I love the concept of reading what a book character is reading to see what is going on in their minds. I would love to know which book Dorian Gray became obsessed with that caused him to become such a horrible, twisted person in the end.
What an exciting idea for a series. I'll definitely make a video on that one because I'm fairly certain (or have a strong guess) I know what book turned Dorian Gray evil :) Thank you, Daniela.
Ben, if you like the red post boxes it would be another good reason to visit Winchester, you’ll find a least one from each King and Queen back to Q Victoria. Apart from Jane Austen’s grave of course and the one of her father. I also wanted to say to having signed up to your Patreon account was one of the best decisions I’ve made ever! You’re salt of the earth!
Florian :) What a terrific reason, on top of many, to venture to Winchester. I'm already sold. Arthur has spoken very highly of the place - the site of Austen's house is there too, right? And thank you very much. I so appreciate that 🙏
@@BenjaminMcEvoy yes, the house 8 College Street is, where she stayed the last weeks of her life. Happier years she had at Chawton House, which isn’t far away on the A31 halfway to (or from) Aldershot.
Tolstoy hated Frances Burney, for some reason, so I imagine that Anna was reading one of Burney’s novels. Tolstoy considered such novels as detrimental to the character as pastries. By the way, Nabokov believed that Tolstoy, in describing Anna’s identification with the characters of her reading material, was giving us an example of how not to read a novel. I first read “Anna Karenina” at age 16, and I have read it five times since. Every time I read it I have a different view of it. I am now 62 and I think it must be time to read it again.
There is a great lecture about it in Russian by Ekaterina Schulmann - “Tolstoy and Trollope”. According to her analysis, there is no particular Trollope’s book Ann was reading - just a mixture of motives from Trollope’s novels.
I’m trying to remember the passage. She finishes the book- and I think it summarized the end of the novel , seeming to reference a sort of formulaic ending. Was something said that somebody had received the baronetcy? I was trying to narrow down the novel by that clue. Trollope came to mind, but Austen’s Northanger Abbey is short novel and there is a title acquired at the end , to tie things up. I haven’t read enough of Trollope to identify which novel, and I wanted to read the Palliser novels in order… might be a while till I get back to you on that :)
Ah, very interesting stuff. I'm personally not familiar enough with the prolific Trollope, but going down this Tolstoic rabbit hole has definitely inspired me to foray into the Palliser novels myself :) Thanks for weighing in, Jackie!
Nice video - I wouldn't expect Anna to be reading a novel based on what Tolstoi himself liked - rather, I see Tolstoi as diagnosing Anna's character and her spiritual sickness, and I envision Tolstoi would have her reading something that would in his view be feeding into that sickness, as part of his overall portrait of her at that stage, something he would view as decadent but popular, reflecting some unhealthy Western-French inflected fashion of the times, but something he himself might find seductive, a "guilty" pleasure - Tolstoi was closer to Plato, ideologically, so since Levin is presented as a healthier contrast to Anna, it makes sense that Levin would be reading Plato - who would Tolstoi juxtapose against Plato, a writer spinning a web of shadows that Plato would be trying to dispel, that Anna might be tangled in, keeping her trapped in the Cave? I recall Tolstoi opposing the "art for art's sake" trend, so maybe something by Gautier? Or maybe a Romantic novel? If Tolstoi identified w Anna, maybe something he himself might see himself drawn to, that he'd since disavowed, like Augustine w Mani? There's a movie by Bertolucci called 1900, about the prospects for revolution in Italy - the film is like a course in Maoism, which the director shared - it presents two childhood friends who grow up on opposite sides of the fence, as it were, Robert DeNiro as a young aristocrat, and Gerard Depardieu as a young serf on his estate, who grows into a radical leader of his community - the film clearly champions the cause of Depardieu - but at the same time he feels more abstract, and we see the filmmaker guiltily seems to identify more closely w the escapist hedonism of DeNiro and his class - this is presented as wrong and immoral, but it's also much more tangible I think Tolstoi may have felt the same way about Anna vs Levin - Tolstoi may be identifying more closely and deeply w Anna, but I think he might also see this in some ways as a reflection of his own inner weaknesses - whereas Levin might be the person Tolstoi wishes to be - so what would Tolstoi imagine his own decadent self being drawn to, like a recovering alcoholic envisioning a tasty drink that he'd no longer allow himself to touch - Tolstoi might flatter his hypothetically decadent doppelganger as being more sophisticated than simply the fashion, so maybe Anna would be reading something a bit more challenging, but insidiously so? It's been a long time since I read Anna Karenina - The example of her thoughts you read from the text makes me also think of a trend in Romantic melancholy that Tolstoi might have criticized, someone like Alfred de Musset - but these guesses are based on an overview of French literature of the time - it's a different question to consider what literature was specifically popular among the Francophile Russian aristocracy of the time - but that's more or less how I'd approach the question Also - if Levin is reading Plato's treatise on Love - and Levin is a corrective figure - then what popular notion of Love would have infected Anna, for which Tolstoi might see Symposium as an antidote? What popular work might exemplify that, someone who Tolstoi might cite in an unflattering way, as the wrong thing for impressionable minds to be reading?
@@BenjaminMcEvoy Benjamin: For those of us who think that Charlotte Bronte is the superior artist to her sister Emily, could you possibly do a video on "Jane Eyre," "Villette," or "The Professor" sometime? Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Tolstoy could not give Austin to Anna. All his female characters are opposite. He almost hated the type of women Austin described. Ann was reading the novel which predicted her own fate. In general, Tolstoy kept Anna as a negative character. He used Levin and Kitty as an example of a perfect family and used his personal life episodes to describe their affair. I believe that the novel was pointed to show that Anna judged people and then she repeated everything she judged. So this way Tolstoy showed that no one is perfect and protected from wrong steps as we usually think.
I love the concept of reading what a book character is reading to see what is going on in their minds. I would love to know which book Dorian Gray became obsessed with that caused him to become such a horrible, twisted person in the end.
What an exciting idea for a series. I'll definitely make a video on that one because I'm fairly certain (or have a strong guess) I know what book turned Dorian Gray evil :) Thank you, Daniela.
@@BenjaminMcEvoy I’m so pleased to hear you’ll make a video on this!
Ben, if you like the red post boxes it would be another good reason to visit Winchester, you’ll find a least one from each King and Queen back to Q Victoria. Apart from Jane Austen’s grave of course and the one of her father. I also wanted to say to having signed up to your Patreon account was one of the best decisions I’ve made ever! You’re salt of the earth!
Florian :) What a terrific reason, on top of many, to venture to Winchester. I'm already sold. Arthur has spoken very highly of the place - the site of Austen's house is there too, right? And thank you very much. I so appreciate that 🙏
@@BenjaminMcEvoy yes, the house 8 College Street is, where she stayed the last weeks of her life. Happier years she had at Chawton House, which isn’t far away on the A31 halfway to (or from) Aldershot.
@@floriandiazpesantes573 Perhaps I'll make a visit to do some videos :)
Tolstoy hated Frances Burney, for some reason, so I imagine that Anna was reading one of Burney’s novels. Tolstoy considered such novels as detrimental to the character as pastries. By the way, Nabokov believed that Tolstoy, in describing Anna’s identification with the characters of her reading material, was giving us an example of how not to read a novel. I first read “Anna Karenina” at age 16, and I have read it five times since. Every time I read it I have a different view of it. I am now 62 and I think it must be time to read it again.
There is a great lecture about it in Russian by Ekaterina Schulmann - “Tolstoy and Trollope”. According to her analysis, there is no particular Trollope’s book Ann was reading - just a mixture of motives from Trollope’s novels.
Wow. That's so cool! I'd love to see if I can find a translation of that lecture - sounds like an insightful read!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy I believe you’ll not find it in English unfortunately. I think I can translate it to you if you are really interested in it.
I think it might be Walter Scott’s The Abbot
Congrats on 2k subs!
Thank you :) 🎉🎉🎉
Love your channel ❤️
Thank you :)
It's unlikely that it was Trollope's "The Kellys and the O'Kellys" (publ. 1848) but man that was such a great read.
I’m trying to remember the passage. She finishes the book- and I think it summarized the end of the novel , seeming to reference a sort of formulaic ending. Was something said that somebody had received the baronetcy? I was trying to narrow down the novel by that clue. Trollope came to mind, but Austen’s Northanger Abbey is short novel and there is a title acquired at the end , to tie things up. I haven’t read enough of Trollope to identify which novel, and I wanted to read the Palliser novels in order… might be a while till I get back to you on that :)
Ah, very interesting stuff. I'm personally not familiar enough with the prolific Trollope, but going down this Tolstoic rabbit hole has definitely inspired me to foray into the Palliser novels myself :) Thanks for weighing in, Jackie!
And here I thought Levin was Tolstoy 😂
Ah, yes, of course :) I think Levin probably has more of Tolstoy's DNA than any other character!
I don't like Levin in Anna Karenina. Chop off that part and the story is much better.
Nice video - I wouldn't expect Anna to be reading a novel based on what Tolstoi himself liked - rather, I see Tolstoi as diagnosing Anna's character and her spiritual sickness, and I envision Tolstoi would have her reading something that would in his view be feeding into that sickness, as part of his overall portrait of her at that stage, something he would view as decadent but popular, reflecting some unhealthy Western-French inflected fashion of the times, but something he himself might find seductive, a "guilty" pleasure
- Tolstoi was closer to Plato, ideologically, so since Levin is presented as a healthier contrast to Anna, it makes sense that Levin would be reading Plato - who would Tolstoi juxtapose against Plato, a writer spinning a web of shadows that Plato would be trying to dispel, that Anna might be tangled in, keeping her trapped in the Cave? I recall Tolstoi opposing the "art for art's sake" trend, so maybe something by Gautier? Or maybe a Romantic novel? If Tolstoi identified w Anna, maybe something he himself might see himself drawn to, that he'd since disavowed, like Augustine w Mani?
There's a movie by Bertolucci called 1900, about the prospects for revolution in Italy - the film is like a course in Maoism, which the director shared - it presents two childhood friends who grow up on opposite sides of the fence, as it were, Robert DeNiro as a young aristocrat, and Gerard Depardieu as a young serf on his estate, who grows into a radical leader of his community - the film clearly champions the cause of Depardieu - but at the same time he feels more abstract, and we see the filmmaker guiltily seems to identify more closely w the escapist hedonism of DeNiro and his class - this is presented as wrong and immoral, but it's also much more tangible
I think Tolstoi may have felt the same way about Anna vs Levin - Tolstoi may be identifying more closely and deeply w Anna, but I think he might also see this in some ways as a reflection of his own inner weaknesses - whereas Levin might be the person Tolstoi wishes to be - so what would Tolstoi imagine his own decadent self being drawn to, like a recovering alcoholic envisioning a tasty drink that he'd no longer allow himself to touch - Tolstoi might flatter his hypothetically decadent doppelganger as being more sophisticated than simply the fashion, so maybe Anna would be reading something a bit more challenging, but insidiously so?
It's been a long time since I read Anna Karenina - The example of her thoughts you read from the text makes me also think of a trend in Romantic melancholy that Tolstoi might have criticized, someone like Alfred de Musset - but these guesses are based on an overview of French literature of the time - it's a different question to consider what literature was specifically popular among the Francophile Russian aristocracy of the time - but that's more or less how I'd approach the question
Also - if Levin is reading Plato's treatise on Love - and Levin is a corrective figure - then what popular notion of Love would have infected Anna, for which Tolstoi might see Symposium as an antidote? What popular work might exemplify that, someone who Tolstoi might cite in an unflattering way, as the wrong thing for impressionable minds to be reading?
i always thought Levin was Tolstoy. maybe i am wrong.
I think there is a ton of Tolstoy in Levin, for sure!
She was reading Daniel Deronda.
Have you ever read or heared about Bronte sisters?
I love 'Wuthering Heights' and hope to put together a lecture series about it soon :)
@@BenjaminMcEvoy Benjamin: For those of us who think that Charlotte Bronte is the superior artist to her sister Emily, could you possibly do a video on "Jane Eyre," "Villette," or "The Professor" sometime? Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Tolstoy could not give Austin to Anna. All his female characters are opposite. He almost hated the type of women Austin described.
Ann was reading the novel which predicted her own fate. In general, Tolstoy kept Anna as a negative character. He used Levin and Kitty as an example of a perfect family and used his personal life episodes to describe their affair. I believe that the novel was pointed to show that Anna judged people and then she repeated everything she judged. So this way Tolstoy showed that no one is perfect and protected from wrong steps as we usually think.
I don't think she would need a translation. Most of the _Anna Karenina_ characters (Anna included?) knew English...
I thought it was a Vanity Fair by Thackeray….
How to know that you read too much?
It's simple
U can't read too much!