Wednesday, June 01, 2005

More Anna Karenina Thoughts

Last night I was watching Rick Steve's Best of Europe (or something) He was in Nice, and he mentioned that there were about 500 Russian noble families that would holiday there in the late 1800- early 1900's. Interesting.

Also, I read a review of an A.K. movie available at the library and it said:

"Story of passion and family conflict set in 19th century upper-class Russia. Anna (Leigh), the wife of a stuffy bureaucrat, falls in love with a dashing cavalry officer. Ultimately discarded by her lover, she is driven to suicide."

Huh? Discarded by her lover? I was thinking that she was a little loonie, and jealous, and imagined that he was leaving her - but he (though maybe not so much in love) was still committed to her. Am I wrong?

There are three Anna K. movies at our library. Fun.

3 comments:

Lysa said...

Hey, my life id just not as crazy as yours and I realize I can do alot more. Thanks for the inspiration.

Will you send me your email address? Mine is lysaturner@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

You can tell that Anna Karenina is a good book by how much you are thinking of it after finishing it! I just looked at a paper on the computer that I wrote about the book for my class. I'm so cool. It was a comparison of the relationships and marriages of Anna and Vronsky verses Kitty and Levin. Anna and Vronsky's relationship was based on lust and deciet whereas Kitty and Levin were friends for a long while, fell in love in time, and tried to be open and honest with each other (i.e. Levin having Kitty read his journal of confessions, etc). It seems from the beginning, Anna was obsessed with Vronsky and the attention he gave her. However, she wasn't ever secure and when they moved to Italy as a couple, she was never able to quite trust him, was always thinking he was tired of her and questioned the depth of his love for her. Maybe that is because she discarded her first husband and son for Vronsky. What would keep him from doing the same to her? The conclusion of my paper was that the ways the couples began their lives together helped determine the outcome of their relationships. The relationship founded on deciet and selfishness could never survive and ultimately caused Anna's tragic end. The relationship based on purer intentions took work and patience to grow, but was happy and became the successful of the two. How's that for a long-winded comment?!

Laurie said...

Wow Mary! Some good Lit Crit!

I've never read AK, and you all make it sound really interesting. I might have a used copy stuffed into a bookshelf somewhere. Will have to look...