viernes, 27 de junio de 2008

Anna Karenina

(No pretendo que nadie comente esto xD, pero tenía que escribir algo y a lo mejor me sirve para el examen del martes)

The amazing thing about Tolstoi's novel (the only 'real novel' he ever wrote, after his own words; apparently nothing to do with War and Peace) is his insight in human nature. A sociological essay or a study on Freudian theories will never achieve the accuracy of this portrait of our emotional attributes.

His description of the late nineteenth-century gentlefolk shows a complexity that goes against everything I would have believed about upper-classes from my 'friend-of-the-people' point of view. Those who I believed to be a superficial, hypocritical bunch of snobs that despise the peasants and the workers dissolved once I read a third of the book. The judgement the reader places upon the characters gradually transforms along the novel into a complete identification with them. 

We tend to think today that living in a strong religious environment makes everyone think and act in the same way. Either people are moral and behave well, or they carry a life of wickedness similar to Mr Hyde's, attending voyeurist brothels for the rich. But inside the hierarchical bubble everything goes on the same way as outside. We all have the same weaknesses, and we love the same things, and yet we are all so different from one another that we fear we'll always be lonely. We cripple everyone through our actions, and in turn they do the same to us.

The style of the prose can seem a bit old at first, logically, but it's just the right one. Without those exact words the meaning they want to convey would be lost. The indication of all the little hints in the characters' behaviour are wonderful to discover, and their later explanation through what they tell each other (and what they don't) are shocking, enlightening or depressing. Just like real life. Only with expensive wine and grand houses.

It's a brilliant book, a freaking classic, a must for anyone that calls himself a bookworm. Which I think is one of the proudest labels we can ever hope for (:

1 comentario:

Anónimo dijo...

Muy bonito, si si xD