I have a ritual with my books – first, to come into possession of book (through some generous source as I rarely buy books), read/inhale/digest the book, write a deeply personal blog post on book, keep book on shelf (if I loved it)/donate book to library (if I didn’t love it)/give book away to anyone who would take it (if one of “those books”)! The ritual, however, was more of a love affair with my Anna Karenina gem of a volume. I bought it well over a year ago on a whim and promptly nursed it on a shelf for months. I did not dare open it for fear of not fully appreciating a masterpiece by the Russian novelist Tolstoy until one day in January, I mustered enough courage to read this opening line.
“All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
It took me one instant to fall in love with Tolstoy and one day to fall in love with Anna K.
Knowing that I had struck a gold mine, I packed her up and took her to Hawaii with me where we were inseparable in paradise; Tolstoy had opened a new world for me. I distinctly remember staring at the pacific ocean one day, feeling robbed for not knowing about such brilliant gems in literature earlier in my life. How can this caliber of writing ever be forgotten and left to collect dust at libraries? How can this novel not be a best seller every day of every year?
Weeks later, I had finished the book, marked 170 favorite passages, written the blog post, and yet could not put her back on the shelf. I needed to do more before a momentary closure with my Tolstoy. I needed to revive the treasures in classic literature.
A podcast reading a fraction of my favorite passages for my readers. That is what I shall do!
That was in April. Sometimes ideas take time to come to life. Today I feel momentarily caught up!
My gift for you today: First Podcast at Prolific Living
Podcast Length: 14min45sec.
If you are on a mobile device, click here to listen.
A Request for your Impressions of the Audio Podcast:
The first Audio Podcast is an exciting milestone and still far from smooth sailing (just ask my new best friend, Garageband!) No matter, my cycling teacher says “You gotta start somewhere” and here we are! I am very much looking for your reactions and your impressions. Anything Goes: What you liked, what you wished I had done differently, and what you think of the idea of a monthly or bi-monthly podcast here at Prolific Living? Thank you!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
You may also like:
How I Applied What I Learned from 31DBBB to Prolific Living:
31DBBB (31 Days to Bigger Better Blog) gives you a brilliant foundation. It
builds your blogging knowledge one essential brick at a time. I have
used all the advice from 31DBBB and haven't a doubt that it has seriously
helped the growth of Prolific Living.
{ 42 brilliant comments, Care to add another? }
Dear Self, the first feedback is to equalize your voice throughout and work on smoothing out the transitions.
Me: Yes I know, I know a thousand times better now!! The first one is the hardest and takes longest to produce and in most need of improvement. Just you wait til the second podcast!
Hi Farnoosh.
While listening here, all I could think of was that you should equalize your voice throughout and work on smoothing out the transitions.
I continue to like that you promote real reading. Real reading ups every quality about us that is long-term. It takes thought to maintain a visual of the characters while traveling through the pages.
That is a funny part about how he says that marriage is the way to prevent the stumbling block of trying to do something and be with a woman. I hadn’t heard marriage described in that way before.
Good enunciation by the way.
Armen, consider done! I know and need to find out how to equalize it during recording! Part 2 will sound like a pro radio show. I promise.
… Just kidding, really any classic will do.
!
Thanks for listening – I am so psyched to be doing the podcasts.
Yes, we have talked about reading before – When are you picking up a Tolstoy?
Glad you liked the enunciation – and thank you for the honest feedback. Something to work on. My own self agrees with you as you see right above
Farnoosh,
I think you’ve taken your work to another level! Don’t be too harsh on yourself. (Noticing your “Dear Self”)
It’s great to actually hear you speak because you’re just as much a joy to hear as your work is to read.
You’re right on track as far as I’m concerned and I know you’ll get much more concise with your transitions and efforts in podcasting.
Great work! (And yes now I feel the urge to read a “timeless classic”
Hi Tony, thank you for listening to the first rough draft …..I know you love Garageband but it takes time to master it, I tell you!
!
I will work on all the transitions and the pace too – Raam gave me some great advice on slowing down the pace, which I cannot agree with more.
Not any classic – I want you to read a Tolstoy
Thanks so much for supporting this new effort here. Now it’s your turn for an audio podcast!
Farnoosh,
I have not heard the whole audio yet but what I have heard is not bad at all, do not be too harsh on yourself, you did great!
There are many great Russian Authors and books are out there, many are so complex, tragic, but yet filled out human emotions. I feel so sad for Anna’s as she has a lot to lose in here, her son, daughter, husband and lover and friends. I have read it while ago. I also like Nikolai Gogol, he is also great! Have you heard of him?
I am bookworm so I know lot of classics and other fictional book. Maybe I should write about it, you inspired me again!
Thank you Preeti….I am learning to go easy on myself. I may figure it out before I turn 90! Until then, I’ll rely on feedback from my readers
!
Oh I know it’s from the heart of one book lover to another – I have *not* heard of many Russian authors as you may have noticed my ignorance even about Tolstoy til recently – thank you for the suggestions and yes yes, do write about your thoughts on your favorite classics. You can be sure to find a reader in me.
Farnoosh,
It is interesting that I got to know about Gogol and other writers by reading books. I read Namesake by Jhumpa and she mentioned “overcoat” by Gogol and I had to find a English copy right away to read it.
I still read a few books in a month, it keeps life interesting. I am finding out there are quite a few of us who are book readers, which is great to know.
Farnoosh,
So…I have just listened to your lovely voice (and…it’s wonderful to put a voice with this amazing person I’ve come to know through her writing!) and wonderful to hear!
You did GREAT!!
I struggle with this whole concept of length when it comes to podcasts. Is 15 minutes too long? Will people listen for that length of time? On the other hand – is a couple of minutes too short – will anything meaningful really be conveyed? Maybe it’s a mix…some shorter, some longer?
I liked how you transitioned between segments you read – giving a bit of a lead-in to it. Nicely done!
And…again…so awesome to hear your voice!
Hi Lance, thank you – I really love how you boost me up no matter what! You see the “gold” in all the “sand” indeed……Thank you so much!
Perfect Length: I don’t know – I know that under 10 minutes has been said to be ideal but if you are talking podcasting, it also depends on frequency! I listen to weekly podcasts that are 25min long and some podcasts come out daily in 5-minute chunks. To me, it depends a great deal on content – some messages are short, others take time…..And perhaps, after a while, it depends on what the listeners like……Lots to think about. Thank you for the encouragement!
Sounds good to me, Farnoosh! In fact, it was more than I expected with your nice music transitions. To think this is the first and it will only get better.
I just love your passion for Tolstoy. We can hear the true, authentic joy in your voice as you read — no technical advice is a match for you genuineness.
Hi Rob, thank you for the support. Do you mean it? I like the music jingles I picked but my timing needs some work. Oh Tolstoy is unmatched. Thank you for boosting my confidence. You know what that means, more podcasts soon
!
Farni, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your Anna K podcast. You make a point at the very beginning about reading more than just articles and magazines. I am always arguing this point with people who say “I read!” and they mean the latest paperback or some magazine. The classics are classics for a reason, they challenge us, they touch us, their themes are universal, both broad and personal and stand up for every generation. You inspire me, dear heart.
Thank you Manly – and I will respond to that high school nickname only this one time. I am so happy we share the hopeless love of the classics and that both of us are advocating this pure timeless pleasure to others. Thank you for the big smile, especially since you overlooked all the technical stuff that I’ll smooth out on next podcast, promise!
Hey Farnoosh, I have never read this book by Tolstoy, but from the passages you read in them and themes you shared in the book, it was just very empowering to listen to. One of my favorite lines on how you described the author was, “He can paint the human spirit in as many colors as a canvas can behold.” Beautiful and I’ll have to check out this book in the future. Thanks and congratulations with your first podcast (I enjoyed the music that you put in at the beginning and end)!
Thank you Hulbert. You will have time to read Tolstoy I am sure…..And that quote was all me
! Do remember Anna K. for a vacation reading sometime – although at 1200 or so pages, it may go well beyond vacation. Glad you liked the jingle and expect a lot more podcasts in the future. Thanks for your support!
Hi Farnoosh, I was so caught up in your voice and inflection. I must admit, being able to just listen to you talk was more meaningful to me than the content. I am very audio oriented. I identify voices easier than faces and will often recognize someone from hearing them when I didn’t from seeing them. So, for me Farnoosh, hearing your voice fills a very important aspect of knowing you as a person. Thank you for doing this.
Jonathan, my dear friend, thank you for looking past the technical issues which have nearly driven me (yes the calm and balanced me!) nearly insane but I shall master them next time. So you are a voice pro then? I know your voice from your videos but I must say, podcasting would be a brilliant pursuit for you – you have a very soothing voice. Thank you for supporting me and as I told Hulbert, expect a lot more podcasts in this space!
Hey Farnoosh,
I really liked Anna K, but it didn’t leave as much of an impact on me as some other books – notably, Les Miserables and The Brothers Karamazov. Maybe I’m just not a huge Tolstoy fan; I wasn’t a great fan of War and Peace either.
I’m glad you’re keeping the literary spirit alive, Farnoosh!
Keep in touch!
Hi Brett, Les Miserables is wonderful too – we have talked about that – I must read it again I think – The Brothers Karamazov, still on my list. And War & Peace is my winter reading. As long as we keep the literary spirit alive, I promise not to force you to read Tolstoy! Thanks for dropping in!
Farnoosh. Lovely to hear your voice again. I am heading to the library to make this my summer reading. Thank you so much for your warm and loving introduction to this great literary work.
Katie, you don’t know how happy this makes me feel – to have such an impact – and you know that I will want to hear your thoughts about it in detail. Maybe there will be a way to bring Tolstoy to Momentum Gathering even. Anything is possible, right? Thank you for listening!
Hey Farnoosh,
I went on a classics reading binge beginning 12 years ago. Really enjoy the Russian authors. They drag you through all the emotions. It can take awhile to get through one of their books. Loved Anna Karenina. So many tragic characters with flaws and feelings and fantasies. Things we do today without much thought were frowned upon back then with often grave consequences.
In the same vein, yet not Russian, I adored Lady Chatterley’s Lover and The Awakening.
Enjoy your reading! Giulietta
Hi Giulietta,
You are so ahead of me. Mine only started about 3 years ago so I’ll never catch up for sure! I love getting new recommendations, Russian or not, so thank you very much. The differences in culture are jaw-dropping but in both good and not-so-great ways have we changed, don’t you think?…..Thank you for your comment and your thoughts.
Farnoosh,
I enjoyed hearing your voice again – since Hulbert’s interview of you.
I must confess I haven’t attempted Tolstoy…although I love to read.
I thought you did an excellent job! I liked the musical introduction and the musical transitions to the different passages. I was thinking to myself how talented you are both as a writer, a speaker and with technology to be able to create such a professional sounding audio!
Angela, thank you – I am so happy you enjoyed it – your interview with Hulbert was what brought me to your blog and your world (Ah intuition!
) – Thank you so much for such a grand compliment and I will work hard to live up to your words. More podcasts where that came from forthcoming. I will clean things up but I plan to keep the jingle (song/musical intro and exit). Glad you liked the choice!
Hi My Sweet Farnoosh,
You must tell me how you did it…cause I am planning to add audio podcast to my blog too.
….and she says “I like aunty, I like this story” 
Ohh you sound so soothing! Soothing to my heart…and my mind. And the transition between all the segments..very professional
And I loved the intro..what you said before you started reading the content….
Your voice…my God youre blessed! If i may make a suggestion….I want you to read and make podcasts of children books. You know you have a voice that so beautifully appeals to the inner child in me.so expressive…..and my 3 year old is at this very moment trying to speak exactly like you…as she listen to this podcast with me
Lots of love and hugs to you,
Z~
Zeenat, you had your little girl listen to me reading Tolstoy? Now that gives everything a whole new perspective. I just recently read Alice in Wonderland as you may know and I loved it. I wonder how I would sound reading it aloud. You give me great ideas. I am so happy you enjoyed the podcast and it will only get more professional as I practice more. Your request is well noted and I will see what I can do about that. I may need a larger children’s audience first though
! Thank you so much for your support and it’s wonderful to have you back, Zeenat!
Farnoosh! I emailed you feedback, but I forgot to post a comment here!
As you know, I loved this and I think it’s awesome that you’re encouraging reading — I certainly don’t do enough (paper-book reading that is)!
You have a beautiful voice and listening to you read is very enjoyable!
Here are my three feedback points again from the email:
* Slow down the transitions
* Take the talking speed down a notch to help give the listener time to digest the passage
* And, as others have mentioned, improve equalization between sections
Otherwise, it’s beautiful! I think a monthly or bi-monthly podcast would be great.
Hi Raam, you did and I noted everything and responded to you in gratitude. Of course commenting here is highly encouraged….(just kidding!
)….You do a lot of spiritual reading from what I recall which is another genre I like to get into someday. Thank you so much for the kind words and especially for all the feedback that I will take into the next podcast. Sweet!
You have a lovely reading voice Farnoosh, I could listen to you all day! I guess you have learnt so much from doing your first podcast and you are very brave trying out a new medium for your blog. Can’t wait for your video!
Hi Ian, I am so glad you liked it. Yes, the learning was immense and yes, brave is one way to put it
! There shall be more podcasts and videos – and I am very happy you enjoyed it, thank you for letting me know!
Great idea and an inspiration to us! We’ve enjoyed your great writing and are very pleased to have heard you now!
Thank you – I am so glad you enjoyed it – there shall be more…..!
Farnoosh – how amazing to hear your voice!
I listened to it with my eyes closed – it was wonderful. I tried reading this in the past and gave up but I think like Katie this could be my summer reading too.
Thank you for giving me a new awareness.
Marion, too kind, too sweet, and it makes me very happy. I can understand giving up on long thick literary books but sometimes, it’s our rushed lifestyle that doesn’t suit the book rather than the quality of the book – I do hope you and Katie both get to know and love Anna K and Tolstoy the way I did. You are very kind to be here to share your thoughts! Let me know when you start reading it.
Hi Farnoosh,
You have a beautiful voice! I’m going to sound like such a nasally Australian alongside you
I like the choice of music (I’ve heard it a couple of times before on podcasts like Action Podcast).
I agree with a couple of the other people above who’ve suggested that perhaps you should speak a little slower, and smooth the transitions. I would be tempted not to have so many transitions – but take this with a grain of salt as it’s your podcast and you should own it! Your enunciation is delicious – don’t ever lose this. The equalization didn’t worry me at all.
What did come across was your passion for Anna Karenina and the relevance of it for the contemporary world. Both the points you made and the quotes you used worked well (for me).
I’ve bought the book, because you’ve inspired me, and I’ll be starting it soon. The more I read about Anna Karenina in preparation for my own reading of the book, the more I am getting excited about reading it.
Hi Amanda,
I am looking forward to our interview tonight on the classics! And if you only knew how I feel about the Aussies, you’d know that you cannot do any wrong. The jingles are right out of Garageband and I do think – if I may say so – that one is the best one! All the advice taken into consideration fully – you shall see the improvement on the next podcast, thank you. And I am thrilled to have a third reader after professing my love of Tolstoy over and over – you won’t regret it, and I am very excited for what awaits you with Anna K. Talk soon! Thanks for the thorough comment and of course, for listening to the podcast!
Ha, and now I hear the first podcast, having already heard the second. To be honest, I’m not super sensitive when it comes to audio/sound so I have no idea what people mean by equalising your voice? It sounded lovely to me. I don’t think you need to speak more slowly (but perhaps that’s because I’m a pretty fast speaker!) and I agree that your enunciation is just beautiful. We can feel the love and passion for what you are doing in every breath. Keep it up.
On length, I guess it’s a bit like our written posts. I tend to think the shorter you can keep it while being meaningful the better. Everyone’s lives are so, so busy that length is a factor. If I am faced with choices that I believe are basically equal in quality then I will often go with the one that is shorter/smaller in quantity. It’s a time management thing!! Consequently, while I loved what you had to say about AK I enjoyed Podcast 2 more. In quality of content it was the same but I would, in my everyday life think, “oh, I can fit in 7-8 mins now” but 15 mins might not be so easy. (Note though, that this is from someone who does not go around with her iPod in her ears as a matter of course – so I may be a bit different regarding how much time I give to listening in the first place. In fact I NEVER have my iPod in my ears. I only listen to it through a speaker set at home or through the car system).
Did all that make sense? I did listen to this on my computer. All that iPod talk was just to say that for me listening time is at a premium because I don’t fill up my day with it and so shorter (but meaningful) is nice!
My dear Sue, how did I ever miss out on responding to your lovely comments here? Forgive me! Of course it all made sense and good for you to not have those iPods in your ears all the time – I don’t either….
Thank you for your suggestion on length – and as you see, I came to the same conclusion with the second podcast and will aim to 6-8 minute length from now on. Thank you for the encouragement and all the kindness and I hope that the podcasts continue to inspire you! Thanks so much for taking time to comment here!
Thanks Farnoosh … glad you understood my point (and thanks for the heads up re your reply. Never fear though that I would take offence at a non or later reply. Life is busy. You are allowed to take some comments on board and not reply every time!)
{ 6 brilliant comments, Care to add another? }