Ah man, I just got done posting this huge long comment and I submitted it and it got lost! "Unable to process request". Oh well, I finished AK yesterday. Now I gotta remember what I wanted to say about it! ;) I'll try it in a new comment....
What a contrast between Anna and Levin at the end there. Both descend into a darkness, emptiness, overwhelmed by lack of meaning and how differently they emerge (or don't emerge) from that darkness.
I enjoyed Levin's ponderings about faith and wonder if any of it parallels Tolstoy's own journey.
I liked Levin's final thoughts in the book:
"...I'll fail in the same way to understand with my reason why I pray, and yet I will pray - but my life now, my whole life, regardless of all that may happen to me, every minute of it, is not meaningless, as it was before, but has the unquestionable meaning of the good which it is in my power to put into it!"
Also, I love that Kitty is so amused at how good Levin is and that that is proof to her that he has faith.
Another thought, at one point Tolstoy describes something poisonous (I don't remember the exact quote) and evil that grows up with Anna and Vronsky in their relationship and that, as it matures and time has passed, it is this unavoidable dark force that seems to possess and rule their relationship. Does he mean because it began as a betrayal, as an adulterous relationship?
Also, there is a point near the end that Anna has sudden clarity regarding her relationship with Vronsky....that although he does love her to some degree she realizes she was more a prize he won, a stroke for the satisfaction of his vanity.
Ah man, I just got done posting this huge long comment and I submitted it and it got lost! "Unable to process request". Oh well, I finished AK yesterday. Now I gotta remember what I wanted to say about it! ;) I'll try it in a new comment....
ReplyDeleteto be continued
What a contrast between Anna and Levin at the end there. Both descend into a darkness, emptiness, overwhelmed by lack of meaning and how differently they emerge (or don't emerge) from that darkness.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Levin's ponderings about faith and wonder if any of it parallels Tolstoy's own journey.
ReplyDeleteI liked Levin's final thoughts in the book:
"...I'll fail in the same way to understand with my reason why I pray, and yet I will pray - but my life now, my whole life, regardless of all that may happen to me, every minute of it, is not meaningless, as it was before, but has the unquestionable meaning of the good which it is in my power to put into it!"
Also, I love that Kitty is so amused at how good Levin is and that that is proof to her that he has faith.
Another thought, at one point Tolstoy describes something poisonous (I don't remember the exact quote) and evil that grows up with Anna and Vronsky in their relationship and that, as it matures and time has passed, it is this unavoidable dark force that seems to possess and rule their relationship. Does he mean because it began as a betrayal, as an adulterous relationship?
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is a point near the end that Anna has sudden clarity regarding her relationship with Vronsky....that although he does love her to some degree she realizes she was more a prize he won, a stroke for the satisfaction of his vanity.
Hmmmm.....
How about Levin and Anna's first and only interaction with each other?
ReplyDelete