Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

11/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 35

•	Everyone eats breakfast, and the Prince infects everyone with his good humor and jokes.

•	Kitty doesn't feel happy though, because of the cynical view her father has taken of her new friends and new life, and because of the trouble with the Petrovs.

•	Varenka gets up to leave. When she goes into the house to get her hat, Kitty follows her.

•	It turns out Varenka is going to help the Petrovs pack for their departure. Kitty wants to help too.
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•	Varenka says Kitty should stay at home and spend time with her papa.
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Kitty presses the issue, but it's a bad idea to continue talking about the situation. It's clear that Kitty's presence has caused a rift in the Petrov household.
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Kitty has a fit. She says that it serves herself right because her interactions with Petrov didn't come from the heart, that she was just playing the role of a generous person.
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Varenka asks what the purpose of such a pretence might be.
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Kitty exclaims that she just wanted to seem like a better person to everyone around her, but now she's realized that it's better to be bad than to be a liar.
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Varenka seems to feel that Kitty is also reproaching her as a deceiver, but Kitty exclaims that no, Varenka is honest and perfect, but that she, Kitty, is not. It would be better to leave Anna Pavlovna to do her own thing.
• Kitty continues to freak out, saying that she can only live by her heart, honestly, that she loves Varenka wholeheartedly while Varenka probably only loves Kitty with a mind to teach her better ways.
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• Varenka protests that she's being unfair, and Kitty pseudo-apologizes by saying that she's not talking about anyone but Kitty herself. Kitty is called away mid-argument by her mother, but she rushes back in a fit of remorse and asks for Varenka's forgiveness.
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The two women make up, but Kitty is forever changed. Having seen her new world through the eyes of her worldly father, she realizes that she has been deceiving herself about who she is. Her efforts to force herself to love everyone oppress her, and she now yearns to return to her home and get back to herself.
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Before she leaves, Kitty tries to get Varenka to join them in Moscow.
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Instead, Varenka promises to visit Kitty after Kitty is married. Kitty says she'll never marry, and Varenka says, in that case, she'll never come. Kitty offers to marry just to bring Varenka to visit.
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Kitty returns to Russia cured. She may not be as carefree as before, but at peace with her memories of her previous visit to Moscow.

10/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 34

•	Kitty's father, the elder Prince Shcherbatsky, comes to visit.

•	He and his wife have opposite views on how to act when abroad. He thinks that Continental life (i.e., European life) is oppressive and tries to downplay all his European habits, while his wife practically considers herself to be a Continental lady.

•	Although the Prince is upset about Kitty's newfound friendships (he seems to be jealous), his good humor takes over and he spends time happily with his family.

•	He and Kitty are walking along when they encounter Madame Berthe, who compliments Kitty excessively.
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•	Then Kitty introduces the Prince to Varenka. The Prince likes her, and so he refrains from making fun of her.

•	They go to greet Madame Stahl. The Prince was acquainted both her and her husband from back in the day.

•	On the way, they pass by Petrov, the ailing painter.

•	The Prince comments that Petrov looked like he wanted to speak with Kitty.

•	They turn around, and the Prince introduces himself.

•	Petrov says that they were expecting Kitty yesterday.

•	Kitty says that his wife sent word that they weren't going.

•	Petrov yells for his wife and questions her in a conspicuous stage whisper.

•	As the couple argues, Kitty and her father move on to speak with Madame Stahl.

•	Prince Shcherbatsky claims that Madame Stahl isn't sick at all: she just sits all the time because she has a bad figure and doesn't want to show it off. And as for her acts of charity, he points out that it's more virtuous to do good without making sure that everybody knows about it.

•	Suddenly, all Kitty can see of Madame Stahl is a dumpy woman with a bad figure who bullies Varenka. No matter how she tries, Kitty can't recall her idealized vision of Madame Stahl again.

9/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 33

•	With Madame Stahl and Varenka as role models, Kitty embarks on letting loose her spiritual side.
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It's good for her because she is launching a new beginning that has nothing to do with Moscow and her former life.
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Even though Madame Stahl is Christian, Kitty feels vaguely uneasy about Madame Stahl's sincerity.
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But Kitty has no doubts whatsoever about Varenka's genuineness.
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Kitty begins to imitate everything that Varenka does, including the way that she blinks.
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• Kitty begins to harbor secret dreams about being a good person who helps the unfortunate and needy. She doesn't tell anyone about her secret dreams.
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She starts spending all her time with sick people, particularly a poor and ailing painter, Petrov, and his family.
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Kitty's mother likes that her daughter is being a good person, but dislikes the extremes to which Kitty is going.
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Kitty refuses to confide her secret dreams in her mother.
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Kitty and the Petrov family have been getting along fabulously. One day, however, Kitty's mother notes that the Petrov family has not been frequenting the house as much as before.
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Kitty claims to have no idea why the Petrov family has suddenly stopped visiting.
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Kitty thinks over her relationship with the Petrov family. Kitty and Petrov's wife, Anna Pavlovna, have been considering ways for the painter to improve his health. Their son calls her "my Kitty."
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But now, the problem is that the painter has fallen for Kitty, and in his excitement at seeing her has communicated his feelings to his wife. Kitty's reception in the Petrov household is awkward: Anna Pavlovna is too cold and Petrov is too warm.

8/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 32

•	We get an overview of Madame Stahl and Varenka in this chapter.
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Madame Stahl was always a sickly woman. After she gave birth to a stillborn baby, her relatives were afraid that the news would kill her, and replaced the dead baby with Varenka, who was born on the same night to a baker.
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Madame Stahl eventually found out that Varenka was not her daughter, but brought her up anyway.
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Madame Stahl is involved in religion—she's friends with all the important people in various denominations of Christianity.
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Madame Stahl and Varenka live abroad. Varenka is well-educated and speaks English and French.
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Kitty's admiration of Varenka becomes increasingly intense as she discovers more of Varenka's interesting qualities.
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For instance, Varenka can sing well. But It's not just that she can sing well that Kitty admires, it's the fact that Varenka doesn't really care that she can sing well that really seems unusual.
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At one point, Kitty accompanies Varenka on piano.
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Varenka hesitates before singing this one Italian song.
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Kitty questions her about her hesitation later.
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It turns out Varenka used to sing that song to her lover. The two of them adored each other and were going to get married, but his mother didn't want him to marry Varenka.
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Kitty asks how she would have reacted to the humiliation if, instead of it being his mother who called off the wedding, he simply did not love her back.
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Kitty is obviously asking about her own situation, which Varenka realizes.
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She tells Kitty that there are more important things in life, and that Kitty is being pointlessly sensitive. After all, Kitty never confessed her one-sided love to the man himself. Varenka says that the point now is whether Kitty still loves him or not.
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Kitty doesn't get it. To her, all that matters is the shame: she can't forgive herself and she hates Vronsky (though she never mentions him by name).
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She looks at Varenka, trying to figure out what could be the most important thing to Varenka that gives her calmness and serenity.
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Kitty's mother calls for Kitty to come inside.
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Varenka goes to visit and have tea with her mother.

I'm enjoying the Anna and Vronsky storyline and am looking forward to seeing what will happen next. I don't have any faith in Vronsky either. In fact, I utterlly dislike him since he kicked his horse during the race.

I'm up to chapter 35. I'm not enjoying Kitty's stay at the spa. It's all very odd. The descriptions of people are sarcastic and rather cutting. I wonder if Tolstoy is trying to be humorous. Kitty's new vocation of holiness reminds me of Princess Marya from W+P.

I think it happens when you're reading a book in slow motion that you can forget details, cassandre!

I am also on edge as to what happens next to Anna and Vronsky.

I have Vronsky down as a man ‘who likes the chase’ and not a man who will relish the domesticity of life with a wife and baby. Will he be interested once he has Anna? I am now sure she has thought this through.

Actually, axe those thoughts about Vronsky. I just looked back at chs 21-22, and he was encouraging Anna to leave her husband. I also forgot about Anna being pregnant! Sheesh. I must have been really tired when I was reading those chapters as I seem to have next to no recollection of them. Either perimenopause or the exhaustion of uni term time or both I guess!

It's clever the way Tolstoy interweaves stories about different characters but I've looked ahead and it seems we get chapters about kitty and then Levin and it's ages before we get back to Anna / Karenin / Vronsky again. Damn! Such a cliffhanger.

Thanks from me too Desdamona for your ongoing efforts!

I'm also finding the book really gripping. The horse race scene told from multiple perspectives was amazing, as you said, Fuzzy.

I found Anna's increasing discomfort and unwillingness to lie very plausible: how she got to a point where she just couldn't keep pretending any longer. I wonder how Vronsky will feel about her confession though! As a cad / rake / bounder he's unlikely to have the same ethical compunctions as Anna. 😁

Thanks @DesdamonasHandkerchief!

I thought we could add some thoughts on the section up to the end of chapter 29. I think I expected the book to be quite hard going, but actually I’m finding it an easy read. The triangle of Anna, Karenin and Vronsky is timeless. Everyone around Anna and Vronsky can sense something is going on but no one is sufficiently confident to point it out; Anna feels Vronksy’s presence when he is near and can’t help but tune into it; Anna’s feelings towards her husband are now negative despite being ambivalent pre the affair; Karenin knows there is something going on but isn’t certain what to do. The whole thing is timeless and very human. I really felt for Anna’s son as I’ve seen that exact expression of awkwardness in my nephew when he was faced with the same scenario.

(Whenever I try to picture Karenin, I see Daniel Day Lewis as Cecil in the film of A Room With A View. Tall, awkward and self important. Showing my age there!)

7/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 31

•	Kitty's begins asking her mother if she can be friends with Varenka.
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Her mother is initially resistant, since she is sure that Varenka is just Madame Stahl's paid companion. Princess Shcherbatsky was acquainted with Madame Stahl's sister-in-law, and Princess Shcherbatsky is offended that Madame Stahl has not approached her to make her acquaintance.
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Finally, Princess Shcherbatsky assents after they learn that Varenka intervened and made peace between Nicholas Levin and his doctor. Nicholas behaved badly when he felt that the doctor was not treating him correctly, going so far as to raise his stick at the doctor threateningly. Varenka took Nicholas's arm and led him away before he could do any more damage.
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Princess Shcherbatsky decides that there is no harm in their friendship, and that it will perhaps do Kitty some good.
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Princess Shcherbatsky approaches Varenka directly and mentions that Kitty's taken with her, and wants to become friends. After the introduction, Kitty feels free to join Varenka for a chat. The two express mutual interest in friendship.
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We finally find out the relationship between Varenka and Madame Stahl: they are not related by blood, but Madame Stahl raised Varenka.

Thanks Desdamona!

Yes! Back on track! I read it very early this morning and in my groggy state was wondering how I had missed Anna taking another train journey :)

Now that is familiar!

I'll try again!

6/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 30

•	Now we jump to Germany and the Shcherbatskys. (Remember that Kitty is at a German spa trying to recover from her heartbreak over losing Vronsky.)
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The novel observes that, in any international gathering of people, such as Kitty's German spa, each individual has their own predetermined place in the society of that gathering.
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After some time, Kitty is bored with her predetermined clique, and spends her time observing all the classes of people who have come to visit this spa.
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Kitty dreams beautiful lives for all these people, because that's part of her nature.
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She develops a close friendship with a woman named Varenka, who is accompanying an elderly invalid named Madame Stahl. (Both women are Russian.)
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Varenka isn't attractive in the conventional sense, though her features are quite beautiful. Tolstoy notes that Varenka lacks the same qualities that makes Kitty attractive to men: vivacity and a fire for life.
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We learn that Varenka is a young woman of indeterminate age who spends her time helping other people.
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Kitty idealizes Varenka, because Varenka has numerous interests in life, as well as a consistent system of values.
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Kitty and Varenka cross paths frequently, and both seem to want to get to know each other. Kitty figures out that Varenka is neither Madame Stahl's paid companion nor her relative, which adds to Varenka's general mystique.
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Varenka is constantly doing things for other people.
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A new Russian couple arrive at the springs shortly after the Shcherbatskys' arrival; they arouse general disapproval with their unattractive looks and poor dress.
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In Kitty's dreams, the couple has a sweet and beautiful romance.
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When she realizes that the man in the couple is Constantine Levin's brother, Nicolas, she begins to dislike the couple immensely. (The woman, by the way, is Masha Nikolaevna, the former prostitute whom Nicholas treats as his wife.)

Ooops!
I listened to it today and meant to double check because it didn't sound familiar! That's what comes of posting before reading and trying not to spoil the plot for myself!

I thought I was going mad - I’m a couple of chapters ahead and I didn’t remember reading that at the weekend at all! Glad it’s not just me forgetting what I’ve read as soon as I’ve read it!

Ah yes...I think Tarahumara is correct.
There's a feeling of déjà vu here 😄 * *

Desdemona, I think that's the summary from part 1 chapter 30? Rather than part 2?

6/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 30

•	Snow is falling and everything is indistinct. People shout directions at each other.
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All of a sudden, Vronsky materializes in front of Anna.
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He asks if she needs anything.
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She feels happy and proud. There is no need to ask why he has come, but she does anyway.
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Somewhere, a romantic soundtrack swells as Vronsky tells Anna that he needs to go wherever she is.
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Anna's heart is happy with this love confession but her mind is not: she tells Vronsky that what he's saying is wrong, and that he must forget about her. He tells her that he will not, and she shouts, "Enough!" and returns to her train compartment.
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She can't sleep all night because she's so tense.
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The first person she sees in Petersburg is her husband. It's not exactly a happy reunion. The way he talks to her is half-mocking and hypocritical. Suddenly, she feels dissatisfied with Karenin's physical appearance and manner; this feeling had always been there, but she is only just noticing it consciously.
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The first question Anna asks is whether her son is well.

5/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 29

•	Anna falls apart very visibly after Vronsky is thrown down.

•	Karenin offers to escort her out twice. Both times she refuses, and actually recoils in revulsion from his touch on her arm.

•	Anna listens to the conversation, trying to get news about Vronsky's well-being.
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Finally an officer tells her group of friends that Vronsky is unhurt.
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Anna starts to cry.
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For the third time, Karenin offers to escort her out of the premises.
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Princess Betsy tries to intervene, but Karenin insists on taking his wife home.
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Anna is still visibly shaken.
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As Karenin and Anna drive home in their carriage, he opens a conversation about Anna and Vronsky by rebuking Anna for her public display of distress and emotion regarding Vronsky.
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Anna does not respond, and for a wild moment Karenin believes that all his suspicions are false, and that she's not in love with someone else.
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Finally Anna tells her husband that she is in love with Vronsky, that she is his mistress, and that she hates Karenin.
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Karenin freezes up, and all he asks is that Anna maintain appearances until he figures out what he wants to do.
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Vronsky sends Anna a note. He's still going over tonight. Anna is excited to see him.
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Karenin already feels like a distant memory to Anna.

Thank you for posting the summaries, Desdamona. They are so useful for place-marking.

I like the change of perspective in this chapter, watching the race from the stands. Gosh, you could cut the tension with a knife. It's all falling apart. I feel sorry for their son, who is completely confused by it all and being kept at arm's length by his father as if he has something to do with it. Poor child!

4/3/23

Part 2, Chapter 28

•	Now we get a perspective on the steeplechase race from Karenin and Anna's points of view.
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Anna sees Karenin looking for her at the race, but decides against saying anything or indicating where she is.
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Finally, Princess Betsy calls Anna's husband over to them. His presence is repugnant to Anna. Karenin settles into an intellectual conversation with a man nearby whom he knows. The two have generic social conversation about the morality of races as cruel physical contests in which the participants are likely to be injured. (The other guy is against horse racing and Karenin is pro.)
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Karenin's high voice and fake conversation repulse Anna. She feels that all he cares about is propriety and getting ahead in his career. She thinks that she is a bad woman, but that at least she hates lying, which Karenin has no problem doing.
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When Vronsky's race begins, however, Karenin can't tear his eyes away from Anna's face. It's strikingly clear that she cares only for Vronsky's safety.
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The idea that Anna cares for Vronsky's safety forces Karenin to confront Anna's affair: "against his will read on it with horror what he did not want to know" (2.28.30).
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Anna feels Karenin's eyes fixed on her face as she reacts to Vronsky's racing and can't bring herself to care.
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More than half the riders in the steeplechase are thrown or hurt—this leaves the audience in agitation over the barbarity of the race.

2nd & 3rd March

Part 2, Chapter 26

•	On the surface, nothing has changed between Karenin and his wife. Having spoken once of his jealousy and suspicion, however, Karenin can't let it go. He is cold and sarcastic and passive aggressive with her. He thinks that if she wants to mess things up, then it serves her right.

•	It's surprising that such an important, intelligent man is impotent and deliberately blind at home. He has resolved not to think about his wife's feelings, and in fact does manage not to think about them.
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Countess Lydia usually spends time at her country house near Anna's place. (Peterhof is, by the way, the name of the Karenin summer estate.) Countess Lydia has stayed at home and hinted to Karenin about the inappropriateness of Anna's friendship with Betsy Tverskoy and Vronsky.
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Karenin defends Anna and turns a blind eye to the fact that other people in society are thinking the same thing that Countess Lydia is thinking.
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On the day of the fateful race, Karenin goes out to the country house to see Anna which he makes a point of doing once a week and to see the races.

•	He goes about his business, and then at the end of the day invites his secretary out to the country house with him. Without acknowledging it, Karenin has been trying to have someone else present for meals with his wife to create a buffer between the two.

Part 2, Chapter 27

•	Anna is surprised to see Karenin pull up to the house. She's flustered and starts talking too much. The first thing she asks Karenin is whether he'll be spending the night.

•	Seryozha comes into the room to see his father. He's extremely uncomfortable.

•	Soon, Anna goes off to the races with Princess Betsy.

•	Before she leaves, Karenin kisses her hand.

•	In the carriage, she shudders with disgust when she feels the spot on her hand that he kissed.