I keep thinking about how Tolstoy’s characters use language in War and Peace, ESPECIALLY all the code-switching between Russian and French. (This is one of the big reasons I decided I have to try to read the book in the original. As much as I lovelovelove Dunnigan’s translation and think it reads gorgeously, she translates a lot of the French within the dialogue and hides some of the code-switching. So now I’m reading the original and the Dunnigan translation in parallel.)
Here are some interesting language things I’ve noticed so far:
1. Some high society characters seem to speak way more French than Russian: Ippolit Kuragin, Julie Karagina, Lise Bolkonskaya. Ippolit’s first appearance involves him telling a story in terrible Russian (I.i.4). I haven’t seen Tolstoy explicitly comment on Lise’s Russian yet, but it’s been mentioned several times already that she usually speaks French.
2. In contrast, Marya Dmitriyevna always speaks Russian (I.i.15). And that makes sense, given her blunt manner and disregard for social niceties. The first time she appeared in the story, I immediately decided that I like her. She does her own thing, doesn’t care about fitting in with society, and society has come to both respect and fear her. It’s interesting that they call her le terrible dragon, instead of the equivalent in Russian.
3. I’ve seen two instances so far where Andrei pointedly shifts into Russian to show his disdain for frivolous people: with Ippolit (I.i.5), and Zherkov (I.ii.3). He seems comfortable with both languages, and often pretty aware of how he switches between them. But Tolstoy describes him unconsciously shifting completely into French when talking military strategy with his father (I.i.23) – I’m guessing this means he’s read more books on the subject in French.
4. Shinshin, Countess Rostova’s eccentric bachelor cousin, is another character who seems very aware of his own code-switching. He’s only made one appearance so far (the Rostovs’ party, I.i.15-16), but he has the most fascinating speech patterns of ANYBODY – shifting freely between Russian folk expressions and very flowery French, often with a wink at his listeners. He’s being clever and entertaining and he knows it. I think he’s basically doing a sort of aristocratic 19th-century Russian equivalent of what TV Tropes calls “Sophisticated As Hell”.
5. The Kuragins apparently speak some English! I’m curious about how/where they would have learned it, and just how much they know. Early chapters show Anatol translating for an Englishman (I.i.6), and Ippolit randomly exclaiming “Capital!” at Anna Pavlovna’s soirée (I.i.4).
6. I was surprised to discover that Pierre and Andrei address each other with different levels of formality. Pierre addresses Andrei as вы (formal “you”), and Andrei addresses Pierre as ты (informal “you”). This is one of those things that just plain don’t translate into modern English. I guess it makes sense: Andrei’s older and a somewhat higher social class. But I was still surprised, and this makes me view their friendship a little differently.
7. And then I just love the way Tolstoy periodically comments onhow his characters say things. Like: Anna Mikhailovna stressing the first syllable in her son’s name (“BO-ris”) to show affection, or the way the German officer at the Rostovs’ party speaks without palatalization (I had to read his dialogue out loud! not sure I’d ever heard German-accented Russian before), or the way m-lle Bourienne leans on a trilled “r” as if enjoying the sound of her own voice, and of course Denisov’s habit of never pronouncing an “r”.
Hello friends! Today I decided to create a post that is somewhat less conventional, but still quite relevant. Since I’m a student that apart from studying also loves to read, this post will be dedicated entirely to reading classics and how to enjoy reading them! When I first started out I probably felt the same things many people feel when they first start reading classics, especially in school, but I can promise you, once you start to read them more, you’ll start to actually like them. In any case, below you’ll find a list of tips and recommendations I wish to share with you, so I hope you like it :)
1. Where/how to start
Getting started with classics is for many people the biggest obstacle, but you can overcome your fear of classics by just simply starting to read them. However, where many people go wrong, is that they don’t choose their first classics wisely and will be appalled by them because of it. But worry not, below is a list of some of (personal) recommendations of classics generally considered enjoyable. If you feel like this is a step too big, you can also start off by watching some good TV/movie adaptations of classics, which are included as well.
2. Recommendations below 200 pages
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (very hilarious)
Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy
Silas Marner - George Eliot
Persuasion - Jane Austen
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (the classic Christmas read)
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
A Room With a View - E.M. Forster
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
3. Recommendations beyond 200 pages
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien (yes, this is a classic)
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Emma - Jane Austen
The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë (one of my favourite books of all time)
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (a gigantic 1400 pages)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë (super feminist!)
Reading classics is at some point a kind of trial-and-error experience, so I suggest that you begin by reading a wide variety of shorter classics from which you can gradually decide upon the types of classics you do like and the types you don’t. Once you discover the time/era, writing style, themes, and place you favour, it’s much easier and enjoyable to read more classics, and lengthier ones as well. Reading classics does not mean that you have to read within all times or eras, but you can also enjoy one particular era as well (I personally love the 1850-1900 era). In the end, you should have a pretty good idea of what you like, and trust me, reading classics will by no means be scary anymore!
7. How to enjoy them at school
Once you have familiarised with classics, you’ll also have familiarised with the writing style and the types of stories. This means that reading classics in school will be much easier to do as well, because it will help you spend much less time worrying about the book, but can instead help you enjoy and appreciate it. Truly, not all the books you’ll read in school will be fun or good, but just remember that not all classics are like that! If you’re lucky enough to read a book that you do like, you’ll read it much quicker and understand a lot better now that you know in what context it can be placed. If you still feel scared, please watch this video, it does wonders.
This post turned out to be longer than expected, but hopefully it can help all of you out! If you have any questions about this post, or more general things (or if you’d like to talk to me about books), you can always send me an ask. See you next time!
Prince Bolkonsky is honestly such a funny antagonist in how hard it is to explain how his assholery manifests… Like “in his scene of most heinous and abusive behavior this despicable man expresses the belief women can learn maths too and should choose their husbands independently” “the callous bitch really ruins everyone’s life with his stance that his 30 year old son shouldn’t marry a teenage girl”
well… he emotionally abuses marya, constantly calls her stupid and ugly and belittles her, so if you’re wondering about how his assholery manifests, there ya go!
This is another literature illustration, this time with Nikolai. I realised that when I don’t know what background I should do I draw fields under cloudy sky.
We exited the auditorium and spent some time in a bar cause we thought we had a time before actors came out of a dressing room and went down in lobby. I took a place near the exit, auditorium entrance, passage to wc and a door marked No admittance.
And then the door opened, Malachi and Faith got out of the room. I couldn’t believe my eyes, just stayed and glazed at them for a moment. Only 10 minutes after the play left, nobody was there except a couple of people behind me at the bar, some other viewers were in lobby, waiting for actors. I went up to them and we had a nice talk. I said I saw them on TV, complimented their play and underline the high points.
When Malachi and Faith left, we decided not to hurry and stayed in the bar. Just in a minute the door with No admittance opened again, and James with Imogen entered the room.
James was in a coat and glasses, with a sharp look in the eye. I unrolled a handmade poster and looked above it at James (with eyes like the cat from Shrek). The look on the James face changed and he went up to me with words “Oh, it’s you?” and hugged me.
After that moment the most interesting part began. I gave a small gift to James, then we observed my poster.
I reproved him a little with a smile about the fact that he didn’t pay any attention to a one-year anniversary of our Twitter group. James became very serious and said that it’s a shame on him and disgusting, but, take it easy, he is pretty far along from all that social media, just logging in, pressing some buttons and logging out. So all that I expected it to be, not perfect, but that’s not my rules in a game.
Then all of us went up to bar, James dropped off his coat on the floor (exactly that herringbone black-and-white coat from Saint Petersburg, he said that), I breathed out and did the same with my puffy coat.
James became clear there was no way back when I asked him to sign autographs for many of his fans and to shoot a short video for Russian speaking fans.
There was a funny incident during signing autographs. James began to write and said it’s uncomfortable because the marker dried up. I was in a step from panic but James offered to bring another marker, and ran away. I shared a look with my friend, our thoughts was the same: he wouldn’t come back. But a few minutes later James returned with a new marker in his hand! We kept things going. What a guy!
Next step was to shoot a video. I asked James to tell whatever he wants, HelloorHappy New Year. He concentrated fast and said a proper text. There was a mess around, it wasn’t so easy, I got a bit hacked off, you can see how I’ve trying to make thought together and to listen to my “perfect” English… The one thing I asked him about was to say this letter is for Russian speaking fans, but he uttered it like “for Russian fans”. I don’t want to nitpick, he already remembered and did enough. So this short video is for all of you who understands Russian language.
After we’ve shot the first video James asked me – why I announced it in English if the video is for Russian speaking people? Just because of this we shot one more part.
I flatter myself that James spent so much time with me also because I told to him I read the script on the play. I complained on 4 stars, but he said it’s nothing, don’t care about it. I supposed that it’s connected with a no large-scale of the performance. It’s not a Shakespeare but a modern small play. He just nodded “yes, maybe”. I complimented the cast and the play and he was listening to it very carefully.
It’s not a surprise I was very nervous. But in that 10 minutes (or just about it) I could collect my thoughts to talk calmly and to do a maximum of the important things. Some of them went out of my mind though I was prepared. For example, I didn’t asked about a few screen caps from behind the scenes “War and peace”. Just, just… the way we are.
What else I can say? James Norton is a very nice and charming person. He is attentive and sincere, laughs openly and playful, with his head back.
You feel like he talks to you not for advertising, for you can be useful as a fan, but just to make you feel pleasant. I believe he is kind of a person who just loves people.
Thanks to the Donmar theater, to the director and all of the cast for giving me a pleasure. I had a great time with the play Belleville. Thanks to James personally for his time, I’ll never forget it. I want him to have a luck – those, who makes people happy deserves all the best.
Have a good year, all of you. I want your dreams come true – sometimes it actually happens.
Audrey Hepburn photographed by Pierluigi Praturlon at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome, Italy, during a break from filming War and Peace, October 1955. From the personal collection of Audrey Hepburn.
