Barbara's Random Thoughts

I can't believe I'm blogging about Oprah's Book Club. Apparently Anna Karenina is the latest pick. I must say I'm pleased to see she's selected the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. When I studied Tolstoy at Chapman, this was the translation we used. My professor said it was the first time he'd taught Anna Karenina--he'd been reluctant to do so because he hadn't found a decent translation until this one was released. Of course, the skeptic in me wonders whether Oprah's Book Club selected this translation simply because it's the most recent.

Here's what makes me laugh, though. The cover of the book--thanks to Oprah's nice thick self-promoting book club wrap--looks to me like it's been censored. When I was reading this particular translation of Anna for my Tolstoy class (before Oprah slapped her logo on it), people were always commenting on the cover. It's actually a woman's bare knees, but at first glance, it appears to be either breasts or buttocks. This confusion in the image is no doubt intentional. But the placement of this new purple wrap promoting the book club is just so handy. Covers that flesh right up so no-one has to give it a second glance. Way to go, Oprah's Book Club.

If you check out Oprah's site, you can see the "uncensored" version of the cover image.