tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post692529244752447946..comments2024-02-14T18:14:24.187-08:00Comments on 20011: Reading TolstoyGeorgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-54964797048097582012015-09-22T06:27:42.017-07:002015-09-22T06:27:42.017-07:00It is worth it to read Eugene Onegin. I actually f...It is worth it to read Eugene Onegin. I actually found it a less difficult language than German, but maybe that's because I had very good - and very fierce - teachers for Russianzmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-65398685949485271612015-09-18T15:28:40.626-07:002015-09-18T15:28:40.626-07:00There is a good deal of precedent in the historica...There is a good deal of precedent in the historical novel for bringing real persons on stage: Scott brings Rob Roy McGregor, Charles Stuart, and no doubt many others in. I will say that the Napoleon bits seem to me inferior: Napoleon and Lavrushka is thin stuff next to the preceding chapter and the death of the old Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky. Yet I wonder whether this isn't because Tolstoy's power is in inverse proportion to his contempt for a character. <br /><br />You are very kind. I would love to learn Russian well enough to read Tolstoy (and Pushkin), and as soon as the 48 hour day is invented I will dedicate four or five to Russian. Indeed, this week a friend, fluent in Russian and with (I think) an advanced degree of some sort in Russian literature was saying that Tolstoy's prose is very straightforward.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603174461344479143.post-75562094637041459292015-09-18T09:47:39.389-07:002015-09-18T09:47:39.389-07:00The only bit of War & Peace I object to is whe...The only bit of War & Peace I object to is when Napoleon appears. The book is fiction & I find the introduction of a real person disturbing. Given your intellect, incidentally, I'm sure you could learn Russian in a trice - and Tolstoy writes the easiest Russian to read of any writer I've come across, (don't try Dostoevsky; he is much more daunting)zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.com