Anna Karenina

product of a lack of general knowledge. I, therefore, chose the one author I was most familiar with Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. My only real experience with any of his works were naturally two of his most well-known. War and Peace wrote in 1869 and Anna Karenina in 1877. I found myself drawn into this story early on. I feel safe in saying that this story was an introspective biography of a man going through a moral mid-life crisis. Tolstoy who by this time was already considered by many of his…

significantly in the piece, coupled with the author’s own musings. The essence of its philosophy is examining the purpose in each individual’s life. Interestingly enough, the central thematic elements of Barbery’s piece are best summarized in an Anna Karenina quote: “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” (Tolstoy 242) As intelligent as she is, Paloma still grappled with the ‘meaning of life’ This…

clearly be seen in Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. Firstly, the main character Ivan Denisovitch is a poor and uneducated man, a huge departure from the aristocrats depicted in previous Russian literature such as Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment. Additionally, Denisovitch toys with the idea of being able to find acceptance in a life that has practically no meaning, while also taking on harsh criticism of the nation that forced him in this life in the first…

In his essay “No Time to Read,” David McCullough discusses how reading books is the best way for one to gather and learn information. McCullough talks about the lack of reading that occurs in our society today, that without reading books, we are not gaining knowledge. He believes that if people would actually take time out of their day and read books, that we gain more knowledge than the internet can offer us. He mentions even though we have easy access to the internet with a touch of a button,…

For reasons that defy logic, movie studios continuously attempt to build around the foundation of film classics. Take The Wizard of Oz for example – which in the last 3 years alone has garnered a prequel (Oz the Great and Powerful) and a sequel (Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return). And as you might expect, neither of those productions was able to fully harness the admiration and energy established by the 1939 classic. Sure, there’s plenty of other examples to use, as well – like virtually any…

The first man he mentions is Charles Darwin, writer of the Theory of Evolution, one chapter in the book being “The struggle for an existence”. Hally also frequently mentions Leo Tolstoy, who wrote books such as Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Tolstoy would later alter his views and question whether there is any sort of meaning to life. These thoughts troubled him so much so that he wondered if death would be a better option than life without a purpose. Hally has an…

AN EXEMPLARY LIFE A person who lives an exemplary life is someone others can look to when identifying ideals they value. This exemplary person is not faultless, but ultimately lives a life others notice and can model their own lives after. When thinking about a person like this, I immediately considered Alice Blackwell, the main character of Curtis Sittenfeld's novel, “American Wife.” Over the summer I read this book multiple times and I realized the tale was so grabbing because of how much I…

not equal happiness (“How Much Land Does A Man Need?”). Tolstoy, after some time renounced the serfs’ religion, which can be assumed the basis of this short story. Before his spiritual crisis exploded, the brewing of this is clearly evident in Anna Karenina (“Meet Leo Tolstoy”). This novel describes an unhappy wife, who on her search for happiness, abandons her family for another man. She later regrets this decision and kills herself…

Countless questions left her sleepless at nights: can she afford it on her own, who will take Brain to school and pick him up after, and what about Brian’s reaction to the separation, will he be hurt? As she was procrastinating, Wayne was becoming more irritable and demanding. His angry diatribes were affecting Brian, who began stuttering and wanted to spend more time in the grandparents’ room. Suffering with fear and embarrassment during his rages, Irene would walk the streets for hours…

through a multitude of perspectives, scenarios and emotions. Finishing a book is a bittersweet moment. You’ve finished that adventure and have to struggle to find the next one immediately. I chase that feeling of being swept away in a waltz like Anna Karenina and being lost in a world that I could not possibly ever live. It’s that escape into my reverie that hooks me. As I read about people's lives I tried to model my behavior after their experiences. I played out my response to a betrayal or…