From Russia, with Love

Somehow neglected to mention that I recently finished reading Anna Karenina. Having already seen the movie, the ending was less than a shock, but I was quite curious to see how Tolstoy would take us there, given the benefit of all 8-900 pages.

I was not very taken with what I consider to be the secondary story line of Levin and his angst over his existence and his petty jealousies regarding his wife. And my dislike cemented with his curious reaction to the birth of his son,

Looking at this tiny, pathetic little creature, Levin tried in vain to discover in his heart anything in the least resembling paternal feeling. He felt nothing for the baby but aversion.

I'm just as much of an over-thinker as the next person, but Levin really takes it to a new level - spending so much time in his head that he creates problems that don't exist so he can get upset about them, and accomplishing very little. I spent my share of intellectual time with the existentialists, but it's not really a recipe for living. Particularly when there's a baby involved.