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.

3rd August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 19

•	Before Oblonsky leaves, Anna's son Seryozha (now called Master Sergius or Sergei Alexeich) comes into the room.
•	Oblonsky remembers that Anna asked him to see the boy.
•	Karenin tells Oblonsky not to mention Anna. He says the boy was ill for a time after his mother's unexpected visit, but that going to school has been extremely beneficial for him.
•	The boy looks healthy, happy, and handsome, but he's not at all keen to talk to Oblonsky.
•	
•	It's been a year since Seryozha saw his mother, and he's tamped down all the associated memories and emotions, considering them fit for girls, not boys. He resigns himself to the idea that he has to live with his father, and considers his sentiments for his mother to be shameful.
•	Thus, it's really unpleasant for Seryozha to see his uncle because Oblonsky resembles Anna, and it calls up those feelings for her that he now considers humiliating.
•	Seryozha tries to avoid his uncle, but Oblonsky follows Seryozha out of the room and makes idle conversation for a little bit. Finally Oblonsky can't help asking if Seryozha remembers his mother. Seryozha answers in the negative, blushing. Of course he remembers, but he doesn't want to talk about it.
•	Half an hour later, Seryozha's tutor finds him on the staircase. He was either crying or in a bad mood. Seryozha yells at the world, asking why it matters if he remembers his mother.

That's a really good point, Fuzzy, about Dolly asserting her financial independence.

Poor Seryozha in today's chapter!

4th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 20

•	Oblonsky takes full advantage of the pleasures of Petersburg, which he finds liberating in comparison to those of Moscow.
•	In particular, Oblonsky likes the Petersburg attitude towards money: large debts are not a problem.
•	Oblonsky pays Princess Betsy a call, and goes a little too far in his flirtations. (In other words, the man either has to make a move or risk insulting Betsy.) Luckily Princess Myagky drops in and inquires after Anna, saying that she's entirely on Anna's side.
•	
•	Oblonsky tells Princess Myagky of Karenin's response to requests for a divorce, and the Princess tells Oblonsky that Karenin's decision will rest on Jules Landau, a celebrated clairvoyant.
•	Apparently Countess Lydia and Karenin make all their decisions after consulting him.

I thought Karenin would be too cerebral to go along with that kind of quackery.
He's easily influenced all the same.

I've struggled a bit recently with reading a chapter a day so I decided to go ahead and finish. I'll catch up with the chat at the end!

There's not too much left now!
Part 8 seems quite short.

5th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 21

•	Oblonsky arrives at Countess Lydia's a little late. Karenin and Landau are already there.
•	Oblonsky plans to ask Countess Lydia also to drop hints to the appropriate people about his suitability for the committee post.
•	They converse about religion. Landau is not included in the conversation, because he's nodding off in a corner (the book has also informed us that his cognitive ability may be somewhat impaired).
•	Oblonsky's starting to get nervous with all of this talk about salvation, because he considers himself a free thinker (and thus, not a religious man). But he doesn't want to offend Lydia because, with one word to Pomorsky, she could get him that cabinet post he wants. So he compromises by saying that sometimes, people may not be able to achieve this pure belief Lydia's advocating.
•	
•	Lydia brushes this off, saying that pure believers cannot be guilty of sin, because their sins have already been redeemed.
•	Lydia gets up to read a text (in English): Safe and Happy, or Under the Wing, a piece of pious mysticism. According to Lydia, it proves that anyone who believes wholly in God can never be unhappy, because she is never truly alone.

6th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 22

•	Oblonsky is confused by the strangeness of the conversation, and keeps dozing off as Countess Lydia reads. Finally Countess Lydia says, "he's asleep," but she is referring to Landau, not Oblonsky.
•	Without opening his eyes, Landau says that the person who arrived last, the person who wants something, should leave.
•	Oblonsky is so uncomfortable that he forgets to ask about either his cabinet post or his sister's divorce, and just gets out of there.
•	He heads to the French Theater, where he feels much more comfortable.
•	
•	The next day he gets a letter from Karenin definitely ruling out divorce. Oblonsky is certain that this is thanks to whatever Landau might have said in his "sleep."

7th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 23

•	The narrator tells us that, for anything to be accomplished in a household, husband and wife must either be in total disagreement or perfect harmony.
•	Anna and Vronsky are in an indeterminate stage, so nothing is accomplished, although they both want to leave Moscow and take up residence in the country.
•	Anna believes that Vronsky's love has diminished, while Vronsky believes that she's doing nothing to ease the poor social and professional situation that he has put himself into for her sake.
•	
•	Anna is insanely jealous, reasoning that if his love for her has lessened, part of it must be lavished on some other woman or women.
•	Her biggest fear is that he might marry someone else. This fear was prompted when Vronsky told her that his mother was trying to set him up with some young princess.
•	Anna constantly loses her temper with Vronsky, blaming him for everything about her situation. To her, even his tenderness takes on a bored, complacent tone.
•	Earlier in the day, Anna and Vronsky had fought over Anna's education of Hannah, the little English girl that she has taken under her wing. Finally Vronsky calls her interest in Hannah "unnatural."
•	This sends Anna into a tailspin, because she sees it as a direct attack on the world she has built for herself while in Moscow.
•	Vronsky spends the following day away from home. Anna reasons with herself as she waits for him, concluding that they need to go to the country. She reassures herself that he loves her and that she loves him, and that the divorce will come any day now. She orders her trunks packed.

8th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 24

•	Anna and Vronsky are in a good mood, but it rapidly degenerates when they argue over when to leave for the country.
•	Anna is adamant that they leave on Monday or never. Her anger is fueled by the fact the Vronsky must visit his mother, with whom a certain young princess is staying.
•	In the midst of their argument, Anna says that respect was invented to hide the empty place where love ought to be.
•	Anna argues that all she wants is his love, and Vronsky argues that he has sacrificed everything for her.
•	Anna leaves the room, believing everything to be finished since she no longer has Vronsky's love.
•	
•	Anna tries to figure out her next move, finally deciding that only her death would secure Vronsky's love and suffering. She fantasizes about Vronsky's feelings after her imagined death.
•	Vronsky comes into her room, agreeing to everything.
•	Anna bursts into tears, telling Vronsky that he doesn't love her, and that she gives him his freedom.
•	Vronsky reassures her tenderly, weeping. Anna's jealousy turns into tenderness.

Poor Anna. These are difficult chapters to read. (I've read to the end of the section).

Yes, I also read ahead a bit (because I'm on holiday and didn't want to take the heavy tome with me!) and I also found these chapters painful, especially Anna's suicidal ideation 😥

9th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 25

•	The next morning, Anna begins making preparations for their departure.
•	Vronsky comes in to let Anna know that he's taking off to see his mother about some business.
•	This sours Anna's mood a little.
•	Her mood gets worse when a telegram is brought in for Vronsky and she imagines that he's concealing its contents from her. It turns out to be from Oblonsky, but Anna begins imagining that Vronsky communicates with imagined lovers via telegram.
•	Anna picks a fight, then insults his mother.
•	
•	Yashvin arrives. and Anna suppresses all her emotions in an effort to be civil to him. They chat about Yashvin's gambling habit. He says that he gambles in an effort to strip his opponent of the shirt off his back, and that his opponent does the same—and that's fun.
•	Vronsky, who has been dealing with the sale of one of his stallions, stops by Anna's room before leaving the house again. Her lip is trembling and she seems to be on the verge of tears, but she greets him coldly. She refuses to say what's wrong, and he effectively washes his hands of the situation.
•	Vronsky leaves the house, and when he returns, he finds that Anna has told her maid to tell Vronsky not to stop in to see her.

10th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 26

•	Anna is steadily losing it.
•	This is the first time that Anna and Vronsky have an argument that lasts all day.
•	Anna listens for Vronsky to come in, and hears him go to bed rather than check up on her. This convinces her that their relationship is at an end.
•	Anna believes that death is the only way to rekindle his love and punish him at the same time. She no longer cares about obtaining a divorce.
•	Anna takes some morphine, lies down in bed, and fantasizes a bit about how Vronsky would regret his treatment of Anna if she died. Then she feels a sudden terror at the idea of death and goes in search of Vronsky.
•	
•	She finds him sleeping in his study and she looks at him with love in her eyes.
•	The next morning, Anna dreams of the peasant with the matted beard speaking in senseless French. Again, he is doing something with iron that she cannot fully understand but that fills her with terror.
•	Anna wakes up and feels calmer.
•	But she loses it again when she witnesses a young girl delivering a package to Vronsky. It turns out that the young girl is the princess that Vronsky's mother wants him to marry.
•	She runs to his study. He asks him how her head is doing this morning, but Anna just stares at him gloomily.
•	He tells her that it's impossible to live like this.
•	Anna says that he will regret this and leaves.
•	Vronsky almost runs after her, but then convinces himself that he's tried everything but ignoring her. So he ignores her.
•	He leaves in the carriage.
•	Anna hears someone run upstairs again, but it turns out to be his valet fetching a pair of forgotten gloves. Vronsky receives the gloves and drives away from the house.

Does anyone else think Anna may have post partum depression? Or am I just being a bit thick and missing something?

Wow, InTheCludgie, I hadn't thought of that, but it certainly makes sense.

In any case it seems to me that she is certainly suffering from depression, whether postpartum or not. We've been able to see it gradually building up over time, with her trying to self-medicate with morphine and so on.

I just want to reach out across time and get her a therapist or a good friend or a good doctor; she seems so alone.

It's a good suggestion. You would wonder if she hadn't become pregnant if it would have been different. It's hard to say. Her developing paranoia is very worrying; how it completely takes over her view of the world.

11th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 27

•	Anna is filled with horror, convinced that he is gone forever.
•	She sends the coachman with a note for Vronsky, saying that she's to blame and asking him to come back because she's afraid.
•	Afraid to be alone, she goes to the nursery, and is startled when, instead of Seryozha, she is confronted by a plump little girl whose laughter reminds her of Vronsky.
•	Anna looks at the clock, estimating that Vronsky has already received the note.
•	She decides that when he returns, he can't see that she's been crying. She wants to put her appearance in order, but can't remember if she brushed her hair or not.
•	
•	Anna feels her hair. It has been brushed, but she doesn't trust the evidence of her hands. She goes to a mirror. It's brushed.
•	She doesn't recognize the face staring back at her from the mirror. She recalls Vronsky's kisses all over her body and shudders.
•	She realizes that she's going out of her mind.
•	Anna enters her bedroom, where Annushka is cleaning.
•	She doesn't know what to say, but the maid prompts her. Anna had planned to go to Dolly's.
•	Anna's thoughts are still with Vronsky. Why hasn't he come back yet?
•	The messenger returns. He wasn't able to catch Vronsky, and he hands back her note.
•	Anna looks at the note, confused, before realizing that Vronsky obviously didn't receive it. She instructs the messenger to take the note to Countess Vronsky's.
•	She decides to go to Dolly's house, but before she leaves, she writes a telegram to Vronsky asking him to return at once.
•	Anna dresses, then, crying, asks Annushka for advice. The maid tells her that she will feel better once she leaves.
•	She takes the carriage to the Oblonskys' house.

12th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 28

•	On the way to Dolly's house, Anna has a long, rambling, disjointed internal monologue. Now that she's out in the daylight, everything seems less dire, and she's embarrassed at the way that she basically threw herself desperately at Vronsky. She remembers scenes from her childhood and, observing children together on the street, muses that they do not realize how joyless and low love is. She has now decided that losing Seryozha means that she has lost everything. She wants to leave Vronsky, even though leaving a second man will make her seem doubly to blame. She prepares herself to tell Dolly everything.
•	When Anna arrives, she asks the hall porter if there are any other visitors, and learns that Kitty is also in the house. Her heart is stung by the memory that Vronsky was once interested in Kitty.
•	
•	Dolly comes out alone to receive Anna.
•	Anna asks to read the letter that Karenin wrote to Oblonsky regarding a divorce from Anna.
•	After Dolly leaves, Anna thinks about Kitty, feeling unhappy. She realizes that any respectable woman would consider it degrading to meet her.
•	When Dolly comes back with the letter, which she interprets optimistically, Anna reads it with no comment.
•	Anna then asks why Kitty is hiding.
•	Dolly lies, saying that Kitty is nursing her child.
•	Kitty actually comes out of the nursery at this point, having been convinced by Dolly that she should greet Anna.
•	Kitty was experiencing a struggle between hostility and indulgence, but when she sees Anna, all her hostility flies away. She feels sorry for Anna.
•	Anna informs Kitty spitefully that she likes Levin.
•	After Anna leaves, Kitty tells Dolly that Anna is just as attractive, but now seems to be a pathetic person.
•	Dolly says that Anna seemed odd, like she was about to cry.

13th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 29

•	Anna gets in the carriage feeling even worse. She feels that Kitty insulted and rejected her, and that she's jealous of Anna's exchange with Levin. A man raises his hat to Anna, thinking that she is an acquaintance, and Anna reflects that all of her relationships are like that: no one knows her, not even Anna herself. She finds everything vile, that life is all a struggle and a lie.
•	Anna is relieved, however, that she didn't spill her heart to Dolly. She feels that Dolly would have rejoiced that Anna got her just desserts.
•	Anna falls into another internal monologue. She feels the full truth of what Yashvin said about wanting to strip the other man of the shirt off his back. She believes that all humans want to hurt each other as much as possible.
•	
•	When Anna returns home, there is a telegram from Vronsky, informing her that the earliest he can return is ten o'clock.
•	Anna is infuriated, not realizing that he only received her telegram and not her note. Imagining him making small talk with his mother and the young eligible princess, she resolves to go to him herself.
•	She is revolted by her surroundings, and immediately sets to packing with no intention of returning to the house.
•	She gets into the carriage and orders it to the railway station.

14th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 30

•	On her way to the station, Anna projects her own situation and feelings onto all the interactions she witnesses—she believes there is no hope for anyone.
•	Anna reflects on the arc of her relationship to Vronsky, and decides that the zest is gone. He no longer looks at her in hopeful admiration. Anna believes he will be happy to see her leave.
•	Anna perceives her love as growing increasingly stronger, while Vronsky's love is gradually disappearing.
•	Anna believes that Vronsky's love, tenderness, and faithfulness all come out of a sense of duty, which she finds to be unacceptable.
•	
•	Anna tries to imagine a situation in which she would be happy. She can't.
•	They reach the station and the coachman asks if he should procure a ticket. Anna hands him her purse.
•	Anna goes and sits in the first-class lounge. She watches all the people scurrying back and forth and finds them all repulsive.

Just read today's.

Wait! What?? There's 50 pages to go still!!

IMO this is where Tolstoy loses the plot, it was the same with W&P. He doesn’t need to go on, but he does. <glances at TWO epilogues>

15th August
Anna Karenina Part 7, Chapter 31

•	The coachman hands Anna her ticket. She boards the train.
•	Anna looks at all the people and finds them all disgusting. She transfers to a different seat so she doesn't have to see them, but outside the window she instead sees a grimy peasant bent over the wheels, who looks vaguely familiar. It's the muzhik from her dreams. She recalls him with horror.
•	Anna continues to despise everyone around her.
•	Anna keeps trying to imagine a happy life, but she can't break free of the idea that life is essentially torture. Even the little girl she sees on the platform seems ugly and insincere.
•	
•	Anna continues feeling as if all the people around her are deliberately torturing her with their presence.
•	On the platform, Michael, her first messenger, finds her and hands her a note from Vronsky. It expresses regret that her note didn't catch him in time, and tells her that he'll be back at ten o'clock. Anna sees that it was written in a careless hand.
•	She dismisses Michael, and walks along the platform confused and lonely. Suddenly, she recalls the guard who died on the day she met Vronsky, and realizes what she has to do.
•	She descends from the platform and approaches an incoming train.
•	Anna watches the wheels carefully, ready to time her jump. Her red handbag gets in the way.
•	On the second pass of the train's wheels, Anna's timing is better. She flings away her handbag and sinks to her knees under the onrushing train.

Poor Anna 😥