I totally paused!

By Leo Tolstoy

Due to my recent move and the preparation for said move, I read the second part of this book a lot more slowly than I had originally intended.  I’m hoping that now I have no plans to further rearrange my life, I will read the subsequent parts at a faster pace.

The thing that really struck me about this section of the book is how authentic I felt all the emotions and actions of the characters were.  I can picture myself in Levin’s shoes, feeling rejected but throwing himself into his life in the country, and having that actually work to soothe his rejection.  Yet worrying instantly when he learns how Kitty is faring.

I also felt completely wrapped up in Kitty’s situation, the complete and utter loss she felt, the crushing of her spirit, by the somewhat unintended rejection by Vronsky.  I would like to say that the depiction of her was overly dramatic, but I think it would be a lie.  Imagine yourself back to when you lost your first love – sure, maybe you dealt with it differently, but it was a huge emotional disaster.  And now imagine your entire life is designed around finding someone to marry, being lucky enough to actually love that person instead of having the marriage forced upon you, and then learning that he instantly loves a woman that everyone loves.

I would say the only flaw I find with the book so far is that there are so many characters doing so many different things.  I wish that Tolstoy had written them all into their own books so as to not interrupt the individual stories.  I feel like I missed so much that went into the relationship between Anna and Vronsky, suddenly she’s pregnant and we’re left without much idea of how much time has actually passed.  And since the story is actually named after her, I am sad to lose information about her, and it pains me to leave her behind because I love her so.  Yet I also hate to be torn away from Kitty when I want to continue with her story.

I loved seeing Kitty grow in her time of mourning, how she yearns to be like the humble Varenka and thinks,

If it were me, how proud I’d be!  How I’d rejoice, looking at this crowd by the windows!  And she is perfectly indifferent…what is it in her?  What gives her this strength to disregard everything, to be so calmly independent?  How I wish I knew and could learn it from her.”

It was sad to see her somewhat renounce her efforts to change at the end of part two.  I don’t really think she gave herself enough time to determine if she could really be the person she was striving to be.  Or perhaps it was just enough for her to realize that she is who she is, and there is no point in trying to be different.

Maybe if she were away from her family, who she seems to cling to, she could become the person she wants to be, without the fear of offending or worrying them.

I very much look forward to continuing this book, seeing where both of these women go.  I am especially curious to see the progression of Anna’s relationship with her husband, how much will she rebel, and will she leave him for Vronsky.