The Book Club: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy with Inez Stepman | The Book Club

What happens if you follow your heart, pursuing love and happiness above all else, devoid of duty or virtue? Nothing good according to Leo Tolstoy, author of Anna Karenina. Inez Stepman, senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum, joins Michael Knowles for a deep dive into this great literary work about fidelity, marriage, and betrayal.
#annakarenina #michaelknowles #bookclub #prageru
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Пікірлер: 91

  • @jeremiahlute913
    @jeremiahlute913 Жыл бұрын

    Trains as a symbol of modernity is such a strong and moving theme that Tolstoy portrays. Thank you Knowlestredamus for pointing that out!

  • @frizzneil2590

    @frizzneil2590

    Жыл бұрын

    clever...he should don that...

  • @phoebecaulfield4062

    @phoebecaulfield4062

    4 ай бұрын

    If you enjoy that, I would recommend "Dombey and Sons" by Charles Dickens, which is full of insights into how the railways transformed the world.

  • @jeremiahlute913

    @jeremiahlute913

    4 ай бұрын

    @@phoebecaulfield4062 thank you for the referral, I haven't read enough Dickens!

  • @marymagmartha7453
    @marymagmartha7453 Жыл бұрын

    _I must admit, I hadn't heard of "Anna Karenina" as a young adult in the 70s, but I loved movies and I remember it being mentioned in the 1940's Shop Around the Corner I watched on cable back in the late 80s. Then it was also mentioned in the 1998 remake, You've Got Mail. To be honest, I opted for the 2012-2013, 2 Part Mini Series shown on KZread in 2020. 😇The story is fascinating, heartbreaking and then inspiring. For me, it was a lesson of why we should not go through life never knowing ourself or how and why we truly matter to those around us. In the mini series, it was the final monologue ~ "We don't need to live for our needs, our passions, for our desires. We need to live for good, for truth, for that mysterious God that all things depend on. And that perhaps is why all happy families are alike, because deep down, happiness is the same for everyone". These final words couldn't help but offer Hope_

  • @andrewjensen6175
    @andrewjensen6175 Жыл бұрын

    Just finished the book yesterday, impeccable timing.

  • @rickchase6990

    @rickchase6990

    Жыл бұрын

    Me too, just finished yesterday. Haha.

  • @alanjohnson901

    @alanjohnson901

    7 күн бұрын

    Just finished today

  • @runfromnuke
    @runfromnuke Жыл бұрын

    Read it back in high school, and found it confusing considering the respectable character wasn't the main character. Read it again a few years ago after my marriage failed...and had a far more profound understanding and respect for Aleksei, Konstantin, and Kitty.

  • @mamc1986

    @mamc1986

    Жыл бұрын

    I think this book is so dated that I really don't like Aleksei, Kitty or Konstantin, sorry, but that's my opinion. I cannot related to any of these people, I still say that War and Peace is way superior to this.

  • @danblack5402
    @danblack5402 Жыл бұрын

    I’m currently reading this book, I have nothing more or even equally profound to add to the profundity of the themes discussed in this episode, as I’m only about a quarter of the way through it. I just want to add that this book is thus far extraordinary well written. Beautiful and masterful, even. I highly recommend it to lovers of literature. Beginners, veterans, and everything in between.

  • @riverbender9898
    @riverbender9898 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent show! Thank You.

  • @yuzhihu2413
    @yuzhihu24134 ай бұрын

    This is such a profound episode. Thank you for making this.

  • @RedBricksTraffic
    @RedBricksTraffic11 ай бұрын

    Just finished the book. So glad I found this video to help me reflect on it. Excellent conversation and review!

  • @marke9817
    @marke9817 Жыл бұрын

    I hated “Anna Karenina” so much when I read it that I would have pushed her in front of that train if she hadn’t jumped herself. After watching this analysis, I’m thinking I might need to reread it. I’m not sure you’ve done me any favor.

  • @ericstaples7220

    @ericstaples7220

    Жыл бұрын

    Just push someone in front of a real train and get it out of your system. Then, read the book.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    Жыл бұрын

    Soundslike you hated the character (not the novel as a whole).

  • @janinessary8858

    @janinessary8858

    Жыл бұрын

    Same

  • @guriausa

    @guriausa

    7 ай бұрын

    Agree. I found it hard to empathize with her.

  • @sandraelder1101
    @sandraelder11019 ай бұрын

    Now I have to reread it. It’s been about ten years. Thanks, guys. SOO many books I want to reread! Life it too short.

  • @jennyv5901
    @jennyv5901 Жыл бұрын

    What a great conversation!

  • @AmeliaHuckleberry
    @AmeliaHuckleberry Жыл бұрын

    The quote about travel is from Emerson. That is one of my favorite quotes of his!

  • @MaggiePies
    @MaggiePies Жыл бұрын

    This was such a great deep dive. 😍📖

  • @AlexanderKellyespn
    @AlexanderKellyespn Жыл бұрын

    The russian authors are my favorite. Can i get book clubs on the following books: master and margharita, one day in the life of ivan denisovich, gulag archipelago, and crime and punishment. I need jordan peterson for the last one. Also can i get one on the satanic verses by rushdie. Bloody brilliant novel

  • @jyerkes94
    @jyerkes94 Жыл бұрын

    I would love for you all to discuss “ideas have consequences” by Richard Weaver. I’m finishing it now. It is an insightful work for the 20th century.

  • @goldfishi5776
    @goldfishi5776 Жыл бұрын

    that was awesome! Now i'm gonna read it.. I chose War and Peace over that one so maybe we can cris cross 😮

  • @Jer.616
    @Jer.616 Жыл бұрын

    "Everybody knows" --- actually, no. I didn't. Warn about spoilers, please.

  • @AnishaAlluru
    @AnishaAlluru Жыл бұрын

    My favorite actress - Kareena Kapoor was named after her mother read this book during her pregnancy (Karenina -> Kareena) and that's how I found out about this book.

  • @henrycottam3451
    @henrycottam34518 күн бұрын

    Thanks

  • @csapienza001
    @csapienza001 Жыл бұрын

    Gracious guest

  • @mihaelamarinoiu5181
    @mihaelamarinoiu5181 Жыл бұрын

    May I suggest that you also discuss Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and Herman Hesse's "Narcissus and Goldmund"? 🙏 Thank you.

  • @mihaelamarinoiu5181

    @mihaelamarinoiu5181

    Жыл бұрын

    @Sinful Bastard Child I have read them, I am interested in a discussion about them by this Book Club.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    Жыл бұрын

    Tolstoy was inspired by Madame Bovary

  • @Mala1GApeach
    @Mala1GApeach Жыл бұрын

    Can the Book Club come up with reading suggestions for teens? I can find good reading for my younger kids but when it comes to clean reading that contains life lessons it's hard to know where to start. Things like To Build a Fire by Jack London but not so juvenile like Swiss Family Robinson but not so mature like 1984.

  • @appujosephjose6129
    @appujosephjose61296 ай бұрын

    Great analysis

  • @eddyimpanis
    @eddyimpanis Жыл бұрын

    God is love, God is just. Love without law is impossible. Obedience to Torah IS love.

  • @sandyrivers3037
    @sandyrivers3037 Жыл бұрын

    I am ticked off!! I was curious about what kind of channel this is, I have this book, just bought it and duper excited about reading it, and you did not disclose you had spoilers at the beginning of this. and just told what happened at the end!!!!! UNBELIEVABLY!!!!!

  • @katie4408

    @katie4408

    Жыл бұрын

    Prageru is a channel that focuses on the extermination of gay people. And apparently spoilers. That being said, the book is not ruined for you. Each page is a pleasure to read.

  • @collidgemart7959

    @collidgemart7959

    4 ай бұрын

    I mean the translator in my copy also gave it away in the books opening but still a very good read

  • @TastyZoidberg
    @TastyZoidberg11 күн бұрын

    «And they know how it ends..» So now I know. Just when I have started it….

  • @aricantoi8244
    @aricantoi8244 Жыл бұрын

    Ugh Michel you should talk about “The house of Mirth” it’s has such social relevance for today!

  • @TheRight-handedStranger
    @TheRight-handedStranger Жыл бұрын

    I heard so many times about Anna Karenina growing up, but unfortunately I haven’t read the book. Now that I want to read it, I didn’t like the fact that Michael told that Anna killed herself at the end. Bummer!

  • @rickchase6990
    @rickchase6990 Жыл бұрын

    Just finished it.

  • @frizzneil2590
    @frizzneil2590 Жыл бұрын

    Faulkner's 3 favorite novels...bad math, great line...

  • @SavingCommunitiesDS
    @SavingCommunitiesDS Жыл бұрын

    Now I have to read another very long book. Incidentally, Tolstoy was a Georgist and an opponent of socialism. I'll have to pay particular attention to the reformers Micheal described, as his description of them sounds like they are more or less Marxist.

  • @whoneedsguyswhenyouhavecat7681
    @whoneedsguyswhenyouhavecat7681 Жыл бұрын

    I love Tolstoy

  • @natashamudford4011

    @natashamudford4011

    Жыл бұрын

    Me too. I was named after a Tolstoy character.

  • @williamstdog9
    @williamstdog9 Жыл бұрын

    Haven’t read it yet but I think I am Anna … 😞

  • @rodofgodpodcast
    @rodofgodpodcast6 ай бұрын

    One of my favorite books of all time. It’s a shame that no one has produced a worthy film adaptation. Especially since it so clearly has a through line that lends itself to adaptation.

  • @AndreaMigliorisi
    @AndreaMigliorisi5 ай бұрын

    When Anna arrives at the train station and meets Vronsky for the first time, she says the death at the station was a bad omen. But her remarks are ignored by her brother

  • @MadamoftheCatHouse
    @MadamoftheCatHouse9 ай бұрын

    Levin's feelings towards his son are a typical male reaction. Guys tend to be underwhelmed by babies when they are newborn and find them kinda boring. They start warming up when the baby is around 5-6 mo. and start developing a personality.

  • @bryanmadonna
    @bryanmadonna Жыл бұрын

    It is naïve of Ms. Stepman to suggest that Anna's feelings for Vronsky are not "lustful flirtation" but are instead "serious love" (9:10). The outcomes of their relationship and of her life prove that her feelings were never noble but instead always self-serving and ultimately self-destructive.

  • @collidgemart7959
    @collidgemart79594 ай бұрын

    Man her thoughts in the last few seconds.....the realization of how she had gone too far and the regret hurt man

  • @roundtreerebekah7723
    @roundtreerebekah7723 Жыл бұрын

    When you talk about how their affair would have been more accepted if they had been dishonest about it. Is Tolstoy showing that, whether we choose a moral or immoral life, we cannot do anything by halves? It is all or nothing.

  • @joeHP1Xx
    @joeHP1Xx2 ай бұрын

    “Could you summarise this book for people who haven’t read it?” “Sure, let me spoil the ending for you right away.” Great. Thanks

  • @lizperniciaro4297

    @lizperniciaro4297

    Ай бұрын

    😂 I thought the same thing.

  • @frizzneil2590
    @frizzneil2590 Жыл бұрын

    I though Anna was unable to take her child for the same reason Kate in Godfather II lost then to Michael...

  • @vel0xraperio
    @vel0xraperio Жыл бұрын

    Everything I know about Anna Karenina I learned from Peanuts.

  • @NZAnimeManga
    @NZAnimeManga Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the instant end spoiler... I'd read the first few chapters and wanted to hear what you'd say about it and this lady went 0-60 in spoiling the ultimate fate of the titular character. FFS.

  • @thomasgarlinghouse1445
    @thomasgarlinghouse14454 ай бұрын

    Inez is awesome! I have a new crush...😄

  • @marcosdenizatrailhiker2037
    @marcosdenizatrailhiker2037 Жыл бұрын

    We are not able to live up to Christ’s example and so therefore we have to deal with what happens with our best intentions to the shit storm that occurs afterwards.

  • @merlinwizard1000
    @merlinwizard1000 Жыл бұрын

    4th, 18 October 2022

  • @jessicatattar5616
    @jessicatattar5616 Жыл бұрын

    I kind of disagree, I think that Anna IS lustful. She’s shown selfishness and choosing the supposed love of her life over her children and in return Vronsky’s love is selfish as well. If it pains her to leave the child why allow it to happen if you love her so much? Although it doesn’t seem she cared about the children regardless. What would the future have looked like if it were just the two of them? No children? Including the children she’s already had? Seems depressing. They may have loved each other but there was definitely lust especially how quickly it seemed they fell for one another. Also I love Knowles but don’t like this conservative take on the novel, it’s drawn out too much considering this is pre-revolutionary Russia.

  • @user-kr9ep2ho2j
    @user-kr9ep2ho2j Жыл бұрын

    Everyone is my university Russian Lit. class took the side of Anna. Im glad im not the only one who disagrees

  • @eristonmansambu8225
    @eristonmansambu8225 Жыл бұрын

    The Catholic in Michael Knowles couldn't just let slide the idea that the so-called love decoupled with virtue is sort of excusable haha

  • @mamc1986
    @mamc1986 Жыл бұрын

    Honestly I did not like this book. I hated the heroine, hated the foil character, hated the foil character's wife, hated Anna's husband, hated Anna's love interest, hated Anna's brother, hated Dolly, and yes, everyone else too! Its a book that was written during the patriarchy of the Russian Empire and written by an adulterous man named Tolstoy. Oh and, supposedly Tolstoy's courtship of his wife, was the basis for Levin and Kitty's courtship. War and Peace is way better and the characters for me personally are way more relatable.

  • @DuchessMari

    @DuchessMari

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes, in the times of the patriarchy they had no respect for women! Men are so much more dignified and honorable today. Yes, we have morals today. We don’t cheat these days, we just call it “polyamorous”, or simply not marry anyone, replace partner every couple of years, raise kids without their fathers. We have apps like tinder and hinge, you don’t even need to know his name. Women walking around naked screaming “believe all women”, We have drugs to dull any emotion, a weekly meeting with the mental health professionals, and shopping. Thank you feminism for your contribution to the eradication of decency.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    Жыл бұрын

    You don't have to like the characters to like the novel as a whole do you?

  • @ydj8081
    @ydj8081 Жыл бұрын

    How come you are not speaking about a novel with exactly the same plot: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin? Tolstoy was notorious for copying Austin's characters. It's a pity that a really good and original novel gets forgotten. Also, it's not Levin (a Jewish last name), but Lyovin (Russian letter ë is read as yoh, although it looks like e).

  • @sergeyperetyatko6520

    @sergeyperetyatko6520

    Жыл бұрын

    um..i think its levin...or it wouldve had two dots above it.

  • @ydj8081

    @ydj8081

    Жыл бұрын

    @@sergeyperetyatko6520 nope. In the original it is Лёвин. Look on Wikipedia.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    7 ай бұрын

    S&S is probably Austen’s worst novel. Anna Karenina is a candidate for greatest novel of all time.

  • @ydj8081

    @ydj8081

    7 ай бұрын

    @@Tolstoy111 yah, the scene of Anna's death is the only original piece in it. You have a nice taste of greatness.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    7 ай бұрын

    @@ydj8081 that and the vivid characters and milieux. The vast social panorama etc. Tolstoy’s ability to track character psychology is unmatched. If Life could write it would write like Tolstoy as the saying goes.

  • @sharonelkouby147
    @sharonelkouby1477 ай бұрын

    this video was so disappointing - coded or rather coated in misogyny and a flat reading of a dynamic and perspective shifting epic.

  • @user-lv1il4wl9k
    @user-lv1il4wl9k Жыл бұрын

    I laugh always at conservatives who are praising Leftists, socialists and anarchists

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    7 ай бұрын

    Intellectual honesty is inconceivable to you?

  • @mosami42
    @mosami428 ай бұрын

    A preppie in costume and "mind". Put on some socks, for ....'s sake.

  • @paullatta
    @paullatta Жыл бұрын

    Ugh. Just ugh.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    Жыл бұрын

    What's your objection?

  • @paullatta

    @paullatta

    Жыл бұрын

    Not the video, the actual book. In many ways, the writing is genius level. It really creates a picture in the mind of how life was like in that era and area. I just couldn't stand how much overthinking the characters did. everyone is an unskilled communicator. Vronsky is a cad. I agree with the commenter who was ready to kick Anna in front of the train before she did it herself.

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    Жыл бұрын

    @@paullatta well Tolstoy was the great psychologist of character.

  • @MadamoftheCatHouse
    @MadamoftheCatHouse9 ай бұрын

    I think Anna's husband was a bit on the spectrum.

  • @VSastrocompasss
    @VSastrocompasss Жыл бұрын

    Boo books

  • @harmonylinder9913
    @harmonylinder9913 Жыл бұрын

    Oh conservatives are trying to understand classical literature 😅😅

  • @Tolstoy111

    @Tolstoy111

    7 ай бұрын

    Michael Knowles is a classically trained intellectual. He’s done translations of Italian lit.

  • @borood1188
    @borood1188 Жыл бұрын

    Tolstoy!

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