Family Happiness

Beautiful and worth reading (it was written by Tolstoy, after all!) even though there was no decision to love at the end, only a resignation. Their marriage could have become a thing of beauty if they had only chosen to find a new way to love each other. This flaw was a disappointment. But I still recommend it highly to anybody who wants to peer into the human soul and see what's there.

“A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.”

“The whole world that sky, that garden, that air, were different from those that I knew. We were walking along an avenue, and it seemed to me, whenever I looked ahead, that could go no farther in the same direction, that the world of the possible ended there, and that the whole scene must remain fixed for ever in its beauty.”

“Passion, said the other voice and then it was still for a moment. “It is a necessity to me. I cannot live without it. To make life a romance is the one thing worth doing. And with me romance never breaks off in the middle, and this affair I shall carry through to the end.”

This is by far the most beautiful Tolstoy book I've ever read. This book is a gem. A priceless gem in true sense! To start with, the story begins with the narrator, a lady who falls in love with a man who's much older than her in age. And about how her passion and youth yearns for it. The story explores many fascinating and profound themes like love, life, passion, youth, ambition, nostalgia, melancholia, happiness, marriage, society and the meaning and purpose of life. All this woven beautifully in a tale that manages to capture your imagination. And what can I say about Tolstoy, he's indeed the master of human emotions! The story has that existential undertones which make it a delight to read, as I'm a fan of existential works. The book ends with a conclusion about how time changes our lives and how we humans keep changing with it. Evolving and growing with it. And how this affects our relationships and the people around us.

Overall, this is one of the best works of Tolstoy, in my opinion a must read for everyone! One of the best books I've read in 2017!