Anna Karenina By Leo Tolstoy
Publication Date: 1878 Date Finished: March 29, 2021
Rating: 8/10
Tolstoy’s masterpiece is considered by many to be the greatest novel ever. Its opening line “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” is one of the most iconic in the history of literature. I loved War and Peace, another of the great works of Mr. Tolstoy, but found myself less enthralled with Anna Karenina.
I read the Penguin Classics translation by the married couple Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Which includes a detailed notes section to explain the cultural context of some of the book’s passages. Depending on whose opinion you listen to, this is “by far” the best English translation of the work or it leaves a lot to be desired when compared with other efforts. Not knowing Russian (or any language other than English), and having read only the one translation, I don’t feel I can have an opinion on the subject, but I did find the Pevear and Volokhonsky version readable enough.
(Interesting fact about me is that I once desired to learn Russian, Mandarin, and Farsi with a desire to work for either the CIA or State Department. I read an article in The New Yorker a few years ago about superpolyglots that speak dozens of languages and can learn new ones in a month or so and was envious. Unfortunately, I do not have that ability. Since I’ve given up on my CIA dream, I have turned to learning French on Duolingo because visiting Paris is at the top of my bucket list.)
It’s been several years since I read War and Peace, but I remember liking the characters a lot more than I did in Anna Karenina. Bolkonski is a great character, as is Natasha Rostov, even Pierre is interesting. I loved the contrast Tolstoy draws between the two main generals, Napoleon and Kutuzov (I’ve read a lot about Napoleon, but Kutuzov was a historical figure I was all but unfamiliar with) both during battles and engaging with their armies.
In Anna Karenina however, I really didn’t like and/or connect with really any of the characters. I couldn’t stand Anna or Vronsky. Stiva was just a terrible character and makes you feel bad for his wife Dolly. Alexei Karenin has his moments, but overall I was not a fan. Levin is based a lot on Tolstoy himself. He’s a curious and morally upright person, but some of the thoughts he has just make me lose some respect for him. Levin’s wife Kitty goes from being an immature girl infatuated with society and smitten with Vronsky to a completely different person after a European vacation. I just don’t really buy it that much. The young woman Kitty befriends on her holiday (I’ve forgotten her name and even with Google at my disposal I can’t retrieve it right now) is so virtuous as to be unbelievable. I was equally infuriated with both sides of St Petersburgh society, the holy rollers that Karenin associates with as well as the impetuous, amoral crowd with which we find Vronsky and Stiva.
I’m going to assume most people are familiar with the story of Anna Karenina even if they have not read the book or seen one of the film adaptations, so I won’t go into detail concerning the plot. One thing that struck me was how Stiva has all the right opinions because he reads the right newspapers and associates with the right group of friends. If the views and general feelings among these groups change, his views and opinions change along with it. While I don’t agree a lot with Levin (he has the anarchic Christian perspective of his author which clashes quite a bit with my worldview) he at least really challenges his thoughts and grapples with tough issues, which is to be admired.
Ultimately, while the writing in and story of Anna Karenina is undeniably great and it is a book so praised and well known that it feels obligatory for all lovers of books to read, it left me wanting a little more at the end of it. I don’t regret the time I spent with this novel (easily topping 800 pages, it is a significant time commitment to read the whole thing) and would recommend it to most everyone, but if you have yet to read any of Tolstoy, I would recommend starting with War and Peace.
Lady Bird Director: Greta Gerwig
Release Date: November 3, 2017; Most Recent Watch: August 27, 2021
Rating: 10/10
***Spoiler Warning***
My friend Mike is a rising star of Music Supervision for the TV/Film industry. In our friendship of over a decade, we’ve only had two significant disagreements. The first regards the legendary status of one Derek Sanderson Jeter (I’m very pro-Jeter while Mike, a Mets fan, considers him grossly overrated), but by far our most continuous argument since we met regards the merits of Lady Bird.
Every year Mike publishes a list of his ten favorite films of the calendar year (he makes a point to emphasize the list includes the films he liked most and not necessary the most well made in his opinion). I look forward to the publication of this list every year as it gives me a few movie suggestions that I might have overlooked. Much to my surprise, when I viewed his list for 2017, not only was Lady Bird not in the top ten, but it failed to even make the list of 7 honorable mention films. Let’s not forget that this was the year The Shape of Water won best picture, so not even a crazy year for movies like 2019.
I will readily admit the Mike has forgot more about movies and film making in the past week than I have ever known, but one of the things he has evidently forgotten is the quality of Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut. Not only was it a top ten movie of 2017, but it would also be a top ten movie of the whole 2010s decade. One could argue it is one of the great films of the 21st thus far.
Lady Bird is a coming-of-age drama set in Sacramento in the early 2000s that details the life and relationships of Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (played by Saoirse Ronan). Lady Bird longs to leave Sacramento (a city she derides as “the Midwest of California”) for a place with “more culture” on the east coast. While the family struggles with financial issues, Lady Bird navigates her last year of high school and all that entails while her relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) continues to deteriorate.
In the beginning stages of the movie, Lady Bird and her best friend Julie (played by Beanie Feldstein) join the joint theater program of their private all- girls Catholic school and the all-boys Catholic school and are cast in the fall musical. During rehearsals, Lady Bird embarks upon a romantic relationship with Danny O’Neal (Lucas Hedges), a member of a large and wealthy Sacramento family. The relationship ends at the post show celebration when Lady Bird discovers Danny kissing a boy in the bathroom.
Following her breakup with Danny, Lady Bird takes a job at a coffee house at the insistence of her mother. At the coffee shop she forms a relationship with the eccentric but popular Kyle (Timothee Chalamet). During her somewhat tumultuous relationship with the often-aloof Kyle, Lady Bird befriends the popular crowd at the two private schools and grows apart from Julie. When Lady Bird’s relationship with Kyle fizzles out and she has a bit of a falling out with the popular clique, Lady Bird rekindles her friendship with Julie, and they attend the prom together.
Unbeknownst to her mother, Lady Bird has obtained the information she needs from her depressed and unemployed father to apply for elite liberal arts colleges on the east coast. While she is admitted to UC Davis, Lady Bird holds out hope that her wait list status out east leads to an offer of admittance. Her secret is revealed at a post-graduation celebratory dinner when a reconciled Danny inquires about her waitlist status.
Eventually, Lady Bird is admitted to an East Coast school and enrolls with the financial support of her father who refinances the mortgage on their home to provide the adequate funds. The fallout of the revelation leads to a total rift in the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother, as they do not speak the entire summer. When dropping off Lady Bird at the airport, her mother refuses to see her off, insisting they can’t afford to pay for parking. We then see her mother in tears as she regrets her decision. She started and failed to complete many drafts of a letter to Lady Bird explaining how much she cares for her. Her husband saves them and hides them in Lady Bird’s luggage. She reads them in New York and her early experiences at college lead her to call home and thank her family for everything they have done for her.
There isn’t a weak link in the entire cast, and they are directed expertly by Gerwig throughout. I consider Ronan to be the greatest acting talent of my generation and her performance is incredible. If you haven’t seen her other works including Atonement, Brooklyn, and Little Women, you are really missing out. Both Ronan and Metcalf earned Oscar nominations for their efforts. In addition to Ronan and Metcalf, the entire cast really is incredible. Chamalet is another generational talent, and he plays his role to perfection.
Gerwig’s screen play is loosely based on her youth growing up in Sacramento and it is truly a masterpiece. I think it’s safe to say there has never been a better film writing and making couple than Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach (honorable mentions to when Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze as well as when James Cameron and Katheryn Bigelow were married).
I can’t recommend this film enough. I don’t even think Mike regrets watching it despite him thinking it was, at best, the eighteenth best movie of 2017. It is currently streaming on Netflix.
Baseball Futures and an NCAA Football Winner
Milwaukee Brewers to win World Series (+950 at Fanduel)
I’ve long subscribed to the Earl Weaver philosophy that to play winning baseball, especially in October, you need pitching, defense, and three run home runs. While the Brewers are right about at the league average for hitting the long ball this year, they are adept at turning balls in play into outs and have top quality arms in spades.
Since an early season acquisition of Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Willy Adames (a player who has played at near MVP level since the move, in part due to being able to see the ball much better away from dreary Tropicana Field) the Brewers have run away with the lead in the National League Central division. This lead allows them to give pitchers extra rest to be ready for the postseason while their top competitors the San Francisco Giants and LA Dodgers will have to scratch and claw until the end to win the NL West and avoid a one-game wild card scenario. Additionally, either the Giants or the Dodgers will almost certainly finish the season with the best record meaning the Brewers will only have to beat one of the two in the playoffs after an NLCS showdown with a middling team out of the East division.
With Adames having the best offensive season of his career and former MVP Christian Yelich starting to come into form after a bad start to the year, I think Milwaukee is capable of scoring enough runs for an obscenely good set of pitchers. Corbin Burnes leads the league in ERA+ while Brandon Woodruff ranks fourth. Freddy Peralta would be in the top 10 if he had enough innings pitched to qualify. Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer are also options in the rotation and are having amazing years, with at least one likely to see work out of the bullpen during the postseason. They will be joining an elite bullpen lead by closer Josh Hader who has rebounded from a down year in 2020 (by his lofty standards) to reclaim his status as one of the top arms in baseball. Hader is joined by 2020 National League Rookie of the Year winner Devin Williams, possessor of the “airbender” changeup, one of the best pitches in all of baseball. In addition to the two big names in the bullpen, Milwaukee has had breakout performances from the likes of Brent Suter and Brad Boxberger among others.
The reigning champion Dodgers added Cy Young contender and future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer along with all-star shortstop Trae Turner to an already formidable team. In addition to the Dodgers, the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and my Chicago White Sox are all capable of putting together a month of quality baseball to win the Commissioner’s Trophy (an object the commissioner himself, Rob Manfred, has described as “just a piece of metal”). Obviously, when a sport with as fine of margins between winning and losing as baseball is reduced to a best of five or seven game series between teams with such quality, anything can happen, but at nine to one, I don’t think there is better value on the board right now than Milwaukee.
Iowa State (-4.5 at -105 at FanDuel) vs Iowa
I should warn you I am a big Iowa State fan and this is another heart over head pick (I’m not sure where I would fall on this game if not for my allegiance to the Cyclones; I would probably stay away from it). This is the first ever matchup with both teams ranked in the top ten of the AP poll (Iowa State at nine and Iowa at ten).
The teams are coming off opposite Week 1 wins as Iowa was as impressive as anyone in cruising to victory against an Indiana team many expected to be towards the top of the Big Ten this year. In contrast, Iowa State came into their game against FCS team Northern Iowa and barely managed to eke out a win.
We shouldn’t let the most recent data point overwhelm everything we’ve seen from these teams in the recent past, especially the veteran laden Cyclones team who have put together one of the best run of seasons in the school’s history under head coach Matt Campbell. There is a reason Iowa State was ranked #7 to start the year and remain in the top ten. They are a well-rounded team with a lot of experience.
Despite achieving so much, this group of experienced Cyclones led by quarterback Brock Purdy and All Americans tight end Charlie Kolar, linebacker Mike Rose and running back Breece Hall have yet to experience a win in the CyHawk game. They’ve played in a Big 12 championship game and won the Fiesta Bowl last season, but they are yet to beat their biggest rival and will surely do all they can to change that in their last attempt on Saturday.
The game is the marquee matchup of Week 2 in College Football and will air on ABC at 3:30pm (CDT) on Saturday.
Thanks for reading this latest edition of Tim’s Reviews and Winners. I hope to get to publishing more regularly. Please subscribe if you have not and leave comments on things you might want to see in future editions.
Anna Karenina, Lady Bird, a Baseball Futures Bet and a NCAA Football Winner
Please forgive the error of listing the Houston Astros twice as World Series contenders. One of them should have said Tampa Bay Rays.
Such great write-ups, Tim! Your passion for Lady Bird (a movie my mom rented so that she could learn more about Mrs, Lyndon B. Johnson) is admirable and I wish I could love it as much as you do! I do still like it, just not as much as other movies that year. Maybe I’ll revisit it again soon. And by the way, you said that I think Lady Bird is, at best, the 18th best movie of 2017, but that contradicts the disclaimer at the top of my list: “Favorite, not best!” 😉
For some reason, I had not considered the Brewers to be true contenders at any point this year, but your analysis makes perfect sense and changed my mind. Good stuff!