Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Deephaven Author: Sarah Orne Jewett ISBN: 1-883011-34-5 Publisher: First Library of America Type of book: 1800s, Deephaven, nature, captains, small town, vacation, Boston, sea, religion Year it was published: 1877 Summary: Two aristocratic young ladies from Boston share their experiences and their delight, as well as the salty yarns of several sea captains, in a small harbor village in Maine. Characters: I didn't see a lot of personality quirks of the two main characters, but instead Helen and Kate have shown the reader of people that live in Deephaven as well as their personalities; the superstitious captains that tell fascinating tales, the women that welcome them warmly, the widows and spinsters that suffered through misfortunes, and the community spirit that the people inhabit in helping one another through tough times. Theme: There is delight in small towns as well Plot: The stories are told in first person narrative from Helen's ...

Name of Book: Anna Karenina Author: Leo Tolstoy ISBN: 0-451-52449-7 Publisher: Signet Classic Type of book: Russia, classic, 1870s, adultery, marriage, life, death, rejection, war, unhappiness, madness, St. Petersburg, Moscow, farming, peasantry, wealth, money Year it was published: 1873-1877 Summary: Tolstyo's genius for viewing social classes in the largest possible context and for sketching the subtlest human gestures becomes most evident in Anna Karenina. To this novel he brought his troubling conviction that at his moments of most intense experience man is closest to death. This is the double drama of Anna and of Levin. Sensual, rebellious, Anna renounces respectable marriage and fine position for a passionate involvement which offers a taste of freedom and a trap for destruction. Levin, an eccentric and melancholy young nobleman, surrenders his individuality to live as a peasant. Characters: The characters are well drawn but tend to be boring and insuffe...