Update on Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I have been vaguely depressed all day and I think it is Leo Tolstoy's fault. This audio book is beautifully done. The reader is wonderful and they have brought in classical music between some chapters that set the mood wonderfully. It feels so Russian, so 19th century... just what I thought Tolstoy would be.
But, gee, these characters do the dumbest things. Anna loses her head and has an affair. Sigh. Her husband is not very good at expressing himself (I wish I could see his outcome in a Meyer Briggs personality test!), so Anna just thinks he is a dud, when all he needs is a bit of TLC. Her lover seems to be great, but adds fuel to the fire. The the husband decides he no longer loves their son due to how much he now loaths Anna so will take the son in the divorce just to spite her.
This could be Court TV.
But, it is set in romantic Russian aristocracy. So, it is elegent. But, it is still depressing. Sigh. Just people making the same dumb mistakes over and over.
But, I am drawn to the book. In another plot a quiet man who almost lost his love to the same guy to is having the fling with Anna is winning his love. He also decided to work 'with the peasants' on the harvest and is loving the hard work with the sythe. Is that how you spell sythe? It is the thing they mow the grass with by swinging the blade. The imagery is really neat.
Also this book is abridged, which drives me crazy. They will switch to a new chapter, and I can just feel Tolstoy's pen being taken from his hand... just from what I read I can tell he must have had pages and pages more in that scece that has been discarded for breviety. But the music almost makes up for it.
So, off to finish Anna. I hope they get smarter, but have a feeling they won't.
posted by Cindy at 9:58 PM
10 Comments:
What I like about Anna Karenina is that one sees the slow decline of her character - how one bad choice leads to another and where she could have made a different choice - but didn't. How the little things seep into our souls.
Tolstoy did not romanticize infidelity or immorality - but let us see it all via Anna's character. In contrast is the novel The French Lieutenant's Woman - the woman and her action are kind of immortalized and given greater virtue than the Victorian society.
Anyway, let me know what you think as you get more into the book! lol!
Prepare yourself. AK has one of the most depressing endings in the history of literature. I'm not spoiling anything here; you're already anticipating it.
Naxos audio books are fantastic! They do such a fine job, particularly with the music.
Thanks for the comments. This is my first foray in to Tolstoy. I guess I was surprised that the characters were making the same mistakes we see today... but why should I be surprised? I think the tone is so beautiful.. but underlying it is the same human weaknesses.
Interesting, Leonie-- you are right, he does not romanticize it. The characters seem very real, as far as I think they would be in Russia back then. And they are suffering from their mistakes. Though I feel sorry for her little boy - at this point in the book, Anna has chosen her lover over her son. Double Sigh.
And Leslie.. thanks for the warning. No wonder I am depressed! Maybe I should wait for these dreary rainy days to end before I read the rest. Maybe I will do something happy for a while---- I do appreciate the warning.
Today at Barnes and Noble I saw a copy of the full novel. It is very long. I think they must have chopped a lot from this abridgement. But, I agree, Leslie, they do a beautiful job with the music.
Do either of you recommend any other Tolstoy? Is this pretty representive of his work?
I've never been a Tolstoy fan, nor much of a fan of Russian lit in general. That said, I like Dostoyevsky better than Tolstoy. There have been many books written about D's religious themes, most notably concerning The Brothers Karamazov.
Tolstoy's male characters are always going about emoting. I hate emotional men! So my own character deficiencies may be fueling my dislike of a very important figure in world literature.
Interestingly, my husband loves Tolstoy. I got him a book of T's collected stories for Christmas one year. :)
Hi Leslie-
This is interesting.. I haven't noticed the men emoting too much in the book. Though it did seem to me that Anna's dh was dismissed by her and others as being a bit of a slug because he could not express his feelings. But, with this abridged edition, I wonder if I have missed some key passages.
I am at the part where Anna is unraveling more.. she and Vronky and beginning to fall apart. They are mis-communicating and thinking the worst of each other. Getting angry over things that do not exist, then showing that contempt, thus fueling the other person to dislike them. Wow- I must admit that Tolstoy has human nature down to a tee. How many relationships have gone through this to some degree?
They need to read Imitation of Christ.. lol- my book of the year.
But, back to emoting... it does seem that Tolstoy is emphasising that if you don't express your feelings you will be mis-understood. Is that what you mean?(You know me and that I am no expert in literature or analysis... just wondering.)
Levin is also not good at showing his emotions. It did seem that T was putting Vronsky on a pedistal. Kind of like how extroverts are revered in our culture, too.
But, I see what you mean about Anna making a mess of things. A tangled web we weave. I picture her.. sitting in Moscow in the heat and dust with Vronksy. Angry at him for things he has not done, him angry at her for being angry-- she has sacrificed her dh and son.. and now is lost- due to all her bad decsions. So sad.
Now I am glad this is abridged... I want to finish!
Cindy, my older sons and I have read some of Tolstoy and Dostovesky ( sp?). We refer to them as those depressing Russian authors! lol!
Tolstoy always brings in isses and difficult situations. His writing just draws me in. But not happy, happy reading, iykwim>
Leonie-
I know exactly what you mean. I will have to get Luke's opinion, too. Tell him to post when he has time.. lol
But, the writing does draw me in. Again, I am feeling the pinch of the abridged version. I wonder, too, if different translations make a difference? This book has used a certain phrase several times:
"She (he) blushed to the roots of her hair." Interesting! Did Tolstly really write that? Maybe that is what Lit majors do... analyze differnt translations of foriegn books? Just had me thinking.
Another thought about this book- at the beginning it seemed AK was presented as being so sane and comepetent. She saved the relationship of Dolly (I think?) an dStevie? But she is turning into a very irrational person... her own demons are taking over and she is imgagining things. Not to be indelicate, but today Andrea Yates pic was again in the Houston front page headlines and I think about how her interior life got out of control. Tolstoy seems to be taking us there.. unless things change soon...
Hi Cindy,
I'm in Sydney for the weekend, so have taken the opportunity to post. :)
While I've never really got around to doing much reading of T or D (I do mean to eventually, it's just taking me a while...), they both seem to be in the Russian school of novelists who try to give a picture of reality as it is, but also illustrate the deeper truths of human nature through their writings.
In that regard, AK sounds v much like Graham Greene's novel "The Heart of the Matter". This novel is about the destruction of personality through an accumulation of small choices, each reversible and of small significance, but adding up to a complete change of life direction - for the worse, too. Naturally, it's also quite depressing.
My favourite snippet about D is his response to Hans Holbein's painting "The Corpse of Christ" - he said the painting made him despair of the Resurrection. It is a fabulous painting, and definitely worth a look.
There you go - my two cents' worth! :)
Luke
Hello Luke! Hope you are enjoying your time in Sydney! That is so nice you took time to post here.. know you probably have a hundered things to do! (Like eat Jonathon's great cooking...:) )
I agree with your comments. Yes, I think I have learned a bit about Russian Lit in my small experience the past week. He is seeing the side of human nature that is destructive. I will check out Heart of the Matter-- when I am ready for it. Need to be strong.. maybe if I pray a lot and see what God wants me to see in it? Don't think I would want to read it 'alone'- iykwim..
I was VERY dissapointed with the ending of AK. (Spoiler warning... if anyone does not want to know the plot)---
I knew AK was doing to do herself in. (Thanks Leslie!)-- and it was pretty apparant. I think LT did it well with the barbaric way she chose.. as Vrosky's mother commented.
What I was dissapointed with is how the rest of the book ended. I really think it was due to the abridged version. After her death, the book took us back to Levin and I think he figured out that he was a Christian? He was thinking about reconciling other faiths to Christianity, then realized he didn't have to, that was God's job, then smilled then the book ended.
I think I will have to get the paper version and read at least the last chapter for myself.
I may have to swear off these abridged editcions, though I love the music...
Enjoyed the AK chat everyone! Really fun. S wants to start an on line LOTR ring discussion... I think it would be fun.
I think there is a difference in the feel of the ending with the unabrudged version - I will seek out my copy and check.
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