The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
This topic is about
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy Collection
>
Anna Karenina - Week 05 / Part 3, Chapters I- XVI
date
newest »
newest »
Gem wrote: "2) How do you feel about the fact that Levin has taken on the work of a laborer, mowing right along with the muzhiks? . . . 3) Levin's brother Sergei comes to visit him in the country. What do you think about their interactions? . . . "This part of the book is just so interesting to me. Levin's mowing really stands out, and I think it's part of what makes the book as a whole so powerful. The way Levin's world is described all the way along is powerful: for instance, there's a passage in Chapter 2 of this section describing the fields and everything in them at a point in late summer where there's no work left to do, but no harvesting yet to do either. The specificity and detail of Tolstoy's description of the countryside at this time, and of the mowing scenes that ensue a few pages later, are just extraordinary.
I think part of it too, besides the landscape description, is tapping into a mind/body experience we're more used to hearing about in modern sports contexts than in 19th century novels. Levin clearly enters some sort of flow state while mowing and continues with altered consciousness through the subsequent night. The physicality, and surrender to an experience that isn't language-based, feel pretty unique in this context to me, possibly because most of the people writing novels in the 19th century might not have had exertional experiences like these, and therefore might not have been capable of describing them. (Ahem. Time for Alice to go read the thread on Tolstoy and find out how he managed to know about this.)
The differing views of the two brothers on social services for peasants are also fascinating. In the early chapters of this section, we learn that Levin does not believe in social services (like medicine and education) for peasants and that the root of this view is a lack of benefit to him personally from such services. His brother, on the other hand, supports social services for the peasant class; but the way he articulates this support is demeaning and othering to members of that class. Levin ascribes agency to the peasants but wants to give them nothing. His brother, while ready to give, seems to perceive the recipients of assistance as less than fully human. Neither one of them, in my opinion, is seeing the whole picture: a group of capable humans who could benefit from access to the same sorts of opportunities they themselves have both enjoyed.
Alice wrote: "Gem wrote: "2) How do you feel about the fact that Levin has taken on the work of a laborer, mowing right along with the muzhiks? . . . 3) Levin's brother Sergei comes to visit him in the country. ..."Thanks for this Alice—your response to this section has enriched my understanding of it in relation to Levin’s relationship to the land. And yes—while it seems in one way that he cares less about the peasants because he doesn’t want to provide services, he is actually showing more respect for them as human beings.
Levin's return to the "earth" is a seminal plot of this Tolstoy work. I think his communing with his workers is important. It provides Levin with a sense of humility and his workers with a sense of importance.
What does everyone think about reading a Russian novel given that Russia has invaded Ukraine? Is there a conflict of interest? Does it make you fell an unease?Unfortunately, I think it taints my appreciation of Tolstoy.
I think these two things have no relation to one another.
Yes I agree—reading Tolstoy in no way equates to support for the horrific situation, not on any level; and yet, I can also understand the experience of the whole readalong feeling tainted. I’ve wondered whether that might not be why the discussions have seemed to slow down recently. For me, Tolstoy’s Russia is distant enough from the 21st century to feel very separate. But our reactions to what we’re seeing on the news are visceral, individual, and complicated. I can absolutely see why this might make the readalong problematic for humans living on planet Earth today.
Mod
Also, Putin is not Russia, and many Russians of today disagree with his war.
But by that logic, the Russian empire of Tolstoy's time did some horrible things. As did the Britain of the Victorian period, as well as other European countries who were violently colonizing other countries. The US of that time had slavery, then the Civil War, then the Jim Crow era. We wouldn't have any literature left to read if we decided not to read it because of what the author's country was doing.
Mod
I never thought of the connection between "runner's high" and what Levin was experiencing. Good point. I was seeing this more as a way of him connecting with the workers and learning/feeling some empathy. But you nailed it... his mind was elsewhere.
Mod
Unfortunately, I think it taints my appreciation of Tolstoy."
I never thought about this tbh. No, it doesn't make me feel uneasy. I've learned through my life not to make one pay for the sins of another. Tolstoy has nothing to do with what is going on in the world today. But I'm biased, I love Russian literature. Not sure why, maybe because the only thing I remember my father reading was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Mod
Not to mention the evil that the white man inflicted on the Native Americans. And later in history on the Japanese with internment camps.
People can be evil, to me literature isn't... unless it's propaganda and can be seen for what it is/was and how it fits into history.
Gem you wrote:4). On the road, Levin and Kitty see each other for the first time after his proposal. Tolstoy writes, "There were no other eyes in the world like those. There was no other being in the world capable of concentrating for him all the light and meaning of life." What do you think of this passage, and Levin's feelings towards Kitty despite what has passed between them?
5) What do you think about the fact that Karenin considers and rejects the possibility of a duel with Vronsky for Anna? Do you think the fact that he initially decides on divorce instead is reasonable? What do you think of his letter to Anna? Is it possible for him to pretend like nothing has happened? Can Anna pretend? How with this change the core of their relationship?
#4) Levin's devotion to Kitty is sincere. It is true love. Not an infatuation compared with Anna & Vronsky.
#5) I think Karenin is grasping at straws and he will do anything to potentially save his marriage. I think Tolstoy writing of a potential reconciliation is very personal.
One thing I've always wondered is who did Tolstoy model the character Anna on? Who are the real person or persons that became Anna?
1) What is your opinion about Levin's nurse and housekeeper Agafya? Do you think her presence is positive or negative for him?
2) How do you feel about the fact that Levin has taken on the work of a laborer, mowing right along with the muzhiks? Does this endear him to you as a character? How do you think the muzhiks thought/felt about it? Does this take away from his position as the boss in their eyes? Or add to it?
3) Levin's brother Sergei comes to visit him in the country. What do you think about their interactions? Do you get the feeling that one or the other of them is a stronger or more "noble" man? What specifically gives you that impression?
4). On the road, Levin and Kitty see each other for the first time after his proposal. Tolstoy writes, "There were no other eyes in the world like those. There was no other being in the world capable of concentrating for him all the light and meaning of life." What do you think of this passage, and Levin's feelings towards Kitty despite what has passed between them?
5) What do you think about the fact that Karenin considers and rejects the possibility of a duel with Vronsky for Anna? Do you think the fact that he initially decides on divorce instead is reasonable? What do you think of his letter to Anna? Is it possible for him to pretend like nothing has happened? Can Anna pretend? How with this change the core of their relationship?