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/lit/ - Literature

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4741567 No.4741567[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

I've just started reading Tolstoy, not War and Peace or Anna Karenina mind you, just a few of his shorter works, namely Family Happiness and The Death of Ivan Ilych and I've just started on The Kreutzer Sonata.

>Family Happiness:
I feel like this is something I'll come back to several times throughout my life. The idea of happiness is several forms as Tolstoy portrays it can be interpreted differently depending on where the reader is at in his life and whether or not the reader is happy. For instance I thought the happiness experienced by Masha towards the beginning of the book both in her peaceful life with Katya and Sonya and in her religious exuberance and passion for helping others is my idea of "ideal" happiness as opposed to the first few years of her marriage or the more "mature" form of happiness she's left with at the end of the book. I also can't say right now whether I believe that last form of happiness is truly happiness, though this is where I get the feeling that my opinion will change as I age and perhaps find myself and my situation becoming more aligned with Masha and her husband.

>The Death of Ivan Ilych:
This was pretty stellar. The book was legitimately hilarious at points in the first half and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the lines and situations. Yet as the story progressed, the humor gradually gave way to sorrow to the point where you feel true pity for Ivan Ilych's ceaseless suffering.

What did you think of these novellas?

>> No.4743233

They were both great OP. Check out the forged coupon.

>> No.4743251

i find it a bit awkward reading female characters from male authors. in family happiness her thoughts seem more like something a man would guess at and not something organic
maybe this is just the translaiton

>> No.4743257

Only read The Death of Ivan Ilych and loved it. It brings the feel of helplessness and inutility, and therefore the loss of our-self respect and respect of others. And even if its hilarious at some parts like OP said, its conclusion is extremely dramatic, and can make you think and reflect about your own life for weeks and weeks.

>> No.4743318

>>4743251
How would you know how females think?

are you a gurl? :3

>> No.4744112

>>4743233
Thanks, I will.

>>4743251
I disagree, I thought it was pretty accurate to what they think, or at least what they tell others that they think. I'd probably recommend this to a girl if she was looking to start reading.

>>4743257
Definitely, I felt guilt for laughing at his minor sufferings in the first half by the time I got 3/4 in. It might be because I took half a year off reading fiction recently but these books made me "feel" a lot more than most of what I've read in the past. Maybe that's just Tolstoy.

>> No.4744139

anna karenina gives a better picture of tolstoy's conception of (family) happiness than family happiness

>> No.4744168

>>4744139
What's the best translation?

>> No.4744169

>>4744139
>Daily reminder that everything is subjective, you bigoted shitlords!

Oh fuck off

>> No.4744172

>>4743318
ew don't be gross

>> No.4744187

>>4744179
lol

>> No.4744179

>>4744168
i can't help you out on that one, i've read it in russian

>> No.4744191

>>4744179
Fair enough. I picked a copy up at a local book fair for $1, I'll probably just read whatever that translation is.

>> No.4745440

>>4741567
>The Death of Ivan Ilych
I don't read shit that has spoilers in its titles

>> No.4745447

>>4744179
liar

>> No.4747011

I totally forgot about The Death of Ivan Ilyich until now. And I can't remember a single detail from it. Yet I read it in a single sitting and remember being really impressed by it. Strange.

>> No.4747013

As someone yet to delve into Tolstoy, where's the best place to start?

>> No.4747021

>>4747013
Definitely The Death of Ivan Ilyich. It's short, gripping, and very powerful.

>> No.4747035

>>4741567
The Death of Ivan Ilych is supreme. I have his all of his short works.

>> No.4747057

>>4747021
Thanks komrade.

>> No.4747062

>>4747057
незачто.

>> No.4747426

>>4747062
>незачто

being this pleb
http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%B7%D0%B0_%D1%87%D1%82%D0%BE