The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy Collection
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Anna Karenina - Week 01 / Part 1, Chapters I - XIV
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Gem wrote: "Week 1 covers the first half of Part 1 (Chapters I - XIV). So far, for me, this book is a lot easier to read than many other Russian Novels. Even though we haven't even met all the principal charac..."I'm reading the Constance Garnett translation. I didn't look too far into the different Russian translators this time, but I did when I started reading The Brothers Karamazov, and liked her translation the best. Even if it isn't the most technically accurate, her phrasing and style felt like they served the original text best.
The first line kind of seems to be saying that there is only one way in which a family can be happy, but many in which it can be unhappy. It makes happiness seem even more special and unattainable while there are any number of obstacles that cause unhappiness. But the way it's phrased almost seems to romanticize unhappiness, as if one's individual miseries and problems are what make them different from each other.
Stiva is more likeable than he otherwise could be. He knows he's committed a grave misdeed, and we learn how his unhappiness with his marriage guided his actions. Being in an unhappy marriage in the 19th century doesn't have an easy solution, but an affair isn't it, and I didn't really find anything wrong with Dolly's response to learning about it. It's not like she can have an affair with no consequences.
In general, I'm liking the book so far (I'm more like a third of the way in). Compared to most other 19th century books I've read, the subject matter, or the narration, feels far more raw. The characters are allowed to be troubled, vindictive, and jealous. It was a bit of a slow start for me, but since then, the pace has felt pretty steady and the translation is easily readable.
My wife and I recently finished a Librivox audio edition so I will commenting based upon my experience with that.Opening line - I think Tolstoy is saying people can make their own or their family's existence good or bad. It depends on their actions and the outcomes.
Stiva is a jerk. Dolly is in survival mode. I don't blame Dolly for wanting to be rid of him.
Stiva is a jerk -Ibid.
My favorite character is Levin. I think Tolstoy are presenting he and Stiva as opposite natures.
Kitty is my 2nd favorite. She is a very young woman as the novel opens. I think her initial feelings and actions are perfectly normal for a "child" of her age.
First off--congratulations, Gem!I like Eden am also reading the Constance Garnett translation. Prior to this I've read a 1961 translation by David Magarshack, a beloved childhood copy, which I did think about just dipping into again. But last year I discovered how much I enjoy Constance Garnett while reading the Pevear/Volokhonsky and Garnett translations of Chekhov stories back-to-back. I know the accuracy isn't the same, but I really admire Constance Garnett's massive accomplishments, given that she started from absolutely nothing (no Russian) and translated so much in her lifetime just because no one else had done it yet.
Also, the CG translation was a free download on my Kobo . . . and she did have such a pleasant way with words!
It took a few chapters for me to get into the story this time. I wasn't sure whether I was going to actually participate in the readalong; but after just a few chapters, I started to feel the warm embrace. I think I'll probably stick with the week-by-week schedule, as it feels like a good pace.
Something about the way Tolstoy set up the story irritated me a little bit last time I read it and I wondered if this would be the case again. Yes, indeed, I already find myself bristling a little bit (while remaining 100% committed to and loving the reading experience). I think it's too early to talk about this though. I guess I want to see if anyone else develops similar feelings.
Alice wrote: "Something about the way Tolstoy set up the story irritated me a little bit last time I read it and I wondered if this would be the case again. Yes, indeed, I already find myself bristling a little bit (while remaining 100% committed to and loving the reading experience). I think it's too early to talk about this though."Huuuuuh, curious about what it is, but until then I will speculate.
As an additional point, Levin is a hard character for me to pin down. At this point in the story, he seems single-minded and opinionated. His position isn't easily changed and he's certain it's the right one. Much of the time, it seems to be to his own detriment in combination with a lack of social understanding. He seems to be reserved most of the time, but when he meets a contradiction, he won't back down and plows far past the point where anyone cares to argue.The only one who seems to be able to question him is himself. His own doubts toward a marriage with Kitty, and his consequent actions, play a major role in his rejected offer of marriage to her.
I appreciate the different outlooks Stiva and Levin bring to each other. Stiva claims that Levin is "of a piece" and erroneously believes the world is the same way, while moral ambiguity is an alien concept to Levin, who finds it impossible to not act in accordance with his true feelings, which are morally right.
Eden wrote: "As an additional point, Levin is a hard character for me to pin down. At this point in the story, he seems single-minded and opinionated. His position isn't easily changed and he's certain it's the right one. . . .. . . while moral ambiguity is an alien concept to Levin, who finds it impossible not to act in accordance with his true feelings, which are morally right."
Indeed. I highlighted this, in chapter 11--Levin's response to the question of whether or not Oblonsky has some obligation to the governess whose life he has potentially ruined:
" . . . You know to me all women are divided into two classes . . . at least no . . . truer to say: there are women and there are . . . I've never seen exquisite fallen beings, and I never shall see them, but such creatures as that painted Frenchwoman at the counter with the ringlets are vermin to my mind, and all fallen women are the same." . . .
"However, I'm not saying so much what I think, as what I feel. I have a loathing for fallen women. You're afraid of spiders, and I of these vermin. Most likely you've not made any study of spiders and don't know their character; and so it is with me."
To be fair, on the next page Levin "recollected his own sins and the inner conflict he had lived through"; not much to mitigate the intolerance, but I guess it's something.
Hi everyone. And congratulations Gem! I’m loving AK so far. I’m reading the Rosamund Bartlett translation, which is one of the newer ones. I did a bit of research on characteristics of different translations, and this one was described as readable and as capturing Tolstoy’s changes in tone and his irony. These are two of the more helpful of the articles I looked at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/bo...
and
https://welovetranslations.com/2021/0...
I read the first sentence as kind of a thesis sentence that tells us that the book will be about families that differ in the ways they are troubled. It also seems to imply that because happy families are alike, they may be a bit boring compared to the unhappy ones. He then goes on to give us an example of one unhappy family, the Oblonskys.
Stiva seems like kind of a selfish jerk, and also as somewhat comical (he’s perceived as “likable” by his acquaintances for ridiculous reasons). Dolly is responding as one might expect—angry but trapped in her marriage.
Levin seems like a moralistic and judgmental guy, who tries to do the right thing. Somewhat rigid and awkward. The passage Alice quotes with his views on “fallen” women makes him a lot less likable than he might be otherwise. Kitty seems to care for Levin, but is bedazzled by Vronsky’s superficial charm. She’s choosing between the hardworking farmer and the handsome dashing soldier who flatters her. Given her age, it’s not hard to see how she chooses the way she does.
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Thank you Alice and Ceane!
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Yes, that double standard that women have dealt with throughout history.
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I had not picked up on that at all. You are absolutely right.
I can't imagine from what we know about Levin so far (this is my first read of this novel and I was careful not to read commentary that would tell me what happens) that he would be unfaithful. Maybe I'm romanticizing him but he seems to have a lot of character and integrity.
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Same here. The beginning was slow for me and I kept wondering when Anna Karenina was going to make an appearance. I assumed we'd meet her right off the bat given the title of the book.
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That is exactly what came to mind when I was reading her rejection of Levin's proposal. I was, in my head, yelling at her not to be stupid that he was a man of substance.
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Rosemarie wrote: "Do we know how old Kitty is?"She’s 18 (first sentence Ch. 12).
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I’m in the early chapters. The Oblonsky home is in upheaval. Dolly is understandably distressed. Stiva seems unhappy that she’s unhappy and unhappy that his home is in upheaval. At this stage, I don’t get the impression that Stiva has had an unhappy marriage. He seems to have been content with his home and family run by the woman he married. He just feels that since he is no longer physically attracted to her, he is justified in sleeping around, even with the woman hired to care for his children.
Stiva seems to have the careless selfishness of his class. Or maybe of a certain mindset. Dolly is the one who is trapped.
Ceane wrote: "Hi everyone. And congratulations Gem! I’m loving AK so far. I’m reading the Rosamund Bartlett translation, which is one of the newer ones. I did a bit of research on characteristics of different translations, and this one was described as readable and as capturing Tolstoy’s changes in tone and his irony..."I am reading the Rosamund Bartlett version too. It also has many footnotes explaining cultural things, contemporary events, notes on language, etc.
Previously I read the 1954 Penguin Classic by Rosemary Edmonds, and the Pevear-Volokhonsky. I liked the Edmonds much better because it flowed and used older British English; the Pevear seemed klunky to me, and sometimes sort of anachronistic with modern phrases, didn't feel (to me) like how they talked in the 1800s.
I might get an audio book too; good things about Maggie Gyllenhaal's version, although that seems to be another translation, Constance Garnett.
Do you think the French governess was pregnant, or did she just lose her position?Part 1 Chapter 11:
‘Yes, but joking aside,’ continued Oblonsky. ‘You have to understand that the woman is a sweet, gentle, affectionate creature who is poor and lonely, and has sacrificed everything. Now that the deed is done, you understand, I can hardly abandon her, can I? I’m presuming we will have to separate so as not to destroy family life, but how can I not feel sorry for her, make arrangements for her, and soften the blow?’
Gem wrote: "4) In Chapter V, we are given background into Stiva's character—he is described as "liked by all who knew him." Does he seem likable to you? Why or why not?"It is hard to reconcile his likability with how lowly he thinks of his wife (whose money and property he is frittering away!). I can do it, but it's hard. Stomach-clenching how he compares himself to her in Chapter 2 and 3!
Likability at the office:
Stepan Arkadyich had won not just the affection but also the respect of his colleagues, subordinates, superiors, and all those who came into contact with him. The principal qualities which had won Stepan Arkadyich this universal respect at work consisted firstly of his extraordinary forbearance towards people, which was based on an awareness of his own faults; secondly, his supremely liberal views, which were not оf the kind he found in the newspapers but the kind he had in his blood, and led him to treat all people, whatever their position and rank, completely equally and in the same way;
Kitty needed to read this book: Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough and think about what makes for a good long-term relationship rather than surface stuff. Of course, she was only 18! Understandable that she did not. Stuck in that year, the culture, the religion. OK she couldn't go to college or have her own career, but could they at least let her play the field and enjoy going to balls for a few years?! (NO.)
Hi Bonnie,Glad to read your comments. I thought the same about the French governess. Was she pregnant? I think she could be. She appears in the story, and next moment she’s gone. Tolstoy does not delve much on her.
I just assumed that she was pregnant. If she weren’t, it seems far less likely that Oblonsky would worry about providing for her (which he does do, or at least seriously considers—there’s a conversation with Levin about his obligations to her—right?)
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Part 1 Chapter 11:
‘Yes, but joking aside,’ continued Oblonsky. ‘You have to understand that the woman is a swe..."
Good question, I didn't pick that up.
What a wonderful first line for a novel, and what an excellent introduction it forms for the content…all about families and relationships. Then we are immediately launched into the situation at the Oblonsky’s. The intimacy and immediacy of the scene are immediately striking. It is as if we are not only flies upon the wall, but mind readers as well, with the insights we are given into the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Oblonsky is like the child caught with his hand in the cookie jar…he is not really sorry for his misdemeanour, but sorry that he was caught. He does feel some pity towards his wife, but also wonders why she couldn’t have been a bit more lenient towards him.
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1) Which translation are you reading? If you had a choice between different translations why did you choose the one you did?
2) The many great novels announce their themes on the first page or so. Tolstoy does so in one of the most famous first lines ever written: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its way." This can be interpreted in a number of ways. What do you think Tolstoy means by this?
3) Early in Part I, we meet the Oblonsky family in the middle of a very tumultuous situation: Stiva has admitted to his wife Dolly that he has had an affair after she found a letter revealing his secret. What are your first impressions of Stiva, Dolly, and their household? How do you feel about Dolly's assertion that she can no longer live in the same house with her husband?
4) In Chapter V, we are given background into Stiva's character—he is described as "liked by all who knew him." Does he seem likable to you? Why or why not?
5) Talk about your first impressions of Levin and your thoughts on his friendship with Stiva.
6) When we meet Kitty, she is tangled in an interesting web of courtship with two men. Do you get the sense that Kitty will make a good decision for herself? Do you feel she acts "rightly" towards Levin? What does the author say that's interesting about each of the men and Kitty's feelings about them?