Russian Authors

2002-06-13 - 7:44 a.m.

I don't have much luck with Russian authors.

War and Peace was one of my first attempts at reading actual fiction. It's a dense book, a long book, but also a good book. If I could ever have enough time to read three pages, to get my head back into that space, my mental tongue around those strange, wonderful sorts of names, if I could pick up the many plot threads, characters, nuances...I enjoyed it.

But every time I put it down, it became near impossible to read thos three pages. I got over half-way through and then stopped. It's still sitting, unread, all the way back in Halifax. I plan to pick it up again, but I want it completely fresh in my mind.

So much for Tolstoy.

So, sometime after that I met Pookie, and as a part of his degree he had to read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and promptly decided it was the best book he has ever written.

So, after the glow faded on the book I picked it up and started to read. I was completely, utterly moved by the first Part, enthralled up until and including the murder, and then...I put the book down. And have not picked it up.

I am giving Dostoevsky another try, with The Brothers Karamazov. I have my fingers crossed, because I am utterly in need of a moving, good, well-written book. Harry Potter is fine, but Heinlein's left a bad taste in my mouth, and I haven't picked up a LeGuin book yet. The Bros. Karamazov is the only book on our bookshelves that is fiction, new, and hopefully will hold my attention.

Wish me luck.

Cheers,

The Magus

previous - next