Shelfology Book Pairing

by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina (Russian: «Анна Каренина»; Russian pronunciation: ) is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with editor Mikhail Katkov over political issues that arose in the final installment (Tolstoy's unpopular views of volunteers going to Serbia); therefore, the novel's first complete appearance was in book form in 1878. Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, when he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. Fyodor Dostoyevsky declared it to be "flawless as a work of art". His opinion was shared by Vladimir Nabokov, who especially admired "the flawless magic of Tolstoy's style", and by William Faulkner, who described the novel as "the best ever written". The novel is currently enjoying popularity, as demonstrated by a recent poll of 125 contemporary authors by J. Peder Zane, published in 2007 in "The Top Ten" in Time, which declared that Anna Karenina is the "greatest novel ever written"

A Franz Kafka Tale of Transmutation.

by Franz Kafka

Gregor Samsa, a sales representative, awakens in his bed to end up changed into an enormous insect. He checks out his room, which seems typical, and chooses to return to fall back to sleep and disregard what has occurred. He endeavors to turn over while sleeping, just to find that he can't anymore because of his new body-he is stuck on his hard, arched convex back. He attempts to scratch a tingle on his stomach, yet when he contacts himself with one of his numerous new legs, which is sickening for him. His disgust reminds him of his job, his life, and the responsibilities he has on the shoulders of his parents and his sister. Gregor tries to get out of the bed but finds it difficult to do so because of his new metamorphosis. His new look scares everyone in the family and his life turns upside down with it. Losing his job, all he could do was to stay in the room, climb the walls and ceiling and watch his family being distressed about no income.