Currently reading and discussing Anna Karenina, Oprah's book club selection. START AT THE BOTTOM in the right-hand column!
| DATE | MILESTONE |
| 6/11 | Part One, Chapter XVIII-p 66 |
| 6/18 | Part One-p 115 |
| 6/25 | Part Two, Chapter XX-p 180 |
| 7/2 | Part Two-p 236 |
| 7/9 | Part Three, Chapter XVI-p 294 |
| 7/16 | Part Three-p 352 |
| 7/23 | Part Four-p 435 Halfway! |
| 7/30 | Part Five, Chapter XX-p 505 |
| 8/6 | Part Five-p 549 |
| 8/13 | Part Six, Chapter XVII-p 613 |
| 8/20 | Part Six-p 669 |
| 8/27 | Part Seven, Chapter XVIII-p 725 |
| 9/3 | Part Seven-p 768* |
| 9/10 | Finish Anna Karenina |
I am not sure how I did it. I guess I thought we were supposed to be done w/ Part Two on 6/25. What a pleasant surprise when I logged in to see that part 2 isn't until 7/2!
Anyway, enough patting myself on the back!
The two most horrid parts of part 2 for me were:
go to the comments to read them - warning plot spoilers - I moved them there so you wouldn't accidentally see them!
3 Comments:
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1. Anna and Vronsky consummate their affair. What a sickening, horrible description. I imagine that the guilt and desire to continue in sin are just about as Tolstoy describes.
2. Vronsky breaks the poor horse's back! Maybe it's my love of animals, I dont' know, but it sickened me.
It was also sad when Kitty became disillusioned with Mme (whatever her name was), Varenka's foster mother. Perhaps she can continue her good works without doing them with a false spirituality.
mmmm enough for now!
Elaine, I agree that those two portions were very difficult. I was amazed by Tolstoy's ability to write about them, though. His statement that Vronsky felt that he'd committed murder after consummating his affair with Anna was so true to the emotions of that kind of experience.
I wonder if Tolstoy intended for the horse's death to be a parallel of what has happened to Anna. Having two such sharp images of death was startling to me. Vronsky's cavalier attitude has killed Anna's marriage and her standing in the community and now it has killed a beautiful horse.
I found it ironic that he could grieve so over the horse and yet doesn't see that he's done the same thing to Anna and her family.
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