First line

[Ani Elizaveta]

Hello, lovelies! Here we go! As we begin this journey together, I thought it would be fitting to start with the very first line of Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

What is your impression of this proclamation made by Tolstoy? Do you agree with it? What do you think Tolstoy wanted to express to his audience?

[Lauren]

I read this book ages ago and literally remember one thing that happened (the ending) so I'm re-reading it to hopefully get more out of it this time around and possibly gain a new perspective (I remember not loving it) or have my previous feeling solidified. So I've heard this opening line before. It's iconic; along the same lines as "it was the best of times. It was the worst of times" but I didn't remember it was from Anna Karenina! I told you I remembered nothing! I feel like it's saying there are countless ways to be unhappy - finances, infidelity to name a couple. And we are going to be meeting a lot of unhappy families. I will be diving in more once I finish up my current read.

[Ani Elizaveta]

Lauren wrote: "I read this book ages ago and literally remember one thing that happened (the ending) so I'm re-reading it to hopefully get more out of it this time around and possibly gain a new perspective (I re..."

I am on the same page as you -- pointing out that it's a very iconic line is important here because it makes it universal. With a line like that, alone, Tolstoy is able to already connect with his audience and remind them about how very similar we are in our human nature, in our relationships with one another, in how we establish and maintain families, etc.

I think, in essence, this phrase is suggestive of the idea that it only takes an absence of one criterion (like physical attraction or financial issues) out of a multitude for there to be unhappiness brewing.

A little tangential, but Aristotle had this same idea going when he wrote that people can fail in a number of ways but can succeed in one (which is why it's easier to fail than to succeed, to be a bad person rather than good).

It makes me wonder, though, if we'll be encountering stories of families in this book that live up to this sweeping statement. Was Tolstoy being earnest here or merely ironic? Couldn't we also be able to show that all unhappy families are alike? They have the same issues always at the center of the crisis -- some of which were mentioned above (financial situations, infidelity, etc..). It's always the same plotline, no? And it's not just contained in soap operas and melodramatic series. Just wondering.