We’re done War and Peace! We finished ages ago, actually — two whole months. It took me about that long to get over my disappointment with the ending. It wasn’t where all the characters ended up; my reading group predicted everyone’s final couplings and fates very accurately (almost like we are a bunch of narrative-obsessedContinue reading “And one had to live”
Category Archives: classics
On Being Halfway: War and Peace and Reading in a Pandemic
In the fall of 2021, my friend told me about a new book called Tolstoy Together. It was a record of a group read of War and Peace, Tolstoy’s 1869 masterpiece. In the very early days of the pandemic, writer Yiyun Lee invited anyone who wished to join her in a slow read of WarContinue reading “On Being Halfway: War and Peace and Reading in a Pandemic”
Reading the future: The Handmaid’s Tale and All Our Wrong Todays
Like everyone else in the world, I’m rereading Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, inspired by the release of the new Hulu series to rediscover something I first read, oh, about fifteen years ago, I think. I was not assigned to read this book in high school, unlike many people, but when you grow up Canadian,Continue reading “Reading the future: The Handmaid’s Tale and All Our Wrong Todays”
Kathleen Keenan 