Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

And I doubt there was much option to back out of what seemed to society to be an advantageous match for the woman once betrothed so revealing his history of sleeping around and STD's just before the wedding wasn't much of a self sacrifice.

Viv Groskop says in The Anna Karenina Fix that this diary incident was taken from life - Tolstoy had given his own wife his diary to read before their wedding, detailing his history of sex with prostitutes, his staff and serfs, and the VD that resulted. She wrote in her own diary decades later that she never got over it. Tolstoy is hard to like sometimes isn’t he?

30/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 16

•	Princess Shcherbatsky begins voicing all the pragmatic questions of the logistics of Kitty and Levin's wedding (i.e., when should they get married, etc.), which seems somehow out of keeping with the ecstasy Levin's been feeling.

•	Levin thinks the betrothal should be today and the wedding tomorrow, but that's out of the question for the Princess Shcherbatsky.

•	Everyone begins preparing for the wedding.

•	Levin has decided that before marrying Kitty, he must tell her two vital things. After asking her father's permission, he gives Kitty a diary with his confessions: one, he is not a virgin, and two, he is not a believer.

•	Kitty isn't so bothered about Levin lacking faith, but she really doesn't like the fact he's been intimate with other women. Still, she forgives him. Levin feels even more unworthy of her love now.

I am enjoying reading this in short parts and thank you for the summaries. If anyone's interested there's a 3 part (?) serialisation starting Radio 4 today at 3pm.

Yes his high as a kite demeanour was brilliantly captured, along with his overflow of love and kindness for his fellow man, whatever their station. Rose tinted specs or what?! I'm happy for him and Kitty...but anxious about the inevitable descent from his loved up mania and what that will mean for her.

And I can't believe we're half way through, I'm really enjoying this readalong-a-karenina. Thanks to @DesdamonasHandkerchief for the chapter summaries, their really helpful to mark the place and muse over.

I thought that Levin’s state of mind that night before he went to Kitty, when he just couldn’t settle to anything and was on top of the world, was brilliantly conveyed.

29/04/23
Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 15

•	It's ridiculously early in the day. The streets are still empty.

•	Levin feels ecstatic.

•	Finally, he's let into the Shcherbatsky house.

•	Kitty runs up to him and they kiss.

•	They tell each other how happy they are and how much they love each other .

•	They go to see Kitty's mother.

•	The Princess runs up to Levin and kisses him. She's so glad that Kitty is finally getting married, and is relieved that she can finally get her mind off the subject.

•	The Prince tells Levin that this is what he has wanted for a long time.

•	Levin feels affection for the Prince when he sees what a special place he holds in Kitty's heart.

Awww... Levin's all loved up!

28/04/23
Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 14

•	Levin is so deliriously happy that he doesn't feel like he should be alone for the next fourteen hours.

•	He winds up going to a Council meeting with Koznyshev.

•	Levin finds everything magnificent and believes that everyone is being especially nice to him tonight.

•	After the Council meeting, Sviyazhsky invites Levin home for tea. Levin thinks this is splendid and proceeds to talk everyone's ear off until they're more than sick of his company.

•	Levin is so excited that he has the hall attendant at the hotel tell him his life's story. They talk about love and marriage until the servant is called away.

•	Levin can't sleep but instead looks out the window, feeling perfectly in harmony with the entire world. At six in the morning he gets ready for the day and goes outside.

Amazing communication skills 😅
Very sweet, though.

27/04/23
Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 13

After sitting in on a heated argument between Pestsov and Koznyshev, Levin chats with Kitty. Their communication is clear and almost wordless.

•	The two of them go over to a card table. Kitty draws on the table with chalk.

•	Kitty and Levin continue the conversation about women's rights, and without even finishing her sentence, Kitty convinces Levin of Pestsov's point of view regarding women working.

•	Kitty gets up to leave.

•	Levin asks her not to go, saying that he's been meaning to ask her something.

•	On the table, he writes a series of letters in chalk. He's sure that she won't be able to decipher what it means, but Kitty is so in touch with Levin that she realizes it stands for: "When you answered me: "that cannot be," did it mean never or then?"

&bull;	Levin and Kitty are so attuned to each other that they can keep their conversation to these chalk initials and significant glances. They know instantly what the other person is trying to say. In response to Levin&#039;s initials, Kitty writes <span class="italic">t, i, c, g, n, o, a</span>. Levin looks at this a long time and then realizes it stands for: &quot;Then I could give no other answer.&quot;

&bull;	With just a look, Levin asks, &quot;Only then?&quot; and Kitty answers, &quot;Yes.&quot;

&bull;	Levin asks aloud, &quot;And n... now?&quot; And Kitty replies with the initial letters: <span class="italic">t, y, c, f, a, f, w, h</span>. &quot;That you could forgive and forget what happened.&quot; Levin replies with initials that mean, &quot;I have nothing to forgive and forget, I have never stopped loving you.&quot;

&bull;	Kitty has declared her love to Levin. Levin should call on her family in the morning.

26/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 12

•	The men and women separate into different rooms after dinner, because that's what they did back in the day. Also, what's more, the guys want to talk about inequality of marriage rights, which they feel would be indecorous in front of the ladies.

•	For some reason the conversation keeps turning to unfaithful wives, making things super-awkward for Karenin.

•	Finally, Dolly gets him away into a private anteroom. She implores him to tell her about Anna. Dolly is convinced of Anna's innocence, and credits her with holding Dolly's own marriage together.

•	Karenin remains adamant that he must divorce Anna, while Dolly is convinced that would mean Anna's ruin. Karenin can't destroy his wife's life, Dolly argues.

•	Dolly brings up Oblonsky's infidelity, and tells Karenin that as she forgave Stiva, so he must forgive Anna.

•	Karenin finally gets angry, saying that he cannot and will not forgive.

•	He apologizes for upsetting Dolly and bids her a good night.

These last two chapters have bene very interesting on nascent views on women's rights, education, divorce , adultery, and male hypocrisy. A bit Hardyeseque in its ' blame the woman; shame the woman' theme but more ambivalent?

25/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 11

•	Kitty and Levin refrain from joining in the general conversation, although parts of it would have been interesting to them in different circumstances.

•	Levin explains to Kitty how he saw her the year before in the carriage.

•	They talk about the merits of Turovtsyn, a seemingly shallow society man whom Kitty reveals to have a self-sacrificing streak. When Dolly's kids all had scarlet fever this past summer, he was so moved that he helped her look after them. Levin determines never to think poorly of anyone ever again.

•	Levin could not be happier than he is right now, talking to Kitty.

24/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 10

&bull;	Pestsov, Karenin, and Koznyshev continue their earlier conversation about the Russification of Poland (i.e., Russia's <span class="italic">occupation</span> of Poland in the nineteenth century, discussed in Part 4, Chapter 9). [History repeating itself? Seems like Russia just can't keep its hands to itself!]

&bull;	The three discuss how it is that some nations have the authority to annex, or occupy, others. What is it that gives some countries a leg up over others? Koznyshev says that it all comes down to education. This leads into a discussion over which is better, a classical education (i.e., in Latin, Greek, philosophy, and literature) or a natural scientific education (in astronomy, botany, and other sciences).

&bull;	This conversation leads over into the education <span class="italic">of women</span>: should it just be a matter of women's liberation? Or should we believe that women can occupy parliamentary positions and join the bureaucracy the same way men can?

&bull;	Koznyshev and Pestsov support the idea of women's total inclusion in government, while Oblonsky and Karenin both seem to have misgivings about changes in women's natural role in the family.

&bull;	Dolly, who has just entered the conversation, comments that a woman entering politics would probably be forsaking her family. Pestsov doesn't see a problem with this, because he stands for the general ideal that a woman should be allowed to be involved in all the tasks men do.

Thanks for the thanks Cludgie

I agree Butta, Oblonsky really oils the social wheels - you can see why women would be attracted to him. Quite the contrast with cold fish Kerenin

Despite his flaws, Oblonsky sounds like the perfect person to have at your party.

23/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 9

•	Oblonsky is late to dinner, and when he arrives, all the guests are sitting around awkwardly.

•	Oblonsky quickly smooths over the whole situation and gets everyone chatting amicably.

•	He leaves the dinner to check in on the drinks. In the hallway, he bumps into Levin. Oblonsky tells him that Kitty's here, and that Oblonsky will introduce Levin to Karenin.

•	Upon hearing that Kitty is in the room, Levin gets flustered and could care less about meeting the celebrated Karenin.

•	Both Kitty and Levin are filled with emotion when they meet again.

•	Oblonsky takes Levin over to meet Karenin. It turns out they've spent three hours on a train together before.

•	Oblonsky motions his guests towards the buffet.

•	Koznyshev, who is discussing the gradual annexation of Poland by the Russians, effortlessly transitions his conversation with Karenin and Pestsov from this deep intellectual topic to a humorous one (i.e., children).

•	Oblonsky asks if Levin has been doing gymnastics, and when Levin flexes his arm, his bicep is like a mound of steel.

•	Kitty asks Levin about bear hunting; her body language asks for forgiveness for her former mistreatment of him, and pledges her own love to him.

•	Levin launches into an entertaining story of the first time he met Karenin, on a train, when he blundered into Karenin's compartment wearing the sheepskin jacket of a much poorer man.

•	Listening to his brother, Koznyshev wonders what has happened. Tonight Levin is a confident entertainer: he's funny and self-assured, and unlike his usual self.

•	Levin feels as though he has grown wings, as though he's floating above all the Karenins and Oblonskys of the world.

•	Oblonsky puts Levin and Kitty next to each other during dinner.

•	The dinner party is a magnificent success—both the food and the conversation are excellent.

Yes, I enjoyed Oblonsky's reappearance too. A change from the usual characters. He's a rogue. His liaison with the ballet dancer is no surprise.

I agree. Anna crossed a line inviting Vronsky to their home. While Karenin is technically correct, I didn't like the intrusion into her privacy when he demanded her letters and the key to her desk. It was quite a violent act on his part, I thought. He's not a man to offer second chances either.

Too many "handys" in that post! 😳

I was also a bit behind but discovered the book in audio format which has been handy on my commute to placement and I've now ended up about a week ahead (which will be handy as i get busy writing my final assignment of the year). However there have been bits I've missed so thank you Desdamona for the faithful summary postings, they've been very handy.

Agree about Oblonsky CornishLizard, I wasn't keen on him at the start for obvious reasons but it was oddly nice to see him pop up again! I can't make up my mind whether I like Levin or not, jury's still out on that one.

I’ve just caught up with these 8 chapters. Perhaps because I’m not taken with Vronsky, I’m struggling to sympathise with Anna. As StColumb says, inviting Vronsky to their home crossed a line. I enjoyed the Moscow chapters with Oblonsky more, he feels like a breath of fresh air at this point!

22/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 8

•	That morning, Karenin performs two tasks. He receives a delegation from the provincial racial minorities currently visiting Moscow, and writes the promised letter to his lawyer, enclosing three letters from Vronsky to Anna.

•	Having settled on his course of action regarding his family, Karenin feels more comfortable in carrying out the lawyer's plan.

•	Oblonsky arrives and insists on seeing Karenin.

•	Karenin turns down the dinner invitation. Oblonsky looks at him kindly, and the two men have a chat about Anna. Oblonsky begs Karenin to talk the matter over with Dolly.

•	Finally Karenin relents and agrees to come to dinner.

•	The two then chat about Oblonsky's new department head.

•	Oblonsky dashes off after securing a promise from Karenin that he'll come to dinner.

21/04/23

Anna Karenina Part 4, Chapter 7

•	The next day, Oblonsky goes to a ballet rehearsal to see his current mistress, a ballet dancer.

•	Afterward, he goes to the marketplace to select produce for dinner, and then he stops by Dussot's, where he plans on seeing three people: Levin, who has returned from his trip abroad, the new head of his department, and Karenin, who he wants to ensure will be coming for dinner.

•	The guest list for dinner is: Kitty, Levin, a girl cousin, young Shcherbatsky, Koznyshev, Karenin, and Pestsov. Oblonsky considers Koznyshev and Karenin to be the main course of the guests, and Pestsov to be an interesting garnish. (Pestsov is a liberal intellectual who also likes music and history.)

•	Oblonsky's happiness is marred by only two unpleasant circumstances. The first is that, judging from Karenin's chilliness towards Oblonsky, things are not going well between Karenin and Anna (who is, of course, Oblonsky's sister). The second problem is that Oblonsky's new department head has a strong work ethic and different opinions from Oblonsky. We have a feeling Oblonsky is more worried about the former than the latter.

•	Oblonsky first has a brief chat with Levin, who won't stop talking about workers and inequality. Levin has visited Germany, Prussia, France and England, and has determined that there is no "worker problem" in Russia (such as we might hear of in Marxist or socialist philosophies of the time.)

&bull;	Instead, what is causing the Russian peasants to fall behind is that their natural relationship to the land is being interrupted and destroyed. (<span class="italic">Muzhiks</span> aren't the same as Western European factory laborers, after all). Levin has also learned some humility, though. He acknowledges that this world we live in is profoundly insignificant, and that we all seek pleasures because we are trying to avoid thinking about death.

&bull;	Oblonsky only hears the &quot;pleasures&quot; comment, and says that Levin's finally starting to agree with Oblonsky's own way of living his life.

&bull;	Levin promises to come to dinner. Not surprisingly, Levin is too shy to ask if Kitty will be there.

&bull;	Oblonsky then goes in to see his new department head, who turns out to be friendly. They chat until four o'clock, at which point Oblonsky realizes that he still needs to see Karenin.