Anna Karenina
Vronsky is courting Kitty who is a bit too innocent for her own good, and not aware that Vronsky is just passing time, so she falls in love with him, and rejects Levin, also an innocent albeit honest country guy. Dolly aka Darya alexnadrovna had just discovered that her husband Stepan Arkadyich, had cheated on her. Anna Karenina is summoned to help her brother Stepan by talking some sense into his wife, Dolly. Anna has this effect on people where she is so dignified and respected that you get hypnotised by what she says. So, yes, Dolly is convinced and is now back with Stepan. Anna Arkadyevna is ready to go back home to her husband Alexei Alexandrovich and into the circle of high society, but something had already happened on her visit; She saw Vronsky, and for the both of them, Life will never be the same again.
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina is the full name of Anna Karenina, the title of a book we've seen referenced in many movies and in pop culture, that we feel as though we've read it by osmosis.
I just left Levin on the last page with his innermost thoughts about the meaning of good as it relates to the deity of the church, his being confused at how that is to be reconciled with all the other religions on earth and their concept of good, and his contemplating whether he should not tell his wife ( Kitty) of those intimate thoughts of his, and I am happy to return from the journey of reading Anna Karenina, with the most enthusiastic recommendation of any novel I have ever read.
I can not put into words how deeply fulfilling it was to accompany Anna Karenina on her inner journey of discovering a mysterious thing called love, succumbing to it, sacrificing everything for it, getting shunned by society, and finally, through no fault of her own, other than the degree to which all those inner thoughts of hers overwhelmed her, taking a course of action, so unbecoming of the lady whom everyone( whom we were also privy to their inner monolgues) loved, held in high regard, and felt something very ethereal in her presence.
What made the book so enjoyable to read, is probably the desire one feels to listen to what other people think or talk about, it is an indirect route to gossip.
Getting access to that particular Russian society ( real or imaginary, does it matter?) and observing how people behave, what they value, what worries them, and the topics discussed among them, from the worry about muzicks( peasants) and their relationship to the land and landowners, elections, war, and their views about marriage and love, was especially satisfying.
Particularly amusing was their use of the language; the way they speak by constantly inserting french phrases into their speech, or occasionally saying something in english. It is these little things that makes the novel exceedingly fun to read, not to mention the preponderance of phrases that strike you with its novelty like, for example "can't even penetrate beyond the reception rooms of her mind" or "throw me down from a height of happiness and bliss into an abyss of despair" etc etc.. again, 10/10 novel of the century