How can she be jealous, when she herself has been unfaithful to her husband?! I have NO sympathy whatsoever for cheaters who are then jealous themselves. And the fact that she's obsessively jealous is HIGHLY ironic.

The quotes containing Anna's thought processes show just how self-centered she is. Anna did later regret leaving her son, but the damage was already done. Both were selfish and inconsiderate neither cared one whit about the effect of their affair on Anna's husband and son. I could not relate to the two lovers - Anna and Vronsky. The thing that bothered me the most about this novel was the infidelity itself. These nonfiction interruptions blocked the flow of the plot, thus diluting the impact of the events therein to some extent. I totally agree, but I do wish that Tolstoy had not mixed fiction and nonfiction to such a great degree in one book, which was really supposed to be strictly a novel. As you have stated in this post, these nonfiction sections, that really had nothing to do with the plot, made this novel an uneven read. I actually thought this book was really two books in one - a novel, and a nonfiction, philosophical treatise, with some sections that, had they all been put together, would have been a useful manual for farmers. I did enjoy Levin's philosophical ruminations, but not all that 'farm stuff'. Yes, the parts about labor and agriculture were especially boring. My final, 'sort of' review mentions the tedious aspects of this novel. I remember you commented on some of these posts. I participated in a read-along of this book, back in 2012.

Anna karenina by leo tolstoy 1878