2022/34: The Anna Karenina Fix -- Viv Groskop

2022/34: The Anna Karenina Fix -- Viv Groskop

... as they say in Russian, 'life is better there where we are not'. This, said in an extremely categorical and depressing voice, is probably the best Russian saying of all time. Is there any more fatalistic thought in human existence? [p. 128]

Viv Groskop grew up believing herself to have Russian ancestry, and became a devoted Russophile in her teens. Russian literature was her gateway drug, and as she takes us through a series of 'life lessons' (ranging from 'How to Know Who You Really Are: Anna Karenina', via 'How to Not be Your Own Worst Enemy: Eugene Onegin', to 'How to Know What Matters in Life: War and Peace') she describes her own love affair with the great Russian novels (and with a less-great Russian rock star), and how she learnt to appreciate the quintessential Russian obsession with Fate and Soul.

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