read-along – Page 2 – Ripple Effects

CLICK HERE to read my Concluding Post: Parts 5 – 8 And The Curtain Falls

CLICK HERE to read my post on Parts 1 – 4 of Anna Karenina.

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I’ve done the math. From today till the new movie adaptation’s general release (Nov.16) there are exactly three months. So that means finishing this 800 some pages novel needs reading about 10 pages a day. A doable plan.

Here’s the edition I’m using, the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. Feel free to explore others.

If you are one of the few like me who haven’t gone past that famous first line, now’s the chance to do it together. And for the majority of you who have read it, how about a reread before watching the award-aiming movie directed by Joe Wright of Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007) fame, with Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Michelle Dockery, Olivia Williams…

Not that we need them to lure us into reading Tolstoy.

Or that we need TIME to tell us Anna Karenina holds the no. 1 spot on their Top Ten Greatest Books of All Time.

I’ve totally enjoyed the camaraderie of a read-along in the Midnight’s Children experience. So, short of going to see the movie together, we can read the book as a virtual book group.

Here’s the simple plan. We’ll divide the eight parts of the book in half and just do two posts in the next three months, about seven weeks apart and from now till the first post:

Post 1: Part One to Four — September 30

Post 2: Part Five to Eight — November 15

A doable plan, isn’t it? Hope you can join in. Let me know in a comment so I can link to your blog. If you’re not a blogger, you can also read-along with us. Join in our discussion with your comment on the day of the posts.

Happy reading!

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From your comments, here’s a list of those joining our Anna Karenina Read-Along:

Stefanie of So Many Books

Bellezza of Dolce Bellezza

Loucas Raptis of The Monster of Wrangellia

Janell of An Everyday Life

Becca of Becca’s Byline

Vanessa

oh of This Writing Life

… so far. You’re still welcome to join us. Post your thoughts on Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 and/or just hop around to our posts to join in our discussions if you’re not a blogger.

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CLICK HERE to read my review of Midnight’s Children the Movie

Our slow and flexible read-along of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie begins today. How slow? Here’s the plan. Each section about 130 pages is to be covered in a month from March to June. On the last day of each month, we post our reading response to that part:

March 31 — Book One
April 30 — Book Two (Part A ending with ‘Alpha and Omega’)
May 31 — Book Two (Part B starting with ‘The Kolynos Kid’)
June 30 — Book Three

How flexible? I’m not even calling them ‘reviews’. Let’s just share our thoughts as we read along. You can still continue with your regular blogging activities. And if for any reasons, you can’t keep up, don’t worry. If you miss writing a post, feel free to visit others’ and join in the discussion. If you’re not a blogger, you’re welcome to stop by as well on the last day of every month from March to June to share your view.

From the open invitation posted on Jan. 8, the following readers had shown interest to join in. I’ve put your links down so we’ll know where to go for the response posts at the end of the month. If you want to join in now, you’re most welcome. Just indicate your intention in a comment below and I’ll add in your link. Conversely, if you feel you can’t commit at this point, just let me know so I can take your link off.

Do go to Bellezza’s blog to check out other participants’ links as well.

In between these monthly posts, if being succinct is your style, you can share your thoughts in 140 characters with tweets anytime you want. Just leave your twitter name @… in the comment. You’re most welcome to follow some clumsy attempts at laconic expressions @Arti_Ripples

A General Introduction:

Voted Best of The Booker in 2008, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children has been classified as post-colonial literature, genre historical fiction and magic realism, rich in symbols and allegories. Here’s the Synopsis from the Booker site:

“Born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, at the precise moment of India’s independence, the infant Saleem Sinai is celebrated in the press and welcomed by Prime Minister Nehru himself. But this coincidence of birth has consequences Saleem is not prepared for: telepathic powers that connect him with 1,000 other “midnight’s children” – all born in the initial hour of India’s independence – and an uncanny sense of smell that allows him to sniff out dangers others can’t perceive. Inextricably linked to his nations, Saleem’s biography is a whirlwind of disasters and triumphs that mirror the course of modern India at its most impossible and glorious.”

Helpful Background Resources Online:

History of modern India from Colonial time

History India Timeline

Setting of Midnight’s Children

Characters in Midnight’s Children

Book Review on 1981 publication from New York Review of Books

Deepa Mehta and Salman Rushdie collaborate on film adaptation

To all reading along, Enjoy!

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