Oh Jonathan, I find myself going back and forth, and back and forth with my feelings about Anna. I am at Part IV, Chapter 5, pg. 326. Aleksei Aleksandrovitch her husband has decided to punish her and Vronsky for their infidelity, by not giving her a divorce, so they will not be allowed to live happily ever after together. Vronsky, seems to have mixed feelings, even though he pronounces his love for her, he sure seemed a bit uncertain about giving up his single life, when she had approached him on it. Anna, who in the beginning of the book detested any one using the word "love" in her presence, now seems to be over the hills in love with Vronsky. It truly does seem as if these characters can not make up their minds completely, or shall I say, their hearts are misleading. Now, Anna has told Vronsky about this dream, of her dying in childbirth, which has me really concerned. How is it possible the protagonist, such an important character as Anna, could be taken from the story so soon? I pray NOT!
You are so further ahead than I am in reading and knowledge. So many different issues are being dealt with in this 19th Century period, you mention Emancipation, there is also industrialization, modernization, Revolutionary society Land and Liberty splits; People's Will and Black Reparation formed. Levin seems to be trying to get his workers to use machinery, but they are resisting, and are breaking the machines, as quickly as he purchases them, due to their unwillingness to learn to use them properly. I am NOT a History buff, I failed History in high school, and so even trying to understand and discuss this, is over my pay grade. My hubby and neighbor, who are History buffs, are helping me muddle along here. I am more focused on the relationships between the characters, more so, than the economic and political part of this story.
Okay, well we are having a cloudy, cool, and somewhat rainy day today, so, after I got out of church, I came home, planted some flower bulbs in my garden, and now intend to read throughout this afternoon. I'm already not wanting this story to end. Does that even make sense, because I can't wait to see how it ends.