Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

01/03/23

Part 2, Chapter 25

•	Seventeen officers are participating in the steeplechase (which is an obstacle course over three miles).
•	Vronsky and Frou Frou are absolutely splendid. They overtake Gladiator towards the end of the race and are in the lead. They have one tough obstacle left, which Frou Frou clears easily. Vronsky is ecstatic.

•	They head to the finish line, pausing to clear a simple water jump.

•	Essentially, Vronsky messes up during the jump. Instead of keeping his motion in line with the horse, he sits back in the saddle.

•	The two fall. Gladiator overtakes them.

•	Vronsky tries to urge Frou Frou to get up, but she just lies there looking at him.

•	Her spine is broken.

•	Vronsky is uninjured, and angry at himself because of it.

•	Doctors, attendants, friends, and other people run over.

•	They have to shoot Frou Frou in order to put her out of her suffering.

•	Frou Frou's injury and resulting death is Vronsky's fault. He know that he is to blame and is miserable. This is the first time that he's really experienced misfortune in his life.

•	For a long time, this is the worst memory of Vronsky's life.

Agree Fuzzy I didn't like him before, I REALLY don't like him now!

The casual violence towards the horse was awful :(

Oh, poor Frou Frou! I feel bad for making fun of her name now.

What a chapter today... all the excitement of the race (Tolstoy really brought that to life - I love passages like that!) and then tragedy 😢

I didn't like that Vronsky went from adoration to brutality with poor Frou-Frou but he's already blaming himself, so I'll let him off.

Really enjoying this!

🤣🤣🤣

He's balding, could do wit losing a few pounds and has a horse called Frou Frou. My Ovaryton Window is shifting from James Norton to Matt Hancock...

You are hilarious Piggy, both your observations are so true 😂

😅exactly

I have two new thoughts. What hunky sex god has a horse called Frou Frou??

Also, I love his depiction of the Englishman! All right! All right!... keep calm!. It's so very English!! He even wrote lots of those phrases in English.

28/02/23

Part 2, Chapter 24

•	Although Vronsky is running late, he keeps his promise to see his friend, Briansky. Then he books it to the racetrack just in time for his race. He has missed all the other races, which is bad form.
•	

Vronsky avoids Princess Betsy and Anna, instead spending time saying hello to acquaintances.

•	Vronsky bumps into his brother, Alexander, who is both an alcoholic and a perfect courtier. He's aware that a lot of people are watching, so Alexander keeps a pleasant expression on his face while he tells him that Vronsky has been seen near Anna's estate, and that people are talking.
•	

Vronsky gets angry, something he does seldom, so he upsets his brother. Alexander tells Vronsky to answer his mother's letter and not to get upset before the race.

•	Psyching himself up, Vronsky doesn't even look over at the pavilion where he's told Anna is sitting.

•	Vronsky, given the number seven before the race, lines up with sixteen other officers. He's told to mount his horse. Frou Frou continues to be over-excited.

•	As they trot towards the starting line, Malkhotin gallops noisily past Vronsky, upsetting Frou Frou and angering Vronsky. Frou Frou continues to be difficult for Vronsky to control because she's so heated up about the race.

I loved today's chapter. I felt I was right there amongst the horses. I also really identified with thinking you have time to do one more thing before a deadline but misjudging it!

@StColumbofNavron That makes sense!

Our local book swap had Anna Karenina this morning and I was tempted to get a copy in Italian before coming to my senses. 😂I was suprised how big it was though. I'm reading on a Kindle so I hadn't realised it was so hefty.

Yes, thank you @DesdamonasHandkerchief The summaries are really useful.

He speaks French to her, as is his custom, because in Russian, the word "you" is either incredibly intimate or horribly cold

I didn't really get this. I would have thought that once you've slept with someone you would be on intimate terms but apparently not!

27/02/23

Part 2, Chapter 23

•	Anna refuses to acknowledge the position in which she finds herself.
•	

She's not thrilled with the idea of running away with Vronsky, primarily because she doesn't want her son to have a mother who left his father.
•
Anna hears Seryozha coming back.
•
Anna kisses Vronsky good-bye, tells him to come over at one in the morning, and then runs off to meet her son

Oh thank you @MinervaRemus glad to hear they're useful

Just jumping onto the thread to say a big thank you to @DesdamonasHandkerchief for the summaries. I've fallen behind and possibly would have stopped if it wasn't for them!

26/02/23

Part 2, Chapter 22

•	Anna has been staying at her house in the country.

•	Vronsky arrives at Anna's house and tries to attract as little attention as possible.

•	He's excited to see Anna again, but then he remembers her son.

•	Her son has been an obstacle in their affair.

•	Without planning on it, they never talk naturally in front of Seryozha, but the boy still seems to feel that something's weird between them. He appears confused about how he should treat Vronsky.
•	

Vronsky finds Anna alone in the garden, pressing her head against a watering can.

•	He asks if she's okay.
•	

He speaks French to her, as is his custom, because in Russian, the word "you" is either incredibly intimate or horribly cold.

•	He keeps asking her what the matter is.

•	She debates whether to tell him, wondering if he will realize the importance of her news.

•	She tells Vronsky that she is pregnant.

•	She thinks he understands the news the same way she does, but he doesn't.

•	Vronsky argues that they need to stop living a lie. He points out that Anna is tormented.

•	Vronsky wants Anna to leave Karenin and come and live with him. He sees that she suffers guilt over her husband and son, and he wants her to tie her life to Vronsky, instead. Anna says that she won't, that her husband means nothing to her—after all, he doesn't even know. But she still wells up with tears of shame, and refuses to speak of Karenin further.

I thought the double row of dots you've highlighted, cassandre were something to do with Anna's husband as the chapter they're at the end of is all about how things change from then on out...

I don't know - all I do know is I'm grateful for this thread as I'd have missed a most important plot point and would be forever wondering when they were going to blooming well get it on!

I thought the parts discussing how her young son is so confused and unsettled by Vronsky is very well done - I wonder if Tolstoy had some insight as a child as I found that really insightful!

Thanks cassandre! That's strange, though, isn't it?!

Thank you for brightening up my day, StColomb with the references to that actor playing Vronsky. Or should I say Vrrrronsky ;)* *