Quote of the Day (Keira Knightley, on Motherhood)

“Birth is just the beginning of it…. Then the sleep deprivation, and the sleep deprivation when your body is ripped to pieces and you're still trying to heal. And you've got a small being that is entirely reliant on you. And we live in a society where you're meant to pretend that you're able to do that, and you're fine, and you're on top of it."—Actress Keira Knightley, quoted in Emma Jacobs, “Fame. Tricky Thing to Navigate,” The Financial Times, Mar. 7-8, 2020

Childbirth alone, the actress says, is “what no man can in any way physically understand, can comprehend in any physical way, or emotional way, or hormonal way. And it's stories that we don't tell. Partly because our storytellers are men.” Being a first-time mom, she concludes, is “difficult and wonderful.”

Thanks to her—and the other mothers out there—for enduring this “difficult and wonderful” process. Let’s hope that more of you will tell your stories.

Oh, yes—and Happy Mother’s Day!

(The photo of Ms. Knightley was taken at the Anna Karenina World Premiere in London, Sept. 4, 2012, by Paul Bird. The source is Ms. Knightley.)

Quote of the Day (Leo Tolstoy, on Anna Karenina at the Ball)

"Anna was not in lilac, as Kitty had so urgently wished, but in a black, low-cut, velvet gown, showing her full throat and shoulders, that looked as though carved in old ivory, and her rounded arms, with tiny, slender wrists. The whole gown was trimmed with Venetian guipure. On her head, among her black hair - her own, with no false additions - was a little wreath of pansies, and a bouquet of the same in the black ribbon of her sash among white lace. Her coiffure was not striking. All that was noticeable was the little wilful tendrils of her curly hair that would always break free about her neck and temples." ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877)

I’m not sure why I chose this quote for today, except that the image it creates in the mind is unforgettable—and that it offers ample evidence of the considerable storytelling power of Leo Tolstoy, as well as a hint of the title character’s passion, charm and noncomformity that will lead to her illicit affair and growing isolation from Russian society.

Not for Anna the pastel-like tones that other women (including Kitty) are wearing at the ball.  Black, so simple, nevertheless makes her stand out. She has taken no extra pains on her appearance; her natural beauty is enough to guarantee she’ll draw stares. The only unusual word about this passage is “willful”—suggesting her eventual defiance of norms, along with the phrase that quickly confirms this hint: “break free.”

Anna Karenina is a novel whose enormous size makes it appear intimidating. But it is one of the most memorable books I have ever read, and even short passages like the one above are so rich in color and meaning that it illustrates why.

(The image accompanying this post comes from the 2012 version of the novel. Keira Knightley, shown here, is just one of a number of actresses who have played this unforgettable heroine on the big and small screen, including Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, Jacqueline Bisset, Nicola Pagett, Sophie Marceau, and Helen McCrory.)