One item on my list of 50 is - Read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
It is a huge book, a classic of Russian literature, and despite being a big fan of Russian books in my earlier years - Dostoyevsky of course, but others too - I had never tackled a Tolstoy, mainly because of the size.
Today I finished reading it, and I found it engaging and was rather surprised at the character of Anna. Anna is beautiful and popular, but unhappy with her older and boring husband. When she leaves him for the dashing Vronsky, she knows she is giving up her place in society for love. She seems to despair at the loss of the son she has to leave behind, but I think he is only precious to her as an idea, rather than as a real person. Anna is insanely jealous, angry and changes in mood rapidly to extremes. She is able to charm and fascinate everyone she meets, but this covers a deeper unhappiness. She takes opium every day and becomes increasingly unstable, eventually taking her own life. It is also the story of Levin and Kitty, and the contrast between this couple and Anna and Vronsky is marked. Levin is happy living on his country estate, farming and making land improvements. When he has to live in the city, he is like a fish out of water. But, like Anna, Levin is very changeable, one word or look can defeat his confidence and make him forget all the good and positive thoughts he was having. Kitty seems to be a simpering love-struck girl at first, and falls seriously ill following Vronsky's withdrawal of his attentions. However, Kitty shows her true strength when she nurses Levin's brother through his final illness, taking charge when Levin is at his most helpless and ineffectual.After reading this huge book, the ending seems to come quite abruptly, with Vronsky leaving to take part in a war, and Levin finding a religious fervour which threatens to make him more accepting of his lot in life.
I am glad I have read Anna Karenina, it is a good story, and if it hadn't been on The List, I might never have attempted to read it.
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