http://scytheconnected.blogspot.com/2013/12/russian-variations.html

Anna Karenina Discussion I

Because we all enjoyed the mowing...a Russian scythe!

A few of our readers' thoughts:

We read the novel Anna Karenina rather than the novel Konstantin Levin because of marketing...Anna has sex appeal.  Levin is a heavier, darker figure.

Kitty and Levin are a delicate Vermeer painting, while the story of Anna and Vronsky is painted in broad brushstrokes of bright red.  Can anyone suggest a specific painter?

Anna's story is romantic rather than sexy.  (Some readers would suggest checking out the passage on the paper-knife, Part One, Chapter 29, for a counter-argument!)

Why does Vronsky fall so hard for Anna after the many women he's already known?  One reader suggests it's just chemistry!

Playing by the rules is something both Anna and Levin have difficulty with.

A favorite remark:  Anna is not a very strategic adult!

Anna didn't have an adolescence...we will learn more about this later.

Falling in love is a kind of temporary insanity.

Varenka gives Kitty a new way to express herself.  Varenka serves the purpose for Kitty that the farm and peasants serve for Levin:  they both help them learn and grow.

Which paper-knife, below, would Anna have chosen?