I am very glad that I finally read this novel.

3stars

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Book Information

Publisher: Vintage Classics

Publication Date: January 5th 2017, originally published in 1878

List Price: $18.95

ISBN: 9781784871956

Pages: 963 pages