Levin what a wonderful person he is...........Golden heart and pure soul.......

I am reading Anna Karenina and the person who has greatly influenced me is Levin . ..............Levin is a man of great virtues and equally professional person (he has some great views on farming ) . Even if he is the master land owner then too Levin went to plough the land......
These lines are taken from Literature Network » Leo Tolstoy » Anna Karenina » Chapter 16..........shows how pure his soul is and even if Kitty had earlier disappointed him by saying no to his proposal then too he wishes not to have any secrets between him and her,,,,
The confession he had promised was the one painful incident of this time. He consulted the old prince, and with his sanction gave Kitty his diary, in which there was written the confession that tortured him. He had written this diary at the time with a view to his future wife.
Levin, not without an inner struggle, handed her his diary. He knew that between him and her there could not be, and should not be, secrets, and so he had decided that so it must be. But he had not realized what an effect it would have on her, he had not put himself in her place. It was only when the same evening he came to their house before the theater, went into her room and saw her tear-stained, pitiful, sweet face, miserable with suffering he had caused and nothing could undo, he felt the abyss that separated his shameful past from her dovelike purity, and was appalled at what he had done...........
All I want to know what you guys think about Levin..........Is he not the main hero of anna_karenina

Usually readers find the "bad" characters or the tragic story more interest than the "good" characters and the subplot with a happy end, but I find Levi far more interesting and original than Anna.

People like Levin are very hard to find in todays world , we can only find him in Tolstoy novel.........................

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Originally Posted by JonathanB

Usually readers find the "bad" characters or the tragic story more interest than the "good" characters and the subplot with a happy end, but I find Levi far more interesting and original than Anna.

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Yes, it's odd that Levin, who's such a goody-goody two-shoes should be so compelling, but he is.

Not only that, but he is one of those straight men who just don't know the meaning of camp, but I still find him immensely sympathetic. He was presumably a self portrait. He does have a high degree of self questioning, which neither Vronsky nor Karenin have. Nor does Anna, as far as I remember. She is the "perfect" woman who thrown is off course falling for a smug second rater, IIRC.

Tolstoy has nicely portrayed Levins character .............his like for farming to cattle raising , his sympathy towards his brother Nikolai ,his very honest & truthful character. From very beginning .Levin's constant search for God, truth, and goodness.
HE is in search of the meaning of life and abandons the zest of life for a purposeful life that includes a family, ideas on the advancement of humanism, being at peace with ones world and hard work in is farm and being at peace with God.
I read Anna Karenina introduction by Richard Pevear and Geogr Bailey where they say that Tolstoy portrait his life as that pf Levin . Tolstoy was too fond of farming and was also in search of meaning of life like in AK Levin is....other similarity is about death of Nikolai levins brother...tolstoy too lost his brother and was left with deep grief.
Tolstoy, on the eve of their marriage, gave her his diaries detailing his extensive sexual past and the fact that one of the serfs on his estate had borne him a son same as Levin did .
I think we should agree with the addtion of AK by Pervar

Levin is a splendid chap. I am still in part 5, but I am confident Tolstoy is not going to kill him off or make his life miserable.

As a gentleman farmer, however, I cannot help feeling he is somewhat of a dilletante. He does all this research on the best methods of farming, rides the back of his steward because he is not carrying out his instructions to the letter, and takes part of the harvest with his farmhands. Then he will clear off to Moscow for a month, or to Europe to do some research, leaving his lands to his steward to look after.

I was listening to a radio discussion on Tolstoy today. He began by believing the landed class should educate the peasants as to how to live a better life. However, he came to believe it was the landed classes that could learn alot from the peasents.

I think this is reflected by Levin's experience in Anna Karenina and in the education of Pierre during the retreat from Moscow in War and Peace.

I suppose one area where Levin passes life's test and Alexander Karenin fails is in moral courage. When Levin has something potentially humiliating to say, he plucks up his courage and says it. For example, when he proposes to Kitty the first time, and when asks Oblansky about her after she has refused him. Alexander bottles it. For example, when he can see that his son is wondering where his mother is, he cannot bring himself to tell him.