by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Shockingly, I have not written a Favorites posts since this past January—The Horror! February, March, and April were a blurry mess of pledging, vector line integrals, and haphazard studying for finals. I enjoyed my first year of college and am confident I made the right decision to attend my University.… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel The phrase “War and Peace” usually produces anxious groans, frustrated sighs, and terrified gasps of quick, raspy breath, especially if the person in question is unfamiliar with Russian literature. However, despite the nearly 1215 pages, the impossibly complicated Russian names, and the beautifully intricate plot, War and Peace is an enthralling novel… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel I recently finished reading Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, a three part novel published by Count Leo Tolstoy in 1852. A fictionalized autobiography, this book tells the story of Nikolai Irtenyeff, a Russian aristocrat struggling with the thorny rosebush that is growing up. The three categories—childhood, boyhood, and youth—were depicted so fully and minutely that… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello World Travelers! This was the month of Tolstoy, the month of declaring I was going to party hard and then staying home every weekend, and the month of discovering the amazing qualities of black leggings. Second semester of college high-fived me with an amiable “welcome home!” combined with “your classes are… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Since I have spent way too many thoughts about Anna Karenina, I have a solid sense of each character’s personality, including their behavior in “Society” versus in the domestic realm, their aspirations, and their manner of speaking. Some characters, such Anna, Levin, and Varenka, I immediately gravitated towards because of their striking… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Being perpetually obsessed with the bold, tragic story of Anna Karenina might not be a healthy habit, but my lack of cares was tossed out of the window along with my sanity a long time ago. This gut-wrenching story, complete with perverse lust, the musings of an existential farmer, and volumes of… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Although neither November nor October was particularly earth-shattering or wildly thrilling for this abnormal youth (me), I did chance upon several books and musical pieces that elegantly spell out the definition of beauty. Personally, I was just floating through the cracks of college, trying on different faces and personas and… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel The thick, slightly musty, and fine print pages, stacked together so densely and perfectly, contained more information about Russian agriculture, turbulent love affairs, musings on peasants, and frivolities of the 19th century upper class than I thought I’d ever need. Of course, I’m referring to the literary beast that is Anna Karenina.… Read More