Anna Karenina: The Begining

I'm not so sure what I'm going to call entries after this one, considering Anna Karenina is such a long book and a lot of the book can be considered the beginning. Yet, I really don't care all that much... Anyways, I've read Part 1 of Anna Karenina, which is chapters I through XVII or, for those people who don't know what that means, 1 through 17. While that may seem like a lot, take into mind that there are 7 parts, each with about thirty chapters each. So yes, the chapters are very short. Anyways, even after reading all these chapters, I've yet to meet this book's namesake: Anna Karenina herself. While learning about Levin, Kitty, Stephen (aka Stiva), Dolly, Vronsky, Nikolai and Konznyshev is interesting, I really just want to know about Anna Karenina. I mean, I'm already halfway through Part 1 and she still hasn't been introduced! I'm starting to question why the book is named after her at all if she comes into the story so late, for a main character that is. This in itself makes me want to read the book more, since Leo Tolstoy's writing style in interesting. I espically love the point of view. I mean, most books now days are written in limited third person or first person, simply because of psychology: modern readers are interested in knowing the psychology behind the characters and want to relate. However, at the time Leo Tolstoy was writing, readers were more interested in the third person omnicient point of view, hence he wrote in that style. Not having read anything quite like it, I read it at first just beause of this. But while I was timid at the begining because it was written in third person omnicent, now I want to read it simply because of the point of view. I'm not sure exactly why, but this point of view really appeals to me. Maybe it's because I don't have to worry about whether I have to trust the narrator or not, or maybe it's because the writer can switch characters without a hitch. Either way, I find it simply amazing and yet another good aspect about this book. Other than that, I don't think I'll have much to say until Anna Karenina herself is introduced. So tata for now!