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Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

958 replies

StColumbofNavron · 28/12/2022 21:30

Following the success of W&P in 2022, we’ve decided to stick with Tolstoy for 2023 and read Anna Karenina, one chapter per day.

For newbies: we simply read one chapter a day and discussion is allowed with a broader chat at the end of each section. Tolstoy’s chapters are nice and short, flicking through average length is about 4 pages.

I have used the Penguin Classics (2001, 2003) trans. by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky for the breakdown below. More on editions below.

There are 249 chapters in this edition and the book is in 8 parts taking us to 14 September with a break of a day between each book. Hopefully, irrespective of the edition you pick the finishing of each ‘book’ will hopefully align.

Book 1, ch. 1-34 (1 Jan-3 Feb)
BREAK, 4 Feb
Book 2, ch. 1-35 (5 Feb-11 Mar)
BREAK, 12 March
Book 3, ch. 1-32 (13 Mar-13 Apr)
BREAK, 14 Apr
Book 4, ch. 1-23 (15 Apr-7 May)
BREAK, 8 May
Book 5, ch. 1-33 (9 May-10 Jun)
BREAK, 11 Jun
Book 6, ch. 1-32 (12 Jun-14 Jul)
BREAK, 15 Jul
Book 7, ch. 1-31 (16 Jul-15 Aug)
BREAK, 16 Aug
Book 8, ch. 1-29 (17 Aug-14 Sept)

Some info on different translations and editions in the links below. Maud, Aylmer and Pevear and Volonkhonsky all present once again.

Wikipedia here
Tolstoy Therapy
New York Times
Some thoughts on Pevear and Volonkhonsky contenting the Russian Lit market

For reasons best known to me (largely foolish) I decided look up and work it all out on my phone instead of laptop, so apologies for any inaccuracies, typos etc. I am certain I have forgotten something, got my numbering wrong somewhere, but hopefully broadly correct.

All that remains is to say welcome back to those who are remaining committed to Tolstoy, thank you to those who organised and helped the last read run smoothly and welcome, do come in to those joining.

p.s. I would love to see the covers of your books.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
32
Piggywaspushed · 25/02/2023 20:36

I say.

cassandre · 25/02/2023 22:09

Gosh, that's one sultry-looking Vronsky. 😀

Izfuzzy, your Kindle edition is missing the two rows of dots between chapters 10 and 11! It's not a normal three-dot ellipsis, it's two whole lines. Here is a bad photo of the page as it looks in my edition (also Pevear and Volokhonsky, Penguin Classics paperback).

Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023
cassandre · 25/02/2023 22:15

Piggywaspushed · 23/02/2023 17:09

I'm struck by how very un British AK is. I know that's ridiculous but it's so different. I can't think of too many 19th century British novels so fixated on the aristocracy as protagonists and so open about affairs . Victorians I guess did shame more. The Russians seemed saucier to me! I'm sure they both were in reality but Dostoevsky's lens is so different form Hardy or Dickens or Eliot. I don't even remember Thackeray being quite so gossipy, chatty and uncensorious. (I'm aware that bit will change but it's the open chatter about it that seems so striking)?

That's such an interesting point, Piggy! I suspect 19th c. French novels are perhaps more like the Russian ones in that they feature more aristocrats and more extramarital affairs! And presumably educated Russians of the day read a lot of French novels, like Vronsky in Ch 19. Though Anna is reading an English novel on the train in Part 1. I'd love to know which French and English novels Vronsky and Anna were reading!

Even in France today, extramarital affairs seem to me to be far more culturally acceptable than they are in the Anglophone world.

mrsmama · 26/02/2023 10:19

StColumbofNavron · 25/02/2023 20:26

@Piggywaspushed I’d like to point you in the direction of Google and the key words ‘Santiago Cabrera Vronsky’ - because THIS is 100% what I believe Vronsky looks like.

Completely agree! Best version of AK on TV

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 11:05

Absolutely agree, I’ve got much to say about adaptations but I think best saved for the end of the read when we have final, fully developed opinions and ideas about them all.

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mrsmama · 26/02/2023 11:20

StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 11:05

Absolutely agree, I’ve got much to say about adaptations but I think best saved for the end of the read when we have final, fully developed opinions and ideas about them all.

Thanks @StColumbofNavron , I agree, I understand that this is a readalong of the book. I wasn’t trying to start a discussion about the various adaptations. Your comment reminded me of the adaptation which I liked a lot, that’s all🙂

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 11:49

Oh no, I didn’t mean to imply that at all.

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mrsmama · 26/02/2023 12:02

StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 11:49

Oh no, I didn’t mean to imply that at all.

No worries, I just wanted to reassure you just in case you were thinking it, as that’s the 2nd time you’ve said that

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 13:42

Really just in case I’m spoilering 😀

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IsFuzzyBeagMise · 26/02/2023 13:43

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 ;)* *

SanFranBear · 26/02/2023 13:55

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!

Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 26/02/2023 15:03

I thought it was really distressing conducting their affair with Anna’s son there.

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DesdamonasHandkerchief · 26/02/2023 17:03

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.
MinervaRemus · 27/02/2023 13:11

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!

DesdamonasHandkerchief · 27/02/2023 13:11

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

DesdamonasHandkerchief · 27/02/2023 13:16

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

Buttalapasta · 27/02/2023 13:39

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!

Buttalapasta · 27/02/2023 13:42

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.

Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023
Original poster
StColumbofNavron · 27/02/2023 21:10

Buttalapasta · 27/02/2023 13:39

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!

Doesn’t that passage refer to her son being around, so he is doing it for decorum and not draw attention, but he obviously doesn’t feel cold towards to her, but cannot use a more intimate form and French provides the middle ground?

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Buttalapasta · 28/02/2023 06:18

@StColumbofNavron That makes sense!

Buttalapasta · 28/02/2023 06:19

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!

DesdamonasHandkerchief · 28/02/2023 11:16

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.
Piggywaspushed · 28/02/2023 12:54

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.

IsFuzzyBeagMise · 28/02/2023 13:37

Piggywaspushed · 28/02/2023 12:54

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.

😅exactly

cassandre · 28/02/2023 16:07

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