Parts One - Three: Random Thoughts

I love the opening paragraph of the novel: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Perhaps happy families are different, and we just don't care about them because -- no matter how different they are -- they are boring.

Certainly, there is no one who is boring in this novel. And so far, I'm not sure I've seen anyone happy either...at least no one seems happy with his/her current state. Maybe that's a better way to put it.

There aren't many likable characters at the beginning of this book. Oblonsky is a "womanizer" who is only remorseful because his wife is so angry with him. But he doesn't see why she might angry...sorry for this next bit, but he seems like such a typical male...sorry!

I like Anna when I first meet her...how can that be? She is just like her brother, and I didn't like him. And yet, Tolstoy seems to paint Anna with a sympathetic brush. She reminds me of so many female characters of this time period -- Edna in The Awakening, Nora in A Doll's House, Emma in Madame Bovary. And she's created by a man, which is even more amazing ...

She seems so locked into a life of misery with that husband of hers. did you notice how many times he's referred to as cold, cool, frigid, distant, aloof? Wow. That must have been a marriage of convenience rather than a love match...

My favorite character so far is probably Levin. And yet he's screwed up, too. He seems so awkward everywhere but on his farm. I wanted to cry when Kitty turned down his confession of love. (But I guess she got hers, didn't she?) And I loved the chapter describing his mowing of the acreage. He seemed so happy when doing that. But then he turned right around and became unhappy about the whole business of farming. Why?

Do you think that a muzhik is like a hired worker? I couldn't find any information in the end notes about them. And if they're hired help, then how does the one find a way to buy a farm and rent land from farmers to create his own farm?

And what's with the Russian aristocracy? I can see why they aren't around any longer. They seemed so "above" the "regular" world...even when they had a hard time making ends meet, they had valets and servants...interesting. I can also see that the whole of Russia was ripe for communism. People didn't know how to achieve equality any other way.

Enough random thoughts. I welcome discussion of any kind. I'm now almost finished with Part Five and have changed my mind (for the umpteenth time) about all of the characters...