Three star review, originally posted here on March 15, 2023
I’m gonna go ahead and say it: Long books are too long.
As a kid I assumed that by adulthood I would be able to sit through long books because all the adults were reading long books. Alas, I am still a slow reader, and that means if I sign up for a long book, I will be stuck with it for a very long time. Which means I had better freaking like it. In this case I went with the audiobook, which helped matters to some degree, especially as Maggie Gyllenhaal did a lovely job with the narration. But still, there was zero reason why this book had to be so long. There is really very little plot. Tons of dialogue. Whole chapters where I just zoned out.
This sounds like a bad review, but it isn’t. This is a neutral review; I was just getting the bad stuff out of the way. This book is fine. It was easier to follow than lots of other older classics. I had no problem paying attention in many of the chapters. Plotwise and characterwise I had no complaints. Totally okay book.
What I can’t quite figure out, though, even after trying to read think pieces to help explain it, is why this book is considered one of the best of all time. I am very clearly missing something. Maybe its lost in translation? Maybe I need to be more familiar with 19th century Russian agriculture? Why is this thing supposed to be SOOOOO damn good? I honestly have no idea. Maybe someone who sees this and loves the book can fill me in on what I missed here.
Helga without the H 