My favorite character was Stiva Oblonsky - a venial, likeable type who realizes that there is a great deal of absurdity in the world and is comfortable with it. Vronsky was also not so bad. I think Anna comes off as the great villain of the story. It's really a great foil to Madame Bovary.
How can Tolstoy want us to like someone as flighty and capricious as Levin, though? I'm assuming the dénouement of the novel (I'm about 3/4 through) will have him settling down and growing the hell up, but so far it's just sad. Agreed about Oblonsky - as for Vronsky, as far as I'm concerned he has yet to prove that he's more than a pretty boy that Anna fell for for utterly shallow reasons. Which makes it difficult to like Anna, though otherwise I like her well enough so far.
Also, question because it keeps bugging me: in the original Russian, is it also "Kitty"? I was generally assuming that "Kitty" was some entirely unnecessary translation of "Katya", but then at some point Levin actually starts using "Katya" as a nickname, so that makes that unlikely... And same question for "Dolly", and "Annie" (Anna and Vronsky's daughter).
FEBRUARY! What are you reading this month?
- 01/02/2013 08:30:55 AM
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Finally finished AMoL today, so I'm moving onto Blood Rites by Jim Butcher.
- 03/02/2013 02:46:45 AM
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Plowing thru slush pile: Lies of Locke Lamora; Reamde and The Name of the Wind
- 14/02/2013 10:57:29 AM
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Anna Karenina, and alongside that Elric of Melniboné.
- 14/02/2013 09:26:28 PM
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No, I didn't like Levin. I said Tolstoy wanted us to like Levin.
- 15/02/2013 02:53:35 AM
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Oh, that makes a lot more sense. 
- 15/02/2013 10:58:21 PM
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- 15/02/2013 10:58:21 PM
467 Views