good reads

I've been reading a quite a few books in the last little while, especially as the research over here has slowed down a bit...Interpreter of Maladies (an extremely intimate look into the everyday lives of various Indian Americans), The Great Gatsby (This book. These characters. Gosh, I can't WAIT to see the movie once I'm back in America!), Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction (I had to read it twice--J.D. Salinger is genious! I can't believe the only work of his I'd read before this summer was Catcher in the Rye), Wuthering Heights (What strange, despicable, powerful, strong, possessed, intriguing characters--I finished it one evening, and reread all the best parts the next), and Anna Karenina.

Anna Karenina.

Nicolle gave me her copy of Anna Karenina last night. The power was out, but I wasn't quite sleepy yet, so I grabbed my flashlight and decided that I'd read just a chapter or two. But Tolstoy sucked me in and two and a half hours later, my left shoulder was cramped from holding the flashlight and my right arm had fallen asleep. I put it away for the night, only to pick it right back up this morning.

I am currently at page 420.

It is addictive. It is beautiful and devastating and inspiring, and I can't put it down for long.

I read Anna Karenina once before, but it didn't leave a lasting impression upon me. In fact, I rather remember thinking that I had to finish it if only because it was such a classic. Maybe I wasn't ready for it, or maybe I didn't really understand the story. I don't know what it was.

But books deserve second chances--and I'm so glad I gave it a second chance. It may be one of the most powerful books I have ever read.