Currently inhaling Anna Karenina (successfully finishing all of my Russian novels for the summer!) and I've been drawn back to my thoughts about characters and relating to the books I read. Mainly because I am every main character in Anna Karenina. How can I possibly be every character? This has never happened before. At first I was Anna, with her black dress and stray curls and pearl necklace. Her eagerness to live.
"Anna read and understood, but it was unpleasant to read, that is to say, to follow the reflection of other people's lives. She was too eager to live herself. When she read how the heroine of the novel nursed a sick man, she wanted to move about the sick room with noiseless footsteps; when she read of a member of Parliament making a speech, she wished to make that speech; when she read how to Lady Mary rode to hounds, teased her sister-in-law, and astonished everybody by her boldness--she wanted to do it herself. But there was nothing to be done, so she forced herself to read.."
But I would never give myself over to passion, as she does. So then I'm Karenin, hated for being so good. Not giving in to the coercive nature of love, standing up for what's right but not knowing how to act. I'm Levin. Socially awkward, but wishing for a family life. Thinking too much. And I'm Kitty, young and innocent. Naive but loving.
I suppose the only main character I don't relate to is Vronsky. I actually despise him. But maybe I loathe him because of the character traits I despise in myself? Also, I blame him for Anna's fall, even though relationships are a two way street.
J'adore lire. Almost finished with Anna Karenina. Seriously impressed with the foreshadowing and other literay devices.
Um, Houston, we have an English major..
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