The Weight of a World
Aug. 30th, 2021 08:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pshaw_ravenDid y'all know I've never read War & Peace?
I'm considering taking that on because the more I read of other people's responses to the book, the more I think it will be absolutely worth my while. I've come across a lot of blog posts and essays about Tolstoy over the past two years or so and it made me realize I've barely read anything of his writing. And it's not as if I shy away from books with difficult reputations.
On the one hand, it's a chonker. It's something like 1,300 pages. It's a doorstop. But then, I read long books exactly the same way that I read short ones, one page at a time. Some people take on a chapter a day, since there are 365 of them. I tend to do well with a minimum of ten pages a day goal, and by the time I'm "into" it, I don't bother keeping track because I know I'll finish.
It's also supposed to be dense and it has a lot of characters. So it sounds like LoTR. Especially some of the chapters where Tolkien is setting up the Elvish lore or earlier history of Middle Earth and you're reading along like, who the hell are these people. On my more recent read-throughs I know which bits I can skim for now, unless I decide to acquire some of the other Middle Earth books. I'm told War & Peace does something similar - as the story progresses, its focus narrows considerably, and you don't really have to give two fucks about a lot of the characters.
This is probably a lot weightier than anything I should be thinking about on vacation, but we tend to hide from the mid-afternoon heat, and I can't take naps, so I wind up reading, either online or a physical book. And yesterday I stumbled across yet another Tolstoy discussion so that's where this came from. I'll probably pick up a Penguin Deluxe from Bookshop.org.
Tomorrow's our last full day here and I'm already getting a bit Disney-ed out. But I'm also more accustomed to race weekends where the morning run is the major thing I do that day and the parks are just lagniappe. I'm also going to be in need of some intensive yoga sessions and maybe a water fast when I get home, I feel like hell, LOL. Today we managed to snag an early boarding group for Rise of the Resistance, and I think I'm going to pass on Slinky Dog Dash until next time. I'm almost at my fork limit for this trip so I'm trying to make things easier on myself. Yesterday I found out the hard way that there are two very different tracks for Big Thunder Mountain, and one of them is more intense than the other. Fox was like, "Oh yeah, I remember this track from when I was a kid. This one goes really high!" Me: "It ... what ..." *cue five uninterrupted minutes of screaming*
I'm considering taking that on because the more I read of other people's responses to the book, the more I think it will be absolutely worth my while. I've come across a lot of blog posts and essays about Tolstoy over the past two years or so and it made me realize I've barely read anything of his writing. And it's not as if I shy away from books with difficult reputations.
On the one hand, it's a chonker. It's something like 1,300 pages. It's a doorstop. But then, I read long books exactly the same way that I read short ones, one page at a time. Some people take on a chapter a day, since there are 365 of them. I tend to do well with a minimum of ten pages a day goal, and by the time I'm "into" it, I don't bother keeping track because I know I'll finish.
It's also supposed to be dense and it has a lot of characters. So it sounds like LoTR. Especially some of the chapters where Tolkien is setting up the Elvish lore or earlier history of Middle Earth and you're reading along like, who the hell are these people. On my more recent read-throughs I know which bits I can skim for now, unless I decide to acquire some of the other Middle Earth books. I'm told War & Peace does something similar - as the story progresses, its focus narrows considerably, and you don't really have to give two fucks about a lot of the characters.
This is probably a lot weightier than anything I should be thinking about on vacation, but we tend to hide from the mid-afternoon heat, and I can't take naps, so I wind up reading, either online or a physical book. And yesterday I stumbled across yet another Tolstoy discussion so that's where this came from. I'll probably pick up a Penguin Deluxe from Bookshop.org.
Tomorrow's our last full day here and I'm already getting a bit Disney-ed out. But I'm also more accustomed to race weekends where the morning run is the major thing I do that day and the parks are just lagniappe. I'm also going to be in need of some intensive yoga sessions and maybe a water fast when I get home, I feel like hell, LOL. Today we managed to snag an early boarding group for Rise of the Resistance, and I think I'm going to pass on Slinky Dog Dash until next time. I'm almost at my fork limit for this trip so I'm trying to make things easier on myself. Yesterday I found out the hard way that there are two very different tracks for Big Thunder Mountain, and one of them is more intense than the other. Fox was like, "Oh yeah, I remember this track from when I was a kid. This one goes really high!" Me: "It ... what ..." *cue five uninterrupted minutes of screaming*
confessions!
Date: 2021-08-30 04:06 pm (UTC)altho I've made several attempts, I have yet to pierce it's steel exterior.
that being said, anna karenina is one of my favorites. such an amazing book.
so, maybe one day...
Re: confessions!
Date: 2021-08-30 09:20 pm (UTC)I have been told Anna Karenina is terrific. Kitty had a very nice, very old leatherbound edition which is honestly too nice to really read. I typically make a point of getting paperbacks for the bigger books so they're easier to lug around.
I also found a read-a-long podcast for W&P that might be interesting. I don't mind diving in more or less on my own, but for something of this magnitude it might be nice to have a guide.
Re: confessions!
Date: 2021-08-30 09:37 pm (UTC)I would totally rather listen to the book on tape as opposed to drying my eyeballs out.
I mean, you really have to dig to get into it.
that's my humble opinion, tho. lol
:)
Re: confessions!
Date: 2021-09-01 05:20 pm (UTC)Re: confessions!
Date: 2021-09-01 05:31 pm (UTC)I think it's sometimes more entertaining to listen to a book being read, as opposed to reading it myself :)
depends on the book, of course, but why not try?