i tried to read this because my favoirte comedian liked it.. and after reading the first part i'm realizing i don't like it. i find it boring. i don't usually read books. should i drop it? do people read books even if they find them long and boring?
Maybe your just a pleb mate
>>7417069
probably. maybe i should read a magazine..
>>7417081
Read something like Steinbeck or Hemingway
>>7417063
It's like running. If you're fat, full of all these bad habits and the influence of the shallow pop culture, you can't run miles on the road of enlightenment from the first time. You have to run 50 meters on the first day, than 100 on the second and so on.
tl;dr: Don't start with Tolstoy, go with something more easier, then come back to Tolstoy when you're ready.
>>7417111
Look at the sticky if you want to start reading.
>>7417111
Hemingway and Fitzgerald and then some Turgenev (1-2 short stories) and Tolstoy (1-2 short stories) and then go for Anna Karenina.
>>7417081
Read the explication of it included in Nabokov's Lectures on Russian Literature as you go. Very insightful, and even a stimulating piece per se.
Tolstoi's writing is worth every bit the time and effort you put in, and it delivers commensurately. Don't let his brevity fool you; in even the
simplest passages there's sure to be a myriad of brilliant nuances waxing complicated and interesting behind the text, enough to keep any mind
attentive. The key is to locate by your first few sentences in a loose end of thread somewhere about Tolstoi's ideas, so that thereon the strands
interwoven within can be gradually teased out and followed to the richer spots. Nabokov's lecture will point you to such threads.
Noooooooorm
>>7417063
Really? I thought Anna Karenina was the only Russian lit I found interesting
>>7417240
it might have something to do with me not reading books at all (except for parts of textbooks, which i enjoy reading) and trying to read such a long book
>>7417260
It seems dry to you because your reading comprehension is low. You aren't able to read between the lines, or in somecase even understand the lines themselves. Like others have said, start with some lighter books with more plot to increase your reading abilities. Try to understand the deeper meaning of these books.
What translation are you reading? That could be part of the problem.
>>7417099
>tl;dr
lol
Just keep reading, boss. When you get "bored" keep reading, when you want to check your phone, scratch your nose, jackoff, etc. keep reading. You don't need a starter kit. trial by fire, ace. Develop the extended focus you need, RIGHT NOW! Visualize, think, love. All this is within you, brother.
>>7417431
I'd disagree with 'keep reading' everytime a distraction pops up, as that can lead to reading without actually reading. Best thing to do is to have a wank pre-reading and to leave your phone in another room; try meditation before reading also.
>>7417063
I've fully read (listened) the Catcher in the Rye.
To be honest read something else. You can always go back to Anna when you're older.
If you aren't well-read, nobody expects you to enjoy these massive realist novels. Their surface mostly seems dull, the best parts are the subtleties, the prose and the philosophy (which, again, you'll likely miss if you aren't well-read).
If you want to get into reading, try some stuff from pic related (+ Iliad before the Odyssey). And you can give up on Anna if you don't like it. It's pointless to read something you don't understand.
>>7417295
I really don't know why it's so funny. I'm genuinely laughing quite hard at the thought of somebody typing that and thinking "These two sentences? Better summarise them succinctly".
>>7417463
You do not have to be well read to enjoy Anna Karenina. I'd suck a giants dick to be able to read it again for the first time
>>7417495
I keep putting it off. I know I'm going to love it but I want that first time to be perfect.
Does it matter that I've had the ending and a few other key plot points ruined?
the only part that's worth a shit is when levin is mowing. everything else is boilerplate romance strewn with moral bullshit.
>>7417510
Prequel? It's the preceding poem. It's pretty much the first work of literature we have. Anybody with an interest in literature should read The Iliad.
>>7417515
That's why I used 'prequel' instead of prequel.
>>7417519
Fair enough, just a slightly odd way of saying it. It's like calling The Godfather Part 1 a prequel
>>7417524
I was unsure of the word; just checked the definition and I should have used another. Such is the literary life ey
>>7417534
OK. I assume English isn't your first language then.
