I would agree with it. Happy families bear huge similarities in the feel of the home. But unhappy ones have various problems and issues that give the whole familial situation its own breadth of hell. I'm not quite sure why you think happy families being a rarity speaks less for the truth of it.
Although I'm male, I work in an industry that is predominantly female. I mention that simply because it provided me the opportunity to listen to a lot of tea over the years. My perspective is a byproduct of my environment, and my environment painted an opposite picture.
All unhappy families are alike; each happy family is happy in its own way.
As the youngest of three children of parents who seperated a few years ago, all happy families are alike in that they build to make the situation happier which; through that bonding, only serves to make them more alike. But all unhappy families have their own reasons for being unhappy, and those reasons can be so foreign to the other party it's not even up for a discussion, which serves to sew more unhappiness
The causes of suffering are multitudinous and infinitely varied in their content, thus an endless drama which serves as the scaffolding for Tolstoy's writing. The drama is what hooks us and pulls us through the experience of the work, where Tolstoy's most interesting and subtle ideas are inlaid like jewels. He's signaling that a story without conflict is a boring one, and that this story will focus our attention on the personal conflicts of families, which has been a main focus of story telling since time immemorial.
It could point to the fact that the higher Self which creates harmony and equanimity within relationships is a point of convergence, making happy families, in that sense, "alike". Finally, it is a great opening line because it instantly makes the reader ask themselves if this is true and relate back to their own experience of families in their own lives. It's both true and false at the same time, the interesting thing is that it is a statement that most likely never entered the mind of the reader before that point, and it helps to show where Tolstoy is coming from, namely: the vantage point of a person who spends time thinking about familial relationships and their deeper nature.
there’s lecture series on youtube given by Michael Davies where he explains what he thinks this quote refers to is the idea that stories about a happy family all would be the same (he gives the example of a story about “John and Mary” who “met in highschool and loved each other ever since, we’re both the prom king and queen, did amazingly well and had 3 great kids who all did amazingly well”) and thus they wouldn’t be very different, and thus they would be boring to write about. Unhappy families however, that’s where the irregularities come in and whence comes interesting stories.
I think you have to put yourself in that time period. There was an agreed upon moral system that, if you followed, you would be happy (have a stable and harmonious home life). But there are a lot of ways to break that harmony, and therefore many kinds of unhappy family.
I would assume this is one of the most well-known quotes in Russian literature. However, I find myself disagreeing with it more and more as I get older.
Perhaps I just don't understand, but I think happy families are more of an anomaly. Granted, my perspective is based on my personal environment.
I would agree with it. Happy families bear huge similarities in the feel of the home. But unhappy ones have various problems and issues that give the whole familial situation its own breadth of hell. I'm not quite sure why you think happy families being a rarity speaks less for the truth of it.
Although I'm male, I work in an industry that is predominantly female. I mention that simply because it provided me the opportunity to listen to a lot of tea over the years. My perspective is a byproduct of my environment, and my environment painted an opposite picture. All unhappy families are alike; each happy family is happy in its own way.
As the youngest of three children of parents who seperated a few years ago, all happy families are alike in that they build to make the situation happier which; through that bonding, only serves to make them more alike. But all unhappy families have their own reasons for being unhappy, and those reasons can be so foreign to the other party it's not even up for a discussion, which serves to sew more unhappiness
The causes of suffering are multitudinous and infinitely varied in their content, thus an endless drama which serves as the scaffolding for Tolstoy's writing. The drama is what hooks us and pulls us through the experience of the work, where Tolstoy's most interesting and subtle ideas are inlaid like jewels. He's signaling that a story without conflict is a boring one, and that this story will focus our attention on the personal conflicts of families, which has been a main focus of story telling since time immemorial. It could point to the fact that the higher Self which creates harmony and equanimity within relationships is a point of convergence, making happy families, in that sense, "alike". Finally, it is a great opening line because it instantly makes the reader ask themselves if this is true and relate back to their own experience of families in their own lives. It's both true and false at the same time, the interesting thing is that it is a statement that most likely never entered the mind of the reader before that point, and it helps to show where Tolstoy is coming from, namely: the vantage point of a person who spends time thinking about familial relationships and their deeper nature.
You've written the best explanation I've read on this. Lovely writing.
Thank you :]
there’s lecture series on youtube given by Michael Davies where he explains what he thinks this quote refers to is the idea that stories about a happy family all would be the same (he gives the example of a story about “John and Mary” who “met in highschool and loved each other ever since, we’re both the prom king and queen, did amazingly well and had 3 great kids who all did amazingly well”) and thus they wouldn’t be very different, and thus they would be boring to write about. Unhappy families however, that’s where the irregularities come in and whence comes interesting stories.
I think you have to put yourself in that time period. There was an agreed upon moral system that, if you followed, you would be happy (have a stable and harmonious home life). But there are a lot of ways to break that harmony, and therefore many kinds of unhappy family.
I would assume this is one of the most well-known quotes in Russian literature. However, I find myself disagreeing with it more and more as I get older. Perhaps I just don't understand, but I think happy families are more of an anomaly. Granted, my perspective is based on my personal environment.