Monday, February 2, 2009

ON BOOKS ~ Anna Karenina (for the last time)...

MizB asks you to:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
  • Share the title of the book the teaser comes from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
  • Please avoid spoilers!
Since I finished this book over the weekend I thought I would complete my selection of Teasers by showing you how it all began.

From the epigraph quote and opening line of ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy (fiction)...

"Vengeance is mine; I will repay."

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

I enjoyed this book despite understanding fully the impact it has had on literature. The character development and portrayal of mundane everyday life is what I admire most. I got lost a bit with interruptions of social and political commentary through the characters from a time I am not familiar with.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

I haven't read this. Perhaps one day. You make it sound more interesting than my English Lit teacher did.

Wanda said...

Great beginning -- I haven't read Anna Karennia but did enjoy your teasers from the past few weeks.

Jo-Jo said...

Nice teaser...I really enjoyed this book, but I do agree that the politics were a bit much.

lareine said...

i should really try to get a hold of this in english:)... i think it's something like "age of innocence" + "daisy miller" + "tess of the d'urbervilles" ... but of course, "the whole is greater than the sum of its part"...

by the way, i already did the tag/meme (http://sic-infit.blogspot.com/2009/02/spell-binding-five.html) ... sorry, it took me sometime to publish it... but better late than never:)

claire said...

Molly, that opening line is beautiful.. I read it first on The Elegance of the HEdgehog.. just the opening lines. :) Am also planning to read Anna Karenina this year.. glad to hear you liked it.

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Good teaser!

You asked about Welcome to the World, Baby Girl. I'm only about 100 pages in - so far it's good. I'll review when I finish.

SuziQoregon said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Just came over to see what's up here. I will definitely be reading your blog regularly.

Anonymous said...

I have been meaning to read this for years. Maybe now is the time.

Staci said...

You are such a speed reader!! I haven't even begun this one yet. I will totally be out of the loop on the Goodreads discussion board!!!

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to read this book.

Lynn said...

I remember Anna Karenina fondly. Something I can't say about Moby Dick :o

Here's my two sentence teaser: "Over and over I tried to comprehend how things had taken such an acerbic turn. I was a splendid photocopier!"

This is from a funny book of essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Essays by Sloane Crosley. I'm only up to page 50 or so, but am enjoying reading about this young woman's experiences in New York City in the publishing world.

Anonymous said...

I love those quotes, and have heard them both before, several times.

I'll confess that I haven't read any Tolstoy. I bought a gorgeous edition for a library book group I joined last year, but quit after two meetings. I felt way behind the curve in that discussion group.

I'll try again ...some day!

Thanks for visiting my Teaser Tuesday.

Aly @ Lip Zip said...

Good grief. You're reading Tolstoy and I'm reading The Everything Potty Training Book. Somebody save my brain!

Anonymous said...

You make me want to read this one again. I'm sure I haven't read it in the last 20 years or so. I do remember that it had a profound impact on me at first read; I was 13 or so, I think. Maybe 12. Hehe. What's next??

Wendi said...

What a powerful start to the book!

:) Wendi

Here's my Teaser!

Caspette said...

Thank you for posting on my Tuesday Teaser. I have not heard of The Zookeepers Wife. I might keep an eye out for it.

I have never read Ann Karenina, but your teaser is interesting.

Janet said...

"It's Julia's turn next. She tells of a man she met on a train on the East Coast line from London to Scotland, and the wild night she spent with him in straight-laced Pitlochry."

Kim said...

Great quotes, but sadly I am still not dying to read it! ;)
*smiles*
Kim
(ps: The book my teaser is from today is what the movie Big Fish was based on.)

Lynn said...

Have you seen the 1997 version of the Anna Karenina movie, with Sophie Marceau starring as Anna? We just watched it the other night and it was excellent, I thought. Having just read the book, you might especially enjoy it.