Anna Karenina and Charlie Sheen, separated at birth?

First of all, wow. I finished Anna Karenina yesterday. I feel like I've been listening to it forever. Now that it's over, I sort of miss those crazy Russians. What a story! Full of family complications, jealousy, betrayal, resignation. It is epic. Fine work, Mr. Tolstoy. I salute you.
Now, about the title of my post comparing Ms. Karenina with Mr. Sheen-- why, you ask? HOW? Charlie Sheen has been all over the news lately like white on rice, and it got me thinking that he and Anna Karenina are very similar. First, the adultery and/or exploits. Anna brings Vronsky into her home while her son is there and he totally knows what's going on. Charlie fools around with a porn star and trashes a hotel room while his daughters are in the next room.
Second, substance abuse. Anna is using opium like it's going out of style at one point. I thought that would be her end. Charlie has been in rehab a few times and his alcohol and drug use is well documented.
Third, they both live on the fringes of society and dislike feeling judged by others. Anna can't even go out in society in Moscow and that nasty lady at the opera is really mean to her. She's an outcast because she can't divorce Alexei Alexandrovitch and marry Vronsky, and she has an illegitimate child. Charlie Sheen, although in the limelight, is on the fringes because he has gotten into trouble with the law and his job, to the point that his TV show is cancelled and he is facing custody issues with his recent ex. Anna can't stand being an outcast and often references her "position." Charlie, in his recent interview on 20/20, likened himself to not being of this terrestrial plain and says he has "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA." They are frustrated with how they feel other people feel about them.
Finally, they both come off to me as rather erratic. At one point in the audio book, when Anna is being particularly unreasonable about Vronsky, saying that she doesn't care, and he'll pay for this, and the letter doesn't reach him but she thinks she's been given the brush-off and Vronsky wants to leave her, I literally, after every sentence, said aloud, "Because you're crazy!" Anna was out of her mind. Charlie Sheen has made some comments in interviews that seem unusual, like the tiger blood thing, and generally isn't making sense these days, at least to me.
Besides all that, I admire Anna Karenina and Charlie Sheen for being themselves and not conforming to anyone else's standards. Anna loved Vronsky obsessively and they both paid the price. Charlie Sheen likes his lifestyle and doesn't lie about it, and time will tell what happens next. Do I condone it? No, but I appreciate the honesty.
I think if I had read Anna Karenina I would not have liked it as much. I mentioned before that the reader of the audio book was great, and her name escapes me at the moment, but I will look it up. It was very accessible. And Tolstoy, what a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of literature. I think Charlie Sheen should read it.

Marissa

Book backwards of sort a.

Every once in a while Peanut asks us to read to her backwards. At first I thought it was really odd but then I realized that maybe it is her way of focusing more on the words, since I tend to read more slowly that way and use my finger to follow along with the words.

La Bete Humaine is not backwards word for word the way that Peanut likes us to read her books. But the premise is kind of backwards. A murder happens pretty early on in the book and there is no disputing who committed it. The rest of the book deals with the fallout from the murder and basically what happens next in the perpetrators' lives. The book also centers around a French railway line and a lot of the activity occurs in train stations and on trains.

Although this book was written in 1840 there are some pretty modern themes in this book and the construction of it seems way ahead of its time. I really, really liked it. This is one of just a few that I highly, highly recommended to Mike that he read. I think he will find it super interesting.

Really tasty chicken.

I just didn't get Berlin Alexanderplatz at all. Here's this guy, released from prison, going about doing stuff in 1920s Germany, and it just wasn't that interesting, and I really didn't care. I'm sure the book has lots of meaning and significance but I wasn't able to find it at all. Oh well.

So this is how my mom makes these really tasty chicken thighs.
Chicken thighs
Flour
Bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Poultry seasoning
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350, and place pan you plan to cook chicken thighs in oven so it gets hot. Meanwhile, in a ziploc bag place equal parts flour and bread crumbs, plus a dash of salt and pepper and some poultry seasoning. Put each chicken piece in the bag individually to coat with the mixture.

When oven is hot, remove pan and immediately place about a tablespoon of olive oil on it, tilting it to coat the whole pan. Place seasoned chicken thighs skin side up in pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and turn chicken pieces over and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Anna Karenina discs 1-15, or WHY TOLSTOY WHY?

I got Tolstoy's Anna Karenina on CD to listen during my commute. It's thirty discs long. THIRTY. Makes sense, since the book is gigantor, but it's the most I've ever tackled. Luckily it's split into two sets of fifteen. I finished the first set last week, and let me tell you, Tolstoy likes words. Also, everyone has a super long name. I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind, but it's actually a compelling story. Levin likes Kitty, but she refuses his proposal because she's waiting on Vronsky. Meanwhile, Vronsky and Anna fall in love and Anna cheats on Alexei Alexandrovitch and he's mad. Anna is Stiva's sister, and Dolly is Kitty's sister, and Dolly and Stiva are married but Dolly is upset because Stiva is sleeping with the governess. Kitty realizes that Vronsky will never propose and she's sad because she could've been with Levin, and she gets sick and goes abroad to drink special waters and rest at a spa. Anna gets pregnant with Vronsky's child and Alexei Alexandrovitch debates on what to do regarding their marriage. Kitty comes back, Levin gets over himself and re-proposes, she says yes, and at the end of this set of discs, they are going to get married.

Phew!

Throw in various political asides, lots of trips from Moscow to Petersburg and the country, carriages, troikas, Levin's life in the country and his idealization of peasant life, and that's my summary of the first chunk. Epic. I am really liking it! Also, the reader on the audio book is fabulous which makes a huge difference. She's got a slightly different tone for each character without being cheesy. There is so much drama and family goings-on. I'm kind of irritated by Anna, to be honest, and I like Kitty and Levin a lot. We'll see what awaits in the next fifteen discs (I'm actually on disc 18 right now but there's still a lot!).

Marissa

Oh, Africa.

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul was one of those books on the list where it is a novel, but it is also intended to teach something. It wasn't heavy handed or annoying though - I really was interested to read the story set in a post-colonial African city. I knew nothing at all about this topic before beginning the book. The main character is not from the city and goes there to set up a little shop and witnesses all the changes and troubles that people have there. The main character is not necessarily likeable (I'm mainly referring to the fact that he beats up a woman at one point).

Another interesting point is that his family (who lives on the coast of Africa) had slaves dating from a long time ago but it has become way different from US pre-Civil War slavery. The tables have kind of turned on his family and they can't do anything about the slaves. The slaves (which have now multiplied and become numerous) are entitled to the family's care and support.

This was generally pretty interesting, if a little slow at times.

Books 71-80

Here are the next 10 books on the list!

71. La Bete Humaine by Emile Zola (1840)
72. The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni (1827)
73. Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf (1941)
74. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)
75. Billiards at Half-Past-Nine by Heinrich Boll (1959)
76. Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow (1989)
77. Billy Budd, Foretopman by Herman Melville (1924)
78. Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse (1959)
79. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993)
80. The Birds Fall Down by Rebecca West (1966)

Lepers.

When I told Mike that Ben-Hur was next on my list, he told me that he saw the movie and it freaked him out about getting leprosy. I can totally understand that from reading the book too. I can't figure out why it didn't kill off everyone in the world if it was that contagious. Yikes.

This was a really interesting book. It was unique to me with the use of Jesus as a character. The plot advances with rough parallel to the life of Jesus and He figures in a lot of the things that go on. (I suppose you could say that He figures in everything that goes on, but what I mean is that His life intersects with Ben-Hur's.)

This also was another book that must have been pretty amazing to read in 1888.