I made a pact with a family member to read two chapters of Anna Karenina every day (5 days/week) to finish it in approximately 5 months. The book has a total of 8 parts. We just finished Part 5, and I am reviewing each part as I go so I don’t forget what I’ve read by the end. When I’m done, I’ll put the separate reviews together for my Amazon review when I’m done.
You can read my reviews for the previous Parts here:
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part III
Part IV
Part V – Review
Levin and Kitty tie the knot! Not surprisingly, a few months later Levin realizes getting married wasn’t all that he imagined it would be. (Some things – men – haven’t changed…100 years later.) He begins to feel a little held back by Kitty and doesn’t understand her interest in domestic matters.
Levin’s brother dies of consumption, with Levin and Kitty by his side. This was probably the longest chapter of this section. The dying process seemed to go on and on, but in the end Kitty finds out she is pregnant!
Vronsky and Anna begin to run into alienation by their circle of friends. Vronsky takes up painting, but becomes bored with it. The two return to Russia where Anna takes an opportunity to visit her son, unannounced. Her husband and his friend, Countess Lidia Ivanovna denied her request to visit Seryozha, so she sneaks into the home and upon exit runs into Karenin.
Anna is worried that Vronsky is no longer in love with her. In order to feel like she’s part of her former circle, she attends a show at the theater, against Vronsky’s wishes. Vronsky has a feeling it will not go well, and he is right. Anna is crushed by the way she is treated by her friends and she and Vronsky leave Petersburg.
All-in-all, a good section. I still wish the book wasn’t 8 million pages long, but it’s still hanging in there and holding my interest.
