Penguin edition - Briggs translation - Black cover w/ chandelier:
Volume 2, Part IV, pp 533-587, chapters 1-13
Signet edition - Dunnigan translation - tan cover w/ flag:
Book 2, Part IV, pp 561-618, chapters 1-13
Modern Library - Garnett translation - Olive cover w/ gold stripe:
Part Seven, pp 743-818, chapters 1-13
Amazon edition - Maude translation - light blue cover:
Book Seven (1810-1811), pp 791-868, chapters 1-13
Last bit (Maude):
There was still no improvement in the countess’ health, but it was impossible to defer the journey to Moscow any longer. Natasha’s trousseau has to be ordered and the house sold. Moreover, Prince Andrew was expected in Moscow, where old Prince Bolkonski was spending the winter, and Natasha felt sure he had already arrived.
So the countess remained in the country, and the count, taking Sonya and Natasha with him, went to Moscow at the end of January.
Somehow I managed to get caught up, and it’s only Monday! I can’t say I learned a lot from this section (other than I can’t stand Natasha). I can’t believe how careless that entire family is about money!
Now that the World Cup is over (¡Viva España !), I am finally catching up on my reading.
This section is solely a snapshot of life and characters at the Rostovs. What is gleaned further confirms that they are an indolent, entitled, financially-irresponsible family.
@kim.kovacs Agree, Natasha is tiresome…and the way Newton narrates Natasha’s conversations only magnifies her spoiled, whiny, and over-dramatic self. (Are you enjoying the audiobook? I really like the narration. This is one of those instances that I feel it enhances the book.)
I do like the narration for the most part. She puts an inflection on the conversations that puts a whole new spin on them - something I might not have picked up on. But occasionally it has the opposite effect and I find it annoying.
I saw this chapter as a battle for the cultural soul of Natasha and Nikolai. Their upbringing taught them to emulate the French, but in doing so, they were unhappy and unfulfilled. They first looked down on Uncle’s home, but enjoyed being there so much that they wanted to return. Uncle lived the more traditional Russian life, within his means, in his log home with his stout peasant (serf?) housekeeper, his Russian music and dance, his furs and his less expensive dogs. Nikolai could live this life with Sonya, and be happy, but they’d be poor by the standards of their social group. It’s hard at this point in the book to see Natasha happy with Andrei, or he with her. Frankly, she seems a bit Manic/ Depressive.
You know, @Rannie, that’s a really good point. The other protagonist in Anna Karenina is Konstantin Levin, who embraces an agrarian lifestyle. He comes across much more positively than the elites in the book. So that could well be an important theme in this book.
And you remember how thrilled the soldiers were to fight for the Tsar, later found confusedly by a waterway. He then abandoned his allies and buddied up to Napoleon. The common man must have asked, “for this, I lost my leg?” “For this my son died?” There seems to be a theme building of disenchantment with the Frenchified nobility, and the social order. Another point - Uncle’s “mongrel”dog brought down the hare - not Nikolai’s expensive one nor Ilagin’s that he had traded several families of serfs for. How does the common man feel having his family uprooted and traded for a dog?
!), I am finally catching up on my reading.