Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading
3.9
36
5
1
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780061999857 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 06/19/2012 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Sales rank: | 679,550 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.38(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.64(d) |
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Tolstoy and the Purple Chair
3.9 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
36 reviews.
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Don't be deterred by the descriptions of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair as a book about grieving. It is, indeed, Nina Sankovich's memoir of coming to terms with her sister's untimely death through reading. But it is much more a book about hope and the ever-amazing power our nature to return us from dark places. It's about getting to a point where remembering a life is no longer just excrutiating but joyful, the way it should be. I think it's also about learning to live with both the grief and the joy and understanding that they go together. As someone who has filled many empty places in my life with books, I automatically understood Sankovich's turning to reading for solace and understanding and maybe just as way to get through each painful day early on. But I believe that anyone who has experienced loss will enjoy the book, whether they follow the same path as the author or not. In fact, few of us will do exactly as Sankovich does and read 365 books in a year. It's her example of finding her own way through a tough time that is the lesson.
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Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is a memoir of hope, and also a highly readable and fascinating book. Lifelong book lover Nina Sankovitch read a book every day for a year -- and wrote insightful reviews of each. Her project was her personally crafted therapy to overcome the devastating grief that engulfed her when her sister Anne Marie died suddenly of cancer.
While most people would look to non-fiction self-help books about death/dying in their search for answers and ways to cope and overcome their grief, Sankovitch took the more difficult path; she read great fiction, novels, short stories -- some intense, as well as some more distracting books -- in search of her own release from the guilt and pain that trapped her in the aftermath of her sister's death. Rather than provide clear answers, the books prompted Sankovitch to delve deeper into herself, as well as into the characters; they helped her constructively deal with her own personal grief and ultimately enabled her to find the will to move joyfully forward once again.
Book lovers will adore this book, but even for a casual reader, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair will resonate because the story of Sankovitch's grief and how she came to terms with it is something universally relatable. The simple gift of a great book's lessons is the most precious to Sankovitch, and sharing what she has learned during her yearlong project is her gift to fellow readers.
Masterfully woven into her daily life of laundry and kids' birthdays, reflections of time spent with her intellectual and fellow-book-loving sister, recollections of childhood memories and parents' histories, come the books' meaningful lessons she's uncovered during her year of reading. Quotes at the beginning of each chapter from some of the books highlight meaningful themes in her reading and provide a context for the chapter contents. Sankovitch loves to read, but more than that, she must read; it is an addiction that is positive, one that she finds motivating, meaningful, and in the case of her project, freeing. Sharing her experiences via Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is, for her, a gift to other readers so they too may glean from her experiences and be inspired to read and gain understanding and knowledge from great books and their characters.
Sankovitch tells the story not only of how she managed to read and review a book a day (dirtier house, lots of late nights) but also tells her family story as the youngest of three daughters of immigrant parents growing up in suburban Chicago; as a college foreign exchange student; as an accomplished professional in New York City; and as a wife and mother of 4 boys living on the east coast. With tales and reflections that span from her father's own tragic legacy in war-torn Europe to her sons' birthdays in their Connecticut home, Sankovitch exposes her readers to the emotions and thoughts she experienced during her reading project. Yes, there is sadness here, but there is also learning, growing, humor, love, and joyful emergence from the depths of sadness and guilty grief as Sankovitch tries to come to terms with the fact that she has been spared and granted a wonderful life while her sister was abruptly denied her own full life in a painful and unfair death.
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair highlights ideas from various books Sankovitch read during her yearlong project and relates them to her emotions and struggles while she groped her way back to her previous
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"Tolstoy and the purple chair" is Nina Sankovitch's memoir of the year she spent dedicating to reading-reading and reviewing a book a day, using reading as a healing process to recover from losing her sister.
I found the book to be part memoir (the author recalls her childhood, her relationship with her sister, and her currently bustling household) and part exploration into how books connect with real life (the author includes various brief descriptions of the books she read, as well as her reaction to them).
The end of the book also has a lengthy list of every book the author read during her reading year. I thought is subject matter was interesting. Throughout the book, Sankovitch emotionally reflects on her current and past life, while choosing books based on their similarities to her own experiences, original storylines-including many mysteries, as well as taking recommendations made by friends and strangers.
While the prospect of reading a book a day is a venture that is time-consuming, Sankovitch confesses that she looked upon the time as a long vacation from the turmoil of her own life, and encourages readers to do the same. Overall, an interesting concept and a worthy account.
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An amazing first memoir of this author's personal journey of learning to live again after the tremendous loss of a beloved sister by opening a new book, everyday for a year, and capturing its essence in her daily reviews. Starting with a promise and a pledge begins the Holy Grail of this bright and colorful 365 days of magical reading. You curl up with Nina in her purple chair as she explores the layers of her own fascinating history while entwining it with her well chosen novels; ("only books I want to read") as she seeks her truth and the human experience with the curiosity of a cat for deeper meanings and delightful reads she shares on her web-site everyday. As Nina's calendar of days and books grow you will start cheering her on as you see her love of literature slowly change her unadulterated sadness, as a caterpillar to butterfly, her days of oneness become numbered and her love and belief in the human experience voiced through the written word brings forth a true and lasting imprint on us all. This book is one you will hold close. It is an encyclopedia of beautiful novels Nina reviewed that you will want to go back to again and again. It is a true story of a free-spirited woman that wasn't afraid to find her own voice and with a scent of rosemary show how love will always survive. Lovely, sincere and true, enjoy this feast with Nina of good reads and turning your own page on the excitement of the written word.
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I recommended it to my book discussion group and the 365 book list at the end of the book lead to many more books to read
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I had the privilege of having a brief acquaintanceship with Nina in 2009, and I am surprised at how long it took me to pick up this book. But I am grateful I did. TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR is a wonderful and insightful look at the power of books. The author begins her one year journey to read one book a day as a way to cope with her sister's death, but discovers so much more than just a safe haven, and we get to discover that with her. Nina demonstrates several times books' amazing ability to evoke memories and take us back to important and meaningful times in our lives. Throughout the book I too was reminded of a place, a face, a name of something important to me. And, books provide us with a way to meet the future. They also connect us to each other by allowing us to see the world from another point of view, and hopefully gain empathy and respect for one another. I also appreciated that Nina's year of reading did not take place in a vacuum - she was and is a wife, mother of four, sister, daughter, friend and more. I enjoyed learning about her family and seeing how, no matter hectic life got, she still took time for herself. If nothing else, this book is a tribute to one women's quest to find and make time for something that brings her great pleasure, and how those around her helped her make it possible. I don't know which book I will read next, but I feel my reading experiences will be enriched by having read this book.
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Tolstoy And The Purple Chair - My Year Of Magical Reading By Nina Sankovitch was a quick read for me. I have to say I won this book from a place called Goodreads. I was so excited to find this in my mail box. I was hooked from the cover (that purple chair on it I want it). I have to tell you it was not what I expected when I read about the book from Goodreads. The author loses her sister at an early age to cancer that being said, if you have someone that is going through this, not the book for them. I currently have two family members going through different forms of cancer so it was truly hard at moments in the chapters to keep going but I am glad I did. This book is great for quotes. I loved so many of them and went crazy with the highlighter. Nina Sankovitch has a love for books that she shared with her sister. She uses them to help her with the grief from the death of her older sister Anne-Marie. She takes you through the process of how she started this goal, during the goal and lets you get to know not only her but all her family as well. I loved the person that Anne- Marie was and I was touched by her parent's story during the World War II. What I love is that she takes a subject for example love and she describes all the different ways of love she has found though her many characters that dance in and out her life as she reads their stories. She also goes into what books my spice up your love life (see chapter 14). Nina looks at her books as friends, a vacations and an escape. She learns quite a bit and she tells you the books and character that has graced her. She does not cover all of her reads she has a website with all the reviews but lists all 365 books by alphabetical order in the back. I mentioned quotes earlier in the review. There are so many that I can not pick a favorite one, maybe my top five favorites. I will leave with a quote that she wrote in her book by Elizabeth Maguire in her book The Open Door. "Have you ever been heartbroken to finish a book? Has a writer kept whispering in your ear long after the last page is turned? This book inspired me to go to the library and though caution to the wind and try new things. I have not enough time to read a book a day but I was inspired none the less. I give this book 4 stars. Go out and get it you will find so many book inspirations from it.
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Author Nina Sankovitch has done a marvelous job weaving the books of her year into the stories of her life, demonstrating to readers the power of words and the ability of books to help make people feel connected. Not a quick read, but not necessarily a slow read. Instead, reading "Tolstoy and the Purple Chair" plays out the way most conversations with women do, winding through all kinds of rabbit trails and full of glimpses of Nina's thoughts and personal life.
It has been interesting to see the connections Nina makes between books and between certain books and her life. The healing she receives while reading in her purple chair is encouraging. In an age of "rush, rush, rush" and books full of self-improvement, filled with advice on how to get more things done in a day, this book was a breath of fresh air, breathed slowly and completely as each book Nina read was treasured and valued.
Clearly, the nature of the book allowed for little plot or organization, which may not appeal to everyone, but the author certainly has a way of keeping the reader engaged. For lovers of books and fiction, this will be a fun read.
My blog: Growing Kids Ministry
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From books to blog and back again, Nina Sankovitch chronicles her ¿year of magical reading¿ in TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR. In describing it that way, Sankovitch intentionally references Joan Didion¿s THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING; this is a time of healing from loss, as she turns to books--reading one each day, every day for one year, and writing about it on her blog Read All Day--to help her make sense of life following the death of her beloved sister from an aggressive form of cancer.If you didn¿t know what was motivating Nina to undertake this project, it would be easy to envy this stay-at-home mother of four sons for having the luxury of spending the bulk of her days reading and blogging for an entire year. And once you DO know her motivation for it...well, it¿s still hard not to be just a LITTLE envious, but that¿s greatly tempered by compassion. This isn¿t a vacation--Nina is not taking a year off from her family or domestic responsibilities to bury herself in books. It¿s not a vague, idealistic quest for ¿self-improvement¿ either--this is FOCUSED, or as she describes it, ¿intense.¿ This is reading as therapy--and it seems to have been pretty effective therapy, at that.TOLSTOY... is an engaging and inspiring read. While it¿s a chronicle of an endeavor fueled by sad circumstances, it¿s also a record of accomplishment. Nina actually manages to read 365 books in one year, at the rate of one per day, and write about them all, but that¿s really all in service of a larger goal; books are her tools. At the end of that year, working with the tools she¿s chosen, she¿s gained insight and understanding about how to keep living and loving and moving forward. She discusses selected, personally significant books in some detail, but this isn¿t so much a ¿book about books¿ as it is a book about one particular thoughtful, articulate reader¿s personal journey through one transformative year, which has a narrative arc of its own.While not exactly a book about books, TOLSTOY AND THE PURPLE CHAIR IS a book about reading, and it¿s clearly a book FOR READERS. The idea of using books to help process a significant life event--not strictly looking for information, but seeking emotional truth in stories both real and fictional--makes perfect sense to a reader. It¿s something many of us probably have done, or would do under equally personally-challenging conditions, even if we couldn¿t devote a full year exclusively to it. However, as readers, we can appreciate that Nina Sankovitch did, and chose to share her story; it¿s evidence of the life-changing power of books...literally.
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Although the reason for this book is far from joyous, the death of her sister at the age of 46, this book is a celebration of reading, memories and understanding. After her sister's death, the author is running around taking care of her four children, her husband and her house, trying to figure out what to do with her grief and how to go on without the presence of her sister. They had always hared their lobe of books, her sister loved mysteries, in fact books and reading were always a big part of her family's lives. She rakes on a quest to read a book a day for a year, hoping to learn from books how to find joy again. Reading the books she comes to remember what books provide in the way of comfort and friendship, connection and understanding. Loved this book and reading her opinions of the books she read. She touched on her parent's lives in Belgium and Poland, the horror her dad encountered losing his three siblings in one night. She includes a reading list at the back of the book, some of these I have read, some I want to read and some I probably never will but I loved seeing what she was reading.
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The title of this book was enough to pull me towards it and I loved reading. For the first few months I read it at odd and I frequent moments at bus stops, so I don't have a coherent view of it. But it's the kind of book that forgives a piecemeal approach.I didn't really identify with the author or her choice of books, but I did identify strongly with her desire to live in and be enriched by the books she encountered. Her view of the world subtly shifted to accommodate the life she absorbed from each book and that is very much how it is. I also recognized the desire to draw and share wisdom and learned that we can only share ourselves. There is no universal wisdom although it may feel like it. But words have a way of creating our thinking and taking us to places that the author may nev have imagined. Once the words leave us they cease to belong to us and become the property of whoever chooses to pick them up. And they will change according to the reader. It was fun to remind myself of the ways in which we are connected and disconnected through a shared point of reference.
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The author of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair decides to embark on a year of reading one book per day as a way to cope with and come to terms with her sister's early death from cancer. This book is the fruit of her labors and it contains discussions of the books she read, the lessons she learned, her family history, etc. In my opinion, the book shines the most when talking about her family history, especially stories of her immigrant parents and their experiences in Europe during WWII as well as stories about her and her sisters growing up in the Midwest. When it comes to lessons learned, these were usually good but it began to feel redundant after a while ... there was a whole lot of `I¿m alive, my sister's dead, I have to deal with it, and books will help me do that¿ basically reiterated in different ways. Ironically, talking about books flat out (before tying them back to some personal story) was where I felt the author failed the most. She gave just enough details in her overviews of specific books as to be spoilers for books you haven't read but want to, but too little deep discussion to engage you when she outlined a book you already read. Her descriptions of books worked best when it was a book you hadn't already read and had no interest in reading because at least now you knew the basic plot if it came up in conversation. Overall, the book and the author's style are pleasant enough, but the book isn't gripping enough to make you feel like you can't put it down, and this feeling seems to increase the further along you get in the book. This was a very different experience for me as with most books the pace picks up near the end and you can't put the book down. I think it's because when you're heard for the umpteenth time the same revelation, you're kind of ready to move on to a new book.
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Nina's sister, Anne-Marie, died. How can Nina go on? She tries doing everything for everyone and exhausts herself. Nina decides to honor her sister by doing something both she and her sister loved to do; she decides to read and review a book a day for a year. Most of the reading takes place in an old purple chair. And the result is this little book, a nice account of Nina's year of reading and reflecting.
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This book was sadly disappointing. I was so excited to read it. I had been looking forward to it so much. The purple chair on the cover was calling to me. I loved the first half of the book. The author, Nina Sankovitch had decided on an unusual way of dealing with her grief for her sister. Her beloved sister died of cancer when she was only forty-six. Nina was always very close to her while growing up and one of the strongest ties between them was their of love of books. They shared, discussed and loved their books together. Even when her sister was in the hospital for the last time, Nina brought piles of books for her sister to read. Interspersed with her memories of her sister in the hospital were memories of growing with her sister and their love of books. Every once in a while the author would say something very meaningful and I wrote it down for later reflection. After her sister passed away, she made an agreement with her husband to spend one whole year to read a book a day, with a review following the next day. She would not concentrate on earning money, she would still take care their children and do household chores. Part of me felt very jealous that she was able to do this, take off such a long time for reading through her grief. I had go through grief so many times with my brother, my mother and my father but I always had to go back to work. Another part of me understood why. Reading moves you away from your grief and gives you some relief. It lets you travel through time and to different places to ease the depths of sorrow. My biggest problem with this short book is that it went on too long. It felt like an over painted picture. I would have given it five stars if she had cut it short. I kept reading it but I began to long for a book with a plot and some of the things that she said were things that I had already learned long ago with my many experiences with grief. This a strange recommendation, I know but I suggest reading the first half of the book only. That would be enough to learn what she had learned about grief and to learn the tragedies of her family. I received this book as a part of the Amazon Vine Program but that in no way influenced my review.
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When Nina Sankovitch loses her older sister to cancer, she decides to throw herself into life, resolving to be there for her kids, husband, parents, and anyone else who may need her. But she soon learns that she can't outrun her grief and decides to try a new plan. She will read a book each day for a year, and she will write about what she reads. Books are one thing that she shared with her sister, and she hopes that she will find wisdom and solace between their covers.This book isn't a day-by-day account of Nina's reading. Instead, she describes the insights that she drew from her year of reading, telling us how the books that she read and the life that she has led came together to help her figure out how to get back to living. She reflects on the importance of memories ("It is a gift we humans have, to hold on to beauty felt in a moment for a lifetime.") and the role of kindness. She is preoccupied by grief, but also by joy. But most of all, she articulates why she reads:¿Because being witness to all types of human experience is important to understanding the world, but also to understanding myself. To define what is important to me, and who is important, and why.¿ This book is uneven in places - some parts resonated with me more than others. But on the whole, Sankovitch has written a book that not only tells her story, but also helped me better understand myself. She made me reflect on why I read and why writing about the books that I read, here in this modest thread, greatly adds to the pleasure of reading good books.
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Tolstoy And The Purple Chair - My Year Of Magical Reading By Nina Sankovitch was a quick read for me. I have to say I won this book from a place called Goodreads. I was so excited to find this in my mail box. I was hooked from the cover (that purple chair on it I want it). I have to tell you it was not what I expected when I read about the book from Goodreads. The author loses her sister at an early age to cancer that being said, if you have someone that is going through this, not the book for them. I currently have two family members going through different forms of cancer so it was truly hard at moments in the chapters to keep going but I am glad I did. This book is great for quotes. I loved so many of them and went crazy with the highlighter. Nina Sankovitch has a love for books that she shared with her sister. She uses them to help her with the grief from the death of her older sister Anne-Marie. She takes you through the process of how she started this goal, during the goal and lets you get to know not only her but all her family as well. I loved the person that Anne- Marie was and I was touched by her parent¿s story during the World War II. What I love is that she takes a subject for example love and she describes all the different ways of love she has found though her many characters that dance in and out her life as she reads their stories. She also goes into what books my spice up your love life (see chapter 14). Nina looks at her books as friends, a vacations and an escape. She learns quite a bit and she tells you the books and character that has graced her. She does not cover all of her reads she has a website with all the reviews but lists all 365 books by alphabetical order in the back. I mentioned quotes earlier in the review. There are so many that I can not pick a favorite one, maybe my top five favorites. I will leave with a quote that she wrote in her book by Elizabeth Maguire in her book The Open Door. ¿Have you ever been heartbroken to finish a book? Has a writer kept whispering in your ear long after the last page is turned? This book inspired me to go to the library and though caution to the wind and try new things. I have not enough time to read a book a day but I was inspired none the less. I give this book 4 stars. Go out and get it you will find so many book inspirations from it.
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Reading as therapy--I'm sure we all can relate. The chance not only to escape our worries, but be lifted by beautiful art and by the reflections of ourselves and our connectedness to the page. While grieving the death of her sister, Nina Sankovitch, a part-time book blogger, decides that she needs to take a year off work and just read. A book a day is her goal. And through the power of literature, she hopes to slow down and reconnect with herself, with her memories, and with her lost happiness. I wish she'd written a little less about these feelings and written a bit more about the specific titles she chose (I did like her taste), but I did find Tolstoy and the Purple Chair to be a lovely book overall. For how could I, someone who craves that uninterrupted hour of reading, not smile and totally relate to her drive?
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Three years after the death of her sister, Nina Sankovich takes on the project of reading and reviewing a book a day for a year. She felt the need to slow down from the hectic life she had been trying to life for herself and for her sister. While she had specific goals for her project, Sankovitch found so much more in her connection with books and sharing them with others.Having lost my own sister to complications of cancer when she was only 16, I was afraid Tolstoy and the Purple Chair would be difficult for me to read. In some ways it was as it brought back the memories of emotions felt so strongly 14 years ago but at the same time Nina Sankovitch provided comfort by expressing so many of my own thoughts. She gave voice to some of the questions and ideas that I could never find the words to convey.Reading a book a day and then reviewing it for a year is a very ambitious project. Although I am an avid reader, I would be unable to stick to that kind of schedule. The list of books that she read is impressive but more compelling are the stories that the books bring out of Sankovitch and others she connects with on her reading journey. The characters and places she visits in the books remind her of the universal qualities of human life - the joys, sorrows, fears, worries, kindness, and beauty. Through books, she connects on a different level to family and friends and other book lovers she will never meet in person. While she never stops grieving her sister's death and the life that her sister will never complete, she comes to a realization that she carries her sister with her as she moves forward with her own life.Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is not a book to be rushed through but one to be savored. Sankovich has chosen her words carefully and expresses her thoughts precisely. She reads deeply, immersed in worlds not her own, but returns each day to share the ideals found in books with those around her. Her family stories and her thoughts and emotions tied to those stories work very well with the actual discussion of the books she read. It is only in combining the two elements (books & personal stories) that Tolstoy and the Purple Chair works on such an emotional level. After all who would want to read a book comprised solely of books reviews?
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This is one of my favorite books. Great story line and I wasnt very pleasantly suprised that its true; I didnt pick up on that when I bought it. Awesome for book lovers or anyone questioning their purpose after losing someone. Definitely recommend!
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Delightful book for book-lovers.
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Great story line.
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