The three books reviewed in this post are library books, one digital and two physical.
The Kreutzer Sonata and other stories by Leo Tolstoy
I borrowed The Kreutzer Sonata from BorrowBox. I really wanted to read Anna Karenina (for the second time), but it was out on loan. The Kreutzer Sonata is not a full length novel, perhaps it might be novella-length, but the subject matter is rather heavier than I’d expect of a novella. The book also includes an explanation of Tolstoy’s views on matters dealt with in The Kreutzer Sonata. The other stories are Ivan the Fool, A Lost Opportunity, ‘Polikushka’ or, The Lot of a Wicked Court Servant, and The Candle. All these stories were written after what Wikipedia describes as Tolstoy’s ‘spiritual awakening’. They reflect his interpretation of Christianity. All of them are thought-provoking. The descriptions of the gulf between the aristocracy (of which Tolstoy was part) and the peasants were very telling. Some of the stories are happier than others. I particularly enjoyed Ivan the Fool.
My views about marriage do not altogether match Tolstoy’s as set out in his explanation. Having read his biography on Wikipedia, I realised that the main character in The Kreutzer Sonata is an exaggerated version of himself. That story is mainly made up of a single character telling his unhappy tale. Most of the other stories could be considered to have a deeper meaning (dare I say moral?).
Various editions are available, but they do not all include the same stories.
Spying on Whales The past, present and future of the world’s largest animals by Nick Pyenson
On a visit to the library I noticed Spying for Whales displayed in the nature section. It is an attractive hardback volume with illustrations. The text is very well written, explaining many facts in an accessible easily-read manner. There is the excitement of the quest for knowledge and of making discoveries, both of fossils and of deductions from the available data. The text is in three parts dealing with the past the present and the future. The next section gives corroborative references for phrases in the text. Then there is the Reference section proper followed by an index. The illustrations are helpful to the interpretation of the text, having been created by an expert on whales. (One of the reasons I borrowed this book was that I had recently written a poem about a whale for a challenge about endangered species. I was aware of how little I actually knew about them – Challenge 36 on Paint Chip Challenge) It is a remarkable book by a scientist (paleontologist) from the Smithsonian Institution.
A paperback edition is also available.
My Summer of Magic Moments by Caroline Roberts
Another library book I borrowed was My Summer of Magic Moments by Caroline Roberts. This is a romantic novel with a serious back story. The protagonist is a cancer-survivor, whose story emerges a little at a time. She is also a journalist and blogger with a positive outlook. The parts about writing were of particular interest to me. There is plenty of suspense. The chapter headings are all different ‘Magic Moments’. I read it a few chapters at a time between fairly short chunks of the nonfiction book. The settings are Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Bamburgh – a place I have visited. I enjoy reading books, where I can recall a place as well as imagining it from the descriptions.
These library books were the other two I mentioned in my previous post. All my book reviews may be accessed from my pages – Authors A to M and Authors N to Z.
Sue's Trifles 