The Pince weighs in on Vronksy...
Monday, November 21, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter VII
In which we meet Levin's half-brother and debate the nature of our existence...
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter VI
In which delve into the dark, depraved mind of Levin...
Haha, not really. We do do some delving in Levin, but nothing too depraved shows its head. He just wants to marry Kitty, the youngest of three Shcherbatsky sister. He first had eyes for Dolly, the oldest, but she was betrothed to Oblonksy in an arranged marriage. We all know how that's working out for them.
Then Levin had eyes for the middle sister, Nataly, but she married a diplomat.
The narrator makes it clear that Levin is mostly in love with these sisters because he, Levin, was deprived of a normal aristocratic family life, and during his formative years he fell in love with the whole Shcherbatsky family.
Thus he pines for Kitty, the youngest and the only unmarried daughter, who is much younger than thirty-two year old Levin.
Levin, soulful and neurotic, is quite the opposite of Oblonsky. A good foil. From my uneducated point of view, Levin seems a much more traditional Russian. I hope he sticks around.
Stray thoughts--
-This reminds me of a girl I knew in college. She was a clarinet player who always wore a Dale Earnhardt hat and talked with an almost unintelligible country accent. Her refrain to every sentence was, "and everything," only it sounded like, "an airy tang."
At recitals, there would always be this lone dude, unshaven and denimen-clad, not the type you'd expect to see at a music recital. He was her husband. The rumor was that he was lifelong friends with the girl's father, who was now his father-in-law. There must have been at least twenty years between the them. So gross.
Haha, not really. We do do some delving in Levin, but nothing too depraved shows its head. He just wants to marry Kitty, the youngest of three Shcherbatsky sister. He first had eyes for Dolly, the oldest, but she was betrothed to Oblonksy in an arranged marriage. We all know how that's working out for them.
Then Levin had eyes for the middle sister, Nataly, but she married a diplomat.
The narrator makes it clear that Levin is mostly in love with these sisters because he, Levin, was deprived of a normal aristocratic family life, and during his formative years he fell in love with the whole Shcherbatsky family.
Thus he pines for Kitty, the youngest and the only unmarried daughter, who is much younger than thirty-two year old Levin.
Levin, soulful and neurotic, is quite the opposite of Oblonsky. A good foil. From my uneducated point of view, Levin seems a much more traditional Russian. I hope he sticks around.
Stray thoughts--
-This reminds me of a girl I knew in college. She was a clarinet player who always wore a Dale Earnhardt hat and talked with an almost unintelligible country accent. Her refrain to every sentence was, "and everything," only it sounded like, "an airy tang."
At recitals, there would always be this lone dude, unshaven and denimen-clad, not the type you'd expect to see at a music recital. He was her husband. The rumor was that he was lifelong friends with the girl's father, who was now his father-in-law. There must have been at least twenty years between the them. So gross.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter V
In which Oblonsky reunites with an old friend...
During Oblonsky's carriage ride into town, we learn a few things about him... Everyone likes this son of a gun. He's friends with a third of the city, acquaintances with the other third, and drinking buddies with the final third. My marginalia includes the words "fratboy" and "glad-hander."
And, as I thought, Dolly is definitely the richer one of the two.
We meet two of Oblonsky's colleagues:
-Nikitin, an old, hard-working official, and
-Grinevich, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, whatever the hell that is.
And, more importantly, we also meet Levin, an old friend of Oblonsky. Levin is the Ron Swanson to Oblonsky's Tom Haverford. Levin is not a peasant, he just perfers the countryside to the city. He thinks Oblonsky's profession is crazy, and Oblonsky thinks Levin's rancher life is insane.
These two friends reunite, exchange awkward pleasantries, and make plans to meet again for a longer conversation. Levin inquires after Oblonsky's sister-in-law, Kitty. Oblonksy tells Levin where Kitty skates. Hope Levin can't get his act together by then.
Other thoughts:
-Of course Oblonsky would have a rugged wilderness friend that blushes like a young boy.
-Levin's step-brother is a famous author. Wonder if we'll get to meet him. It's not we don't already have enough characters already...
During Oblonsky's carriage ride into town, we learn a few things about him... Everyone likes this son of a gun. He's friends with a third of the city, acquaintances with the other third, and drinking buddies with the final third. My marginalia includes the words "fratboy" and "glad-hander."
And, as I thought, Dolly is definitely the richer one of the two.
We meet two of Oblonsky's colleagues:
-Nikitin, an old, hard-working official, and
-Grinevich, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, whatever the hell that is.
And, more importantly, we also meet Levin, an old friend of Oblonsky. Levin is the Ron Swanson to Oblonsky's Tom Haverford. Levin is not a peasant, he just perfers the countryside to the city. He thinks Oblonsky's profession is crazy, and Oblonsky thinks Levin's rancher life is insane.
These two friends reunite, exchange awkward pleasantries, and make plans to meet again for a longer conversation. Levin inquires after Oblonsky's sister-in-law, Kitty. Oblonksy tells Levin where Kitty skates. Hope Levin can't get his act together by then.
Other thoughts:
-Of course Oblonsky would have a rugged wilderness friend that blushes like a young boy.
-Levin's step-brother is a famous author. Wonder if we'll get to meet him. It's not we don't already have enough characters already...
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter IV
In which the unhappy couple confers...
We get some quality time with Darya (Dolly) Alexandrovna, and she doesn't seem very shrewish! She wants to get away from Oblonsky, the cad, but she's remains in her room, where she's been. She feels obligated to stay for the sake of the children. She wants to do something to do something to "punish and humiliate him." Ominious by itself, but poor Dolly doesn't seem like the punishing and humiliating type. I may be wrong. It would not be first time I misread a woman's capacity for punishment and humiliation--
We learn that this is her home. It seems she's the richer one of the two. He's married into money. The timber thing from the last chapter, that would hint at that as well. She resents the good-natured personality for which her husband is known.
Oblonsky enters the room, and they quarrel. Verbally, that is. Oblonsky cries tears that come a little too easily. He protests for the sake of the kids. Dolly calls him out for being a jerk and a sometimes father.
After shouting that he is no more than a stranger to her, she leaves, and Oblonsky bemoans the situation as banal. It's one of those words that you read a lot but don't usually hear spoken. For the longest time I used to pronounce it as if it rhymed with anal. Wish I could go back and see the faces of the people I was talking to. Honestly, I needed a quick refresher on its definition...which is "devoid of freshness of originality; hackneyed; trite." I'm thinking this word is chosen partly to illustrate ole Oblonsky's caddishness, and maybe also for Tolstoy to admit that, yeah, this is pretty uninspired stuff so far. So far.
Oblonsky leaves home in a carriage. He leaves Dolly behind to replay their conversation in her mind and wonder why she didn't ask whether he was still seeing the woman. She still loves him. He's a likeable guy, French maid philandering and all...
We get some quality time with Darya (Dolly) Alexandrovna, and she doesn't seem very shrewish! She wants to get away from Oblonsky, the cad, but she's remains in her room, where she's been. She feels obligated to stay for the sake of the children. She wants to do something to do something to "punish and humiliate him." Ominious by itself, but poor Dolly doesn't seem like the punishing and humiliating type. I may be wrong. It would not be first time I misread a woman's capacity for punishment and humiliation--
We learn that this is her home. It seems she's the richer one of the two. He's married into money. The timber thing from the last chapter, that would hint at that as well. She resents the good-natured personality for which her husband is known.
Oblonsky enters the room, and they quarrel. Verbally, that is. Oblonsky cries tears that come a little too easily. He protests for the sake of the kids. Dolly calls him out for being a jerk and a sometimes father.
After shouting that he is no more than a stranger to her, she leaves, and Oblonsky bemoans the situation as banal. It's one of those words that you read a lot but don't usually hear spoken. For the longest time I used to pronounce it as if it rhymed with anal. Wish I could go back and see the faces of the people I was talking to. Honestly, I needed a quick refresher on its definition...which is "devoid of freshness of originality; hackneyed; trite." I'm thinking this word is chosen partly to illustrate ole Oblonsky's caddishness, and maybe also for Tolstoy to admit that, yeah, this is pretty uninspired stuff so far. So far.
Oblonsky leaves home in a carriage. He leaves Dolly behind to replay their conversation in her mind and wonder why she didn't ask whether he was still seeing the woman. She still loves him. He's a likeable guy, French maid philandering and all...
Monday, November 14, 2011
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter III
In which Oblonsky reads the newspapers...
We learn that the only beliefs Oblonsky favors are those that suit his comfort. I feel like we all favor beliefs that result in maximum luxary. But the narrator makes a point of spelling out just how incredibly fickle Oblonsky is. References to Bentham and Mill are dropped. Oblonsky's a utilitarian, I guess. Maybe a parody of utilitarian. I'd call him a hedonist at heart -- there doesn't seem to be much depth to this fella so far. Rich Russian aristocrat with a plumb life who smiles at his good digestion. Hope his wife murders him, or gives him a reason to feel real pain. Maybe that's what Tolstoy wants me to think.
We meet two of his five children:
-Tanya, daughter
-Grisha, son
He prefers Tanya to Grisha but tries to hide it. The boy knows his pa doesn't care for him, though.
We learn that he has no hope of rekindling his relationship with his wife. Because, well, "it was impossible to restore their relations because it was impossible to render her attractive and capable of exciting love."
We learn that there's a timber sale that needs to go down, and it will require Oblonsky to reconcile with his wife. He doesn't like the thought of this incentive biasing his decision.
She's lost her utility, I guess!
However, ole Oblonsky knows he has to confront this mess sooner or later. The chapter ends with him walking to his wife's room.
Stray thoughts:
-This is my first Tolstoy novel. People always name-check Tolstoy as a difficult read. He doesn't seem too difficult on a sentence-by-sentence level. Much easier than Dostoyevsky. I guess it's just the sheer size of his novels that intimidates?
Actually, maybe I just have a really good translation. I'm reading the Maude Translation, by the way.
-Will the Liberal vs Conserative party fight become a major theme of the novel? Or was it just to give us a view of how shallow Oblonsky is?
We learn that the only beliefs Oblonsky favors are those that suit his comfort. I feel like we all favor beliefs that result in maximum luxary. But the narrator makes a point of spelling out just how incredibly fickle Oblonsky is. References to Bentham and Mill are dropped. Oblonsky's a utilitarian, I guess. Maybe a parody of utilitarian. I'd call him a hedonist at heart -- there doesn't seem to be much depth to this fella so far. Rich Russian aristocrat with a plumb life who smiles at his good digestion. Hope his wife murders him, or gives him a reason to feel real pain. Maybe that's what Tolstoy wants me to think.
We meet two of his five children:
-Tanya, daughter
-Grisha, son
He prefers Tanya to Grisha but tries to hide it. The boy knows his pa doesn't care for him, though.
We learn that he has no hope of rekindling his relationship with his wife. Because, well, "it was impossible to restore their relations because it was impossible to render her attractive and capable of exciting love."
We learn that there's a timber sale that needs to go down, and it will require Oblonsky to reconcile with his wife. He doesn't like the thought of this incentive biasing his decision.
She's lost her utility, I guess!
However, ole Oblonsky knows he has to confront this mess sooner or later. The chapter ends with him walking to his wife's room.
Stray thoughts:
-This is my first Tolstoy novel. People always name-check Tolstoy as a difficult read. He doesn't seem too difficult on a sentence-by-sentence level. Much easier than Dostoyevsky. I guess it's just the sheer size of his novels that intimidates?
Actually, maybe I just have a really good translation. I'm reading the Maude Translation, by the way.
-Will the Liberal vs Conserative party fight become a major theme of the novel? Or was it just to give us a view of how shallow Oblonsky is?
Anna Karenina -- Part I, Chapter II
Tolstoy drops a longer chapter on us this time. We meet a couple characters:
-Matthew, an old friend and valet of Oblonsky.
Matthew seems to take some measure of delight in the misfortune of his master. Who, by the way, doesn't feel bad about cheating on his wife. He only feels bad about getting caught.
According to the narrator, almost everyone in the house has sided with Oblonsky. Not sure if this is just a sign of the times, or Oblonsky is just that swell of a guy, or his wife is that big of a shrew.
We learn Oblonsky's sister plans to pay a visit. Which is good, because her and the jilted wife are good friends.
Speaking of which -- Matthew also informs Oblonsky that Darya is planning on leaving, moving out. The children's nurse tells Oblonsky to make an effort to mend the fence.
Oblonsky concedes, tells the nurse to beat feet, and he strips naked and lets Matthew dress him.
-Matthew, an old friend and valet of Oblonsky.
Matthew seems to take some measure of delight in the misfortune of his master. Who, by the way, doesn't feel bad about cheating on his wife. He only feels bad about getting caught.
According to the narrator, almost everyone in the house has sided with Oblonsky. Not sure if this is just a sign of the times, or Oblonsky is just that swell of a guy, or his wife is that big of a shrew.
We learn Oblonsky's sister plans to pay a visit. Which is good, because her and the jilted wife are good friends.
Speaking of which -- Matthew also informs Oblonsky that Darya is planning on leaving, moving out. The children's nurse tells Oblonsky to make an effort to mend the fence.
Oblonsky concedes, tells the nurse to beat feet, and he strips naked and lets Matthew dress him.
Anna Karenina: Part I, Chapter I
Very excited to be live-blogging my reading of Anna Karenina. Here's what happened in Chapter 1.
-We meet our narrator, who lays down his thesis that all happy families resemble each other, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own. I've forgotten most of the Tolstoy I read in college, but I remember his narrators were not afraid to jump in and lecture, set boundaries, explore the mind and past of characters.
-We meet Oblonsky, who wakes in his study and feels awful for having cheated on his wife with a French maid, which has caused havoc in his family. Poor fella!
-We meet our narrator, who lays down his thesis that all happy families resemble each other, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own. I've forgotten most of the Tolstoy I read in college, but I remember his narrators were not afraid to jump in and lecture, set boundaries, explore the mind and past of characters.
-We meet Oblonsky, who wakes in his study and feels awful for having cheated on his wife with a French maid, which has caused havoc in his family. Poor fella!
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