Reading the Chunksters discussion

Ok, so for week 1 we will be reading Part I - Chapters 1-6. What are your thoughts so far?

Anna Karenina begins with a very famous opening line, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I have often wondered about that line -- it seems to me that happy families are also happy in their own way.

In these first 6 chapters, Stiva makes me angry. He swears that it is not his fault that he got caught, he only repents that he didn't hide his affair better from his wife. I love the comment by Tolstoy about Stiva resuming his "idiotic smile" (end of chapter 1) when caught. Stiva figured that his wife was no longer beautiful, so she shouldn't mind the affair! He feels that marriage is out-of-date and he was forced into lying. This book could have been written today ... or probably 300 years ago. Human nature stays the same.

These first 6 chapters have been easy to read and humorous in many ways. I hope that the rest of the book follows this style!

I read all 6 chapters in less then an hour. It was very hard for me to stop. LOL I am showing a lot of self control to just read 6 chapters a week. This is going to be fun!

I am finding the book very amusing. I agree with you Lynn, but Stiva comments just made me laugh. Why is that men think the world was made for them? Without women there would be none of us left :)

I agree with both Lyn and Colleen. Men haven't changed. Stiva kept saying "What to do,what to do" as his wife had been devastated and totally disillusioned by his affair. I find the things the characters do a little banal--they go to restaurants, and balls discussing all the people they know. I have to keep reminding myself that these are people of Russian high society.

I was having serious problem seeing Stiva as they were describing him. He is supposed to be handsome and masculine...but the language and his actions had me thinking of him a sallow and whiney!

I'm interested in the character Kitty. Will she be pressured into marrying and if so who will she chose.

Ok, I finished the first 6 chapters and I was enchanted despite there being very little action. While part of me agrees with you ladies and despises Stiva's actions, the other side of me found him to be a hilarious character. While I do not condone his adultery in any way, I think his denial of fault was comical in the extreme and I couldn't stop giggling at the bumbling idiot. I pictured him as the chubby, bumbling man that you see in a cartoon who looks in the mirror and sees a bodybuilder. His exaggerated self-worth and lack of understanding for his poor wife made him hiliarious to me. All I kept thinking was "What an idiot!". :)
Who I did find immediately interesting was Levin. With only one chapter to go on for his introduction, I was immediately drawn to him and his intentions to marry one of the Shcherbatskys. I am curious to discover if he actually marries Kitty and if their relationship is really a true love between two people or if Levin is far more in love with the idea of the family as a whole.
I am going to start the next 6 chapters today and hope that more will develop concerning Levin in these. I'll be back for discussion thread 2. :)

Totally agree with you, Laurie! I hadn't been expecting humor in this book, but it's definitely there.

I also think Levin and Kitty have chemistry and unfortunately can't or won't act on these feelings.

I can't wiat to see what happens with Levin as well...and I also want to see what happend when Anna finally enters the story!

I just read the first 6 chapters and thoroughly enjoyed it. Funny, how that surprised me. Somehow, I had the idea that the novel would be stuffy . . . so much for preconceived notions.

I did find it interesting that the book is presumably about Anna Karenina, but she is hardly given a mention in these first 6 chapters.

I feel for Dolly, who loves her husband and is emotionally devastated by his infidelity. Quite interesting to me was the stark contrast between Oblonsky's cavalier attitude towards Dolly, and Levin's devotion to Kitty. I wonder if Levin's fervor (if he wills Kitty) will continue, or if it will fade over time?

Kay wrote: "I just read the first 6 chapters and thoroughly enjoyed it. Funny, how that surprised me. Somehow, I had the idea that the novel would be stuffy . . . so much for preconceived notions."

I thought it would be boring and stilted -- so I'm surprised, too, at how easy it is to read.

Kay, Levin's devotion versus Oblonsky's sttitude was definitely a stark contrast. I am hoping that Levin continues to feel for Kitty throughout the novel and I am hoping that Kitty will return his affections. I think they would make a lovely couple if this occurs and it would be a nice change from the coldness of the other aforementioned couple!

Laurie and Lynn - thanks for posting. Makes me feel good somehow to know that someone saw my thoughts. Laurie, I'm with you on Levin and Kitty!

I'm playing catch up having just finished the first 6 chapters. I read this book several years ago and I still remember enough that I want to be cautious so I don't spoil anything for anyone else. I have to say now that I trudged through it once I have noticed a couple of things. This is the type of book that you could read many times to really understand the writing and pick up on subtle gestures. This is also a great group read. Lastly, I wanted to say that I didn't realize there was so much comedy in it the first read. I wonder if it was the writing style of the time or our interpretation of the language and people in the time period?

Hey, Andrea! Great to see you over here. I agree - it's a great group read. As for seeing things differently - sometimes that has to do with life experience, too. And sometimes it has to do with the translator . . . don't know if you're using the same version as I am, but I'm finding the interpretation in mine to be more lifelike than other books I've read that were originally written in Russian. I'm using the same version pictured for this discussion - the Bantam one published in 1984 and translated by Joel Carmichael.

Kay, it is great to see you too! Kristi and I are friends from another group so that is how I ended up here. I'm using the project Gutenberg version, I'm not sure which one it is. When I read it the first time I read a book and I think the translation was very much the same.