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xylieMade further progress on Anna Karenina. The translation is good, giving the story the added benefit of a good turn of phrase. The key to Tolstoy seems to be all the observations along the way. There are moments, such as the proposals to Kitty, where he puts so much of himself into the moment that it is alternately biographical and universal.
There's a similar moment with Stiva and his children that is equally telling. You feel transported back to Tolstoy's own childhood as an orphan among relatives as he talks about a parent who clearly loved one child over another but always did his best to be fair and honest to both. Yet despite Stiva's best efforts the boy sees through his attempts and feels the difference. But then everyone, including Dolly can see through Stiva.
I still have no hope of liking Vronsky. His treatment of women and horses remains equally bad as I remember and he seems to exist as a more vicious and competent version of Stiva.
There's a similar moment with Stiva and his children that is equally telling. You feel transported back to Tolstoy's own childhood as an orphan among relatives as he talks about a parent who clearly loved one child over another but always did his best to be fair and honest to both. Yet despite Stiva's best efforts the boy sees through his attempts and feels the difference. But then everyone, including Dolly can see through Stiva.
I still have no hope of liking Vronsky. His treatment of women and horses remains equally bad as I remember and he seems to exist as a more vicious and competent version of Stiva.
