About the Anna Karenina Book Club Lecture Series

I wanted to let you know about the upcoming series of pop-up lectures on Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.

We’ve put together the lectures dealing with the first part of the book, and already have hours of content.

I am so excited for this lecture series, and believe it will be the best available anywhere dealing with this amazing book.

The aim is for us to read, or reread, Anna Karenina together, and break it down part-by-part.

The first lectures alone are jam-packed with scene deep dives, thematic questions, analysing how Tolstoy constructs complex characters, examining how our consciousness expands and develops as we get further into the book, exploring the probing questions of humanity (men and women, the search for God and meaning, the different kinds of love) and tons of extra reading and listening assignments – Mozart’s Don Giovanni, anybody?

The tentative release date for the first few lectures is February 14th, 2021, and the whole thing is completely self-paced, with the option for it to be interactive too – we’ll do some group live calls, Q&As, and so on along the way.

If you’re interested in this series and would like to follow along, please put your name down on the sign up form here:

Anna Karenina VIP Waiting List

I’m going to send a dedicated email to everyone on that list asking a few questions so I can get a sense of the readers we have along for the ride.

It’s going to be a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoy all of the podcasts and videos I do, but this series has hands-down been the most enjoyable of anything I have ever done.

Let’s climb this literary mountain together.

Readers of all backgrounds welcome 🙂

I’ll be sending some prepatory reading and class PDFs to everyone on the waiting list this week but, for now, here’s some brief logistical information:

• We’re working from the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation (available in Penguin paperback) – but feel free to work from whatever translation you have/prefer/enjoy (here is a comparison of three popular translations).
• There will be lots of recommended secondary reading and listening and viewing (e.g. music from Strauss and Beethoven, philosophy from Mill, poetry from Baudelaire and Pushkin, etc.) but the only text, other than Anna Karenina, that I would call “mandatory” is Tolstoy’s What Is Art? This is also available cheaply in Penguin paperback translated by P&V – reading this short aesthetic tract will add a lot to your appreciation of Anna Karenina.
• Read, or reread, your edition with a pen in your hand, scribble in the margins, underline passages, and try to journal/think about anything that excites you, enrages you, confuses you, upsets you, or amuses you – and be ready to discuss.

And that’s all from me regarding Anna Karenina for now.

I hope to see you on the list and look forward to reading this amazing book together.