Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

31/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 19

&bull;	In spite of the fact that Vronsky <span class="italic">seems</span> like this young guy about town, he's actually really particular about keeping his accounts in order.
&bull;	When he was young, he tried to get a loan and got refused and the humiliation has made him totally serious about keeping himself financially squared away.
&bull;	In keeping with this hidden nature, Vronsky does his accounts from top to bottom five times a year.
&bull;	This is one of those days, and we get a detailed summary of his financial situation.
&bull;	It turns out that Vronsky is not as wealthy as he would like to be. His mother has been withholding money due to her displeasure over his affair with Anna. In her last letter, she essentially tried to bribe him into giving up the affair. He refuses, writing a short, sharp letter to his mother, and instead resolves to borrow ten thousand from a moneylender, to cut down his expenses, and to sell his racehorses to cover all of his bills.

30/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 18

•	The women guests to Princess Betsy's house are beautiful, striking, and have fabulously extravagant clothes.

•	Anna finds Liza Merkolov more attractive than Baroness Sappho.
•	

Liza asks Anna her secret to never being bored.
•
Old Stremov makes a point of being particularly flattering and cordial to Anna.
•
Anna is pleased by this company—it's fun and easy, whereas what awaits her in Countess Vrede's garden is hard and difficult.
• Nevertheless, Anna expresses her regrets and leaves for her rendezvous with Vronsky

29/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 17

•	Two important guests at Princess Betsy's party, Liza Merkolov and Sappho Stolz, both belong to a new, select social circle that is openly hostile with Anna's. To make things even more awkward, Liza Merkolov's admirer, an old man named Stremov, is one of Karenin's enemies in the office. So Anna had initially not wanted to go to this gathering, but she changes her mind because she wants to see Vronsky.
&bull;	Anna arrives early and sees Vronsky's footman; she remembers only then that Vronsky had said the day before that he was <span class="italic">not</span> going to attend the party.
&bull;	It's already too late for her to turn back or to send a note with Vronsky's footman, so she enters.
&bull;	
&bull;	Betsy and Anna go have a cozy chat over tea.
&bull;	Anna lies and says that she can't stay long, because she says she promised to go see Countess Vrede.
&bull;	Betsy takes the note from Vronsky's footman and tells Anna that Vronsky can't come today. Although Anna is certain that Princess Betsy knows all, the casual way that she mentions Vronsky to Anna makes it appear as though she genuinely knows nothing of the affair.
&bull;	

They make small talk about the party's guests, but Anna can tell by Betsy's face that her friend is formulating a plan.
•
Betsy says that she has to respond to Vronsky's note, and writes something. Then she leaves Anna in the room for a moment. Anna runs over and writes her own note to Vronsky asking him to be at Vrede's garden at six o'clock.
•
Betsy sends off the note.
•
Betsy and Anna talk about Lisa Merkolov, who admires Anna. In fact, Betsy tells Anna that Liza has described Anna as "a real heroine from a novel and that if she were a man she would have committee a thousand follies for [Anna]" (3.17.22).
•
The other guests arrive.

28/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 16

•	Despite what she told Vronsky, Anna has been longing to come clean to her husband about her affair.
•	So after confessing everything to Karenin after the races, Anna feels better. She feels that despite what may come, her position will be clear, and there will be no more need for lying or deceit.

•	The next morning, Anna wakes up and thinks about what she said to her husband. She is horrified and wishes that she hadn't said everything that she did.

•	Then she thinks about Vronsky, whom she saw last night but didn't tell. She realizes that she kept quiet because she was ashamed.
•	
•	Anna realizes that her husband has the power to drive her out of her house, and she feels like a burden to Vronsky.
•	This line of thought leaves her with nowhere to go. Anna can't make up her mind about anything, and has no desire to interact with anyone.

•	Anna's maid Annushka comes in, saying that she thought she heard a bell. Annushka gives Anna a note from Betsy, inviting Anna for a game of croquet.

•	Anna dismisses her maid, and continues feeling completely lost. Although she repeats "my God!" over and over again, she knows that religion cannot help her, in the same way that Karenin cannot help her.

•	She clutches her hair with both hands.

•	Annushka comes in to tell Anna that her son is waiting for her.

•	The idea of her son jerks Anna out of her hopelessness and gives her a direct goal. She can't leave her son. She decides that she must take her son and go away.

•	She goes down to breakfast and spends time with her son for a while.

•	Later, she decides that they will go to Moscow, taking only Annushka, Seryozha, and bare necessities.
•	She goes back to her room to write notes to Karenin and Vronsky.
•	She writes to Karenin that she can no longer remain in the house and that she is leaving with their son.
•	
•	She begins a letter to Vronsky, but can't finish it.
•	She tells her staff that she is leaving that evening for Moscow, and begins packing.

27/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 15

•	Despite what she told Vronsky, Anna has been longing to come clean to her husband about her affair.
•	

So after confessing everything to Karenin after the races, Anna feels better. She feels that despite what may come, her position will be clear, and there will be no more need for lying or deceit.
•
The next morning, Anna wakes up and thinks about what she said to her husband. She is horrified and wishes that she hadn't said everything that she did.
•
• Then she thinks about Vronsky, whom she saw last night but didn't tell. She realizes that she kept quiet because she was ashamed.
•
Anna realizes that her husband has the power to drive her out of her house, and she feels like a burden to Vronsky.
•
This line of thought leaves her with nowhere to go. Anna can't make up her mind about anything, and has no desire to interact with anyone.
•
Anna's maid Annushka comes in, saying that she thought she heard a bell. Annushka gives Anna a note from Betsy, inviting Anna for a game of croquet.
•
Anna dismisses her maid, and continues feeling completely lost. Although she repeats "my God!" over and over again, she knows that religion cannot help her, in the same way that Karenin cannot help her.
•
She clutches her hair with both hands.
•
Annushka comes in to tell Anna that her son is waiting for her.
•
• The idea of her son jerks Anna out of her hopelessness and gives her a direct goal. She can't leave her son. She decides that she must take her son and go away.
•
She goes down to breakfast and spends time with her son for a while.
•
Later, she decides that they will go to Moscow, taking only Annushka, Seryozha, and bare necessities.
•
She goes back to her room to write notes to Karenin and Vronsky.
•
She writes to Karenin that she can no longer remain in the house and that she is leaving with their son.
•
She begins a letter to Vronsky, but can't finish it.
•
She tells her staff that she is leaving that evening for Moscow, and begins packing.

I feel the same way @JamesGiantPledge1. My sympathies are with Anna because she is a vibrant personality whereas her husband is such a cold fish. But on the other hand it's quite natural for him to feel vindictive towards someone who has cheated on him with another man.

26/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 14

•	When Karenin arrives in Petersburg, he goes straight to his study and orders his servants not to admit anyone.
•	

He writes Anna a letter expressing his confidence that she has repented of her actions and asking her to return to Petersburg as soon as possible. He encloses money.
•
Karenin is extremely pleased by the letter.
•
He sits down to enjoy a French book, but he looks at the portrait of Anna in his study and is distracted. She seems to be challenging him.

•	He goes back to his book but can't concentrate.
•	

He begins thinking about some complicated official business.
•
After he writes out a summary of his ideas for fixing the problem, he feels good. The portrait no longer bothers him, and he can concentrate on his book.

25/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 13

•	In this chapter we're back to the drama of Anna and her husband.
•	

Little known fact about Karenin: he can't watch a woman or child crying and remain calm.
•
When Anna bursts into tears after confessing her relations with Vronsky, Karenin seeks to suppress all his emotions and tried not to move or look at her. This makes him look like death, according to Anna.
•
• At home, he helps her out of the carriage and tells her he will inform her of his decision about what to do tomorrow.
•
Oddly enough, Karenin experiences a feeling of liberation by having his worst fears confirmed.
•
Karenin begins thinking about what the best way out of the situation is—the way that would most benefit him.
•
He thinks about other female infidelities in high society.
•
He rejects the idea of dueling with Vronsky.
•
Because of the scandals they would cause, he discards the idea of divorce or separation. He also dislikes the idea of Anna and Vronsky being happy. He is suddenly seized with a desire to make them suffer.
•
Karenin decides that the only solution is for his marriage to continue, under the condition that Anna stop seeing Vronsky. He's pleased that this decision coincides with what religion would tell him to do.
•
• He sees no point in changing his relations with his wife, although he will never respect her in the same way. Also, he believes she should be unhappy.

I loved today’s chapter. From Karenin crossing his ‘bony legs in the fleecy rug’ (what better description could there be to sum up a cold and pedantic man?) to his analysis of his position. How modern is that? It is so human and modern for a person who is getting divorced to want the settlement to reflect their view of who is to blame for the marriage failure and their need to want the settlement to be a punishment. And so Karenin also feels his wife shouldn’t be released from her marriage to be happy.
I wanted to dislike him for this and yet I also feel I shouldn’t - it is Anna who is pregnant by another man. Now I am conflicted!

24/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 12

•	The peasant women begin singing, and Levin feels enveloped in gaiety. After they leave, Levin feels a painful yearning due to his solitude, physical idleness, and alienation from the world.
•	

By this point, all the peasants have forgotten that they tried to cheat Levin.
•
For the first time, Levin feels a full yearning to live the peasant life—social and full of hard work.
•
• Levin is lying on a haystack, looking at the stars, and there he spends the night.
•
He resolves to renounce his old life and his useless education, but gets hung up on the best way to achieve that. Is it by marrying a peasant girl?
•
In the early morning, Levin hears the tinkling of little bells signaling a carriage. He sees the carriage and glances inside.
•
A young girl who just woke up looks at Levin. Her eyes light up at the sight of Levin.
•
It's Kitty, who is probably on her way to see Dolly.
•
All the resolutions Levin made last night disappear. He recalls them with disgust. No matter how good that other life of the peasantry might appear, Levin can't abandon his current life because of his love for Kitty.

I am also surprised by how easy a read I am finding the book and how relevant. I loved the ‘proud parent to horrified parent’ in the space of 30 seconds passage - sums up parenting small children in my experience. You are only ever a few moments away from another parenting low.

I keep getting immersed in one person’s story and then annoyed when we leave it, only to enjoy the next one as much.

23/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 11

•	Levin, who manages his sister's estate, constantly has to make sure that the peasants don't cheat him, since he's not on site to monitor them.
•	

In the middle of July, Levin insists on his share of the hay being re-calculated. He feels that the headman of his sister's village and the peasants are refusing to pay him what the true value of the meadow's hay is currently worth.
•
When the last of the hay is weighed and his clerk is supervising the distribution, Levin sits on a haystack and watches the peasants in the field bailing the hay.

•	An old man sits besides Levin and strikes up a conversation. He is a beekeeper, and his son, Ivan Parmenov, is working the fields with his wife of two years. Levin watches the young couple, sees their physical vitality and young love, and becomes caught up in watching their tasks.

I'm finding it a lot harder to read a chapter a day than with W and P. I keep on reading on and then getting out of synch.

Yes, I instantly of MN when I read that!

I'm finding it so much more relatable than War & Peace. Though I have to say I'm enjoying the Kitty / Levin threads much more than Anna / Vronsky (and the farming, of course!)

That's what I really like about the book and found quite surprising - the people are incredibly realistic in the way they consider things. I thought it would be much more lofty/ alien than it is.

Yes! Children are very well behaved when they are hypothetical. Numpty!

We’ve all been there!!

Also, the despair of feeling that you're a terrible mother when your children behave badly in company!

I loved the classic "when I have children it'll all be different"

22/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 10

•	Finally, Dolly broaches the subject of Kitty.

•	Levin's hope regarding his relationship with Kitty begins to resurface.

&bull;	Dolly explains that Levin has to take action again: sometimes when a man asks a woman to marry, she's just not <span class="italic">ready</span> to accept him.

&bull;	What it boils down to is that Dolly thinks Kitty's refusal of Levin means nothing.

&bull;	Levin is angry that Dolly is reviving his hope: he doesn't want to be crushed again.
&bull;	
&bull;	Tanya comes in and asks her mother about a spade.

&bull;	Dolly insists on speaking French to her daughter.

&bull;	(Just a note: dating from the 18th century, and even after the Napoleonic wars with Russia in the early 19th century, French was <span class="italic">the language</span> of the Czarist Court. Russian remained the language of everyday life, but French, especially among the nobility, was the language of intellectual and philosophical achievement.)

&bull;	Levin, observing the whole episode, is irritated. He thinks that teaching Russian children French &quot;unteaches&quot; them sincerity.

&bull;	Levin can't know that Dolly has thought over this problem twenty times over, and has decided that it is more important for her children to know French.

&bull;	After tea, Dolly too is no longer cheerful. Tanya and Grisha had a fight about a ball. She feels that her children are not charming, but instead bad and ill-bred.

&bull;	Levin tries to soothe Dolly, but he inwardly blames her decision to talk to her children in French for their bad behavior. He thinks to himself that he will never have such spoiled children: he will allow them to behave naturally.

Shmoop's back 🤷‍♀️

21/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 8
• Although Dolly is not a strict believer in the Church, she believes in setting a good example for the children and so decides in late May to take them to communion.
•
Everything went very well, except that at lunch Grisha, her son, has to be punished for not listening to the governess. He is not allowed any dessert.
•
Dolly wants to persuade the governess to relent, but on her way to find the governess she finds Tanya, here daughter, sneaking pudding to Grisha.
•
The whole scene is adorable, and Dolly is not angry.
•
• Everyone goes out to the bathhouse for a swim.
•
There are several peasant women gathered, and Dolly, hearing their conversation, begins to join in. She is flattered by their sincere admiration for her children, and their concern over the young ones' health.
•
Dolly bonds with these women because their interests are so much the same as her own: what kinds of illnesses have the children had? How often does her husband visit? And so on.

Part 3, Chapter 9

•	On the way back from the house, the coachman tells Dolly that a gentleman has arrived.
•	

This gentleman is Levin, whom Dolly is glad to see. Levin is tactful, gets along wonderfully with the children, and understands the effort of motherhood. It's worth noting what children like about him: they appreciate that he is honest and aboveboard. He doesn't "sham," or pretend.
•
After dinner, Dolly tells Levin that Kitty is going to spend the summer with her. Levin immediately starts talking about cows and theories of dairy farming.
•
The two of them converse about dairy issues. Levin has some views about treating cows like machines for milk while distinguishing carefully between starchy and grassy feeds. It's clear, though, that they both want to talk about Kitty.

Yes, the mowing chapter was wonderful - great example of a flow state. I bet he was aching the next day though - we didn't get a description of that!

Problems with Shmoop this morning, it isn't going directly to the chapter requested but asks if you want to download it. When I do download there's nothing there 🤷‍♀️ maybe someone more tech savvy than me can tell me what's going on.

This is a summary from a website called 'bookcaps' which I'll use until I can access Shmoop again.

20/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 8

Towards the end of May Stepan agrees to visit his family in the country and tend to the problems there. He won’t arrive until the beginning of June. Meanwhile Dolly has taken the children to church, to receive communion, which they have not done in nearly a year. Everyone is dressed up and looking beautiful and the children behave well. Afterwards they go mushroom picking and swimming and have a wonderful time, including Dolly. Some peasant women come by and Dolly gets up her nerve to talk to them about their roles as mothers.

Echoing this. The old man gathering mushrooms to give his wife a treat was very sweet.