Big Book Challenge 2013

I'm trying something new. It's a Big Book Challenge over at Goodreads. The idea is to read books that are longer than 400 pages. I've set a goal of 10 books of 400+ pages for 2013. The folks doing this challenge are an eclectic bunch - you've got people who appreciate everything from thrillers to history to science fiction to literature.

Reading the boards at Goodreads is endlessly entertaining. That's where I picked up my favorite new term - "kitten squisher," used to describe any tome dense enough to crush your fluffy baby tabby.

Anna Karenina: Part II

I'm still plugging away at Anna Karenina. The movie is coming out on DVD tomorrow. At the rate I'm going, it will debut on network television before I'm finished reading.

Questions, once again, from Christine.

1. Kitty's health has deteriorated as a result of her heartbreak and so she travels to a health spa in Germany with her parents in hopes of reviving her health. It is here that Kitty befriends the young woman Varenka whose actions and beliefs Kitty admires tremendously. What is it about Varenka that has Kitty so enamored? At one point Kitty says she will never marry. Why do you think she says this?

Varenka represents everything Kitty isn't when they meet. She helps others while Kitty is dependent on others. Varenka helps Kitty see that you can help yourself by helping other people. Kitty starts to follow Varenka's example and, finally having a purpose in life, emerges from her depression. Varenka isn't married and instead devotes her life to others. I think Kitty feels she can live a full life without marriage based on Varenka's example.

2. Anna and Vronsky consummate their affair in this section. Do you think what they share is love? And if not, what do you think it is that they share? 

Anna and Vronsky don't think of love in the same way I do. In their culture and their time, marriage was more about partnership in a business sense than love in a romantic sense. Their world seems to be filled with superficial friendships and relationships. Marriage is not based on love. So I do think they love each other and their feelings are in many ways more true than any of the other relationships in the book.

3. Tolstoy writes to great length and detail about the steeplechase. Did you get the sense that these passages foreshadow events among the characters? If so, what?

Vronsky's horse, Frou Frou, is a magnificent horse and he is proud that she's his. But because of his mistake, she breaks her back during the steeplechase. Vronsky was overeager and overconfident and failed to take the race as seriously as he needed to. He's devastated, but I still don't think he'll change. This does not bode well for his relationship with Anna.

4. What are your overall impressions of the book after reading Part Two? Are you enjoying the story? Do you like Tolstoy's writing? 

The stakes have been raised significantly. The writing can be dense, but I am enjoying the story.