Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

[StColumbofNavron]

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.

I know! You could almost hear Levin thinking, 'Bloody hell.. don't I have enough to do running this place!'

17/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 5

•	After lunch, Levin started mowing next to an old man, and a newly married young man who just and was mowing for the first time.
•	The longer Levin mows, the better he gets at it.
•	

Occasionally, the three have to shift their movements to accommodate areas in the landscape. The old man does this easily, while Levin and the young peasant have trouble.
•
When it's time for dinner, peasant children bring over food for the men.
•
• Levin sits with them and eats some of the old man's dinner. The two men chat about their lives, and Levin feels closer to the old man than he does to his own brother.
• Levin then has a nap. When he sits up, Levin is impressed by how much he and the other men have mowed. He wants to mow even more.
•
They continue mowing. They make it their goal to finish mowing Mashka's Knoll, with vodka as an incentive to finish the job.

😂Indeed.

And yes CornishLizard, the brother is the definition of an armchair academic.

18/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 6

•	Levin is excited when he goes home that night, bragging to his brother that they finished mowing the whole meadow, and that he's made a great friend in the old man.

•	Koznyshev's first reaction is that Levin needs to close the door—he's letting flies into the house. But he's happy to see his brother in such good spirits after his Arbeitskur, or "work cure" mowing with his men.

•	The two brothers eat, and Koznyshev mentions that Oblonsky has sent a letter to Levin.

•	The letter asks Levin to help Dolly on her country estate in Yergushovo.
•	
•	Levin asks Koznyshev about his day, and Koznyshev replies that he solved two chess problems and thought about their argument last night.

•	Koznyshev says that the main disagreement between him and Levin is that Levin takes personal interest as the primary incentive to do stuff, while Koznyshev feels that education gives people an investment in the common good.

•	Koznyshev presents his conclusions to a completely inattentive Levin, who is still gloating about mowing the entire meadow. All he's worried about is that Koznyshev will ask him some question that shows he hasn't been paying attention.

•	Levin realizes that he forgot to ask about Miss Agatha's arm, which, Koznyshev says, is much better. Levin runs to check on her.

19/03/23

Part 3, Chapter 7

•	Oblonsky is in Petersburg, reminding the Ministry of his existence.

•	Dolly has taken the children to the country in order to cut down on expenses.

•	Earlier, Dolly had asked Oblonsky to check out the house in Yergushovo and make necessary repairs.

•	Oblonsky flubbed it, and Dolly has been stressed ever since arriving. Dolly relies on Matrona, the children's nurse, who manages to get hens, milk and better furniture.
•	
•	Within a week, life became much more comfortable.

•	Dolly still has to worry about her six children's health and well-being, but that's fine. If she couldn't worry about her children, then she would have to think about her loveless marriage.

•	She feels happy and proud of her children.

I'm sorry I haven't contributed much of late but I'm reading along and loving this book so much.

I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter where Levin took to mowing - for what was an incredibly dry subject, Tolstoy brought it so to life and I was almost sad when his day was done.. beautiful story telling!

I will try to catch up with you all more as I got so much out of the War & Peace thread. That said, I very much prefer this to W&P which surprises me... but perhaps because there are a lot less characters, I'm finding I'm really invested! Long may it continue!

Yes I agree SanFran - who would have thought that a chapter about mowing a meadow could be so absorbing!

I love the mowing! Really fantastic writing.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

We’ve all been there!!

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

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.

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!)

Yes, I instantly of MN when I read that!

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.

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 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.

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 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!