Original Text(~250 words)
Getting up from the table, Levin walked with Gagin through the lofty room to the billiard room, feeling his arms swing as he walked with a peculiar lightness and ease. As he crossed the big room, he came upon his father-in-law. “Well, how do you like our Temple of Indolence?” said the prince, taking his arm. “Come along, come along!” “Yes, I wanted to walk about and look at everything. It’s interesting.” “Yes, it’s interesting for you. But its interest for me is quite different. You look at those little old men now,” he said, pointing to a club member with bent back and projecting lip, shuffling towards them in his soft boots, “and imagine that they were _shlupiks_ like that from their birth up.” “How _shlupiks_?” “I see you don’t know that name. That’s our club designation. You know the game of rolling eggs: when one’s rolled a long while it becomes a _shlupik_. So it is with us; one goes on coming and coming to the club, and ends by becoming a _shlupik_. Ah, you laugh! but we look out, for fear of dropping into it ourselves. You know Prince Tchetchensky?” inquired the prince; and Levin saw by his face that he was just going to relate something funny. “No, I don’t know him.” “You don’t say so! Well, Prince Tchetchensky is a well-known figure. No matter, though. He’s always playing billiards here. Only three years ago he was not a _shlupik_ and kept up his spirits and...
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Summary
Levin throws himself into farm work with desperate intensity, trying to exhaust himself physically so he won't think about his spiritual crisis. He works alongside his peasants in the fields, cutting hay under the blazing sun, but even backbreaking labor can't quiet his mind. The harder he works, the more clearly he sees that physical effort alone won't solve his deeper problem - the question of why he exists and what his life means. His body gets tired, but his soul remains restless. The peasants around him seem content with simple work and basic survival, but Levin can't find that same peace. He envies their apparent ability to live without constantly questioning everything, but he also realizes he can't go backward to that kind of unexamined life. The chapter shows how some people try to outrun their problems through activity and busyness, but real questions about meaning and purpose don't disappear just because we're tired. Levin's struggle reflects something many people face - that moment when you realize you can't just go through the motions anymore, even when going deeper feels scary and uncertain. His physical exhaustion becomes a metaphor for how we sometimes push ourselves to the breaking point trying to avoid dealing with what's really bothering us. The work gives him temporary relief, but underneath, the fundamental questions about faith, death, and the point of living continue to burn. This sets up his final spiritual breakthrough - sometimes we have to exhaust all our own efforts before we're ready to find answers in something beyond ourselves.
That's what happens. To understand what the author is really doing—and to discuss this chapter with confidence—keep reading.
Terms to Know
Spiritual crisis
A period when someone questions the fundamental meaning and purpose of their life, often triggered by loss, trauma, or major life changes. It's different from depression - it's specifically about losing your sense of why you exist and what matters.
Modern Usage:
We see this in midlife crises, post-divorce questioning, or when people burn out from careers that suddenly feel meaningless.
Physical labor as escape
Using exhausting work or exercise to avoid dealing with emotional or spiritual problems. The idea is that if you're tired enough, you won't have energy to think about what's really bothering you.
Modern Usage:
Today this shows up as workaholism, extreme fitness routines, or staying constantly busy to avoid facing relationship issues or life dissatisfaction.
Peasant contentment
The idea that simple people living basic lives seem happier and more at peace than educated, wealthy people who overthink everything. It's often romanticized by those struggling with existential questions.
Modern Usage:
We see this when stressed professionals envy blue-collar workers who seem to 'just live their lives' without constant anxiety about purpose and meaning.
Existential questioning
The deep, persistent wondering about why we exist, what happens when we die, and whether life has any real point. These questions can become overwhelming and interfere with daily functioning.
Modern Usage:
This hits people during major transitions - graduation, marriage, parenthood, job loss - when they suddenly ask 'What's the point of all this?'
Russian Orthodox spirituality
The dominant Christian tradition in 19th-century Russia, emphasizing faith over reason, community worship, and acceptance of suffering as part of God's plan. It shaped how Russians thought about life's meaning.
Modern Usage:
Similar to how different religious or spiritual backgrounds today influence how people cope with life crises and find meaning.
Intellectual isolation
The loneliness that comes from being educated or thoughtful in a way that separates you from others around you. You can't go back to simple answers once you've started asking complex questions.
Modern Usage:
This happens when someone in a family becomes the first to go to college, or when therapy makes you see patterns others don't want to acknowledge.
Characters in This Chapter
Levin
Protagonist in spiritual crisis
He's desperately trying to work himself into exhaustion to avoid confronting his questions about life's meaning. The harder he works, the clearer it becomes that physical solutions can't fix spiritual problems.
Modern Equivalent:
The burned-out executive who takes up marathon running to avoid dealing with his divorce
The peasants
Contrasting figures
They work alongside Levin but seem naturally content with simple survival and daily labor. Their apparent peace highlights Levin's inability to find satisfaction in basic existence.
Modern Equivalent:
Coworkers who seem genuinely happy with routine jobs while you're having an existential crisis
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when we're using busyness to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or decisions.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you suddenly feel compelled to clean, work extra hours, or stay busy—ask yourself what feeling or decision you might be avoiding.
You have the foundation. Now let's look closer.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"He worked with desperate energy, as if his life depended on it, but the harder he worked, the more clearly he understood that this was not the way."
Context: Levin is cutting hay with intense focus, hoping physical exhaustion will quiet his spiritual turmoil
This captures the futility of trying to outrun internal problems through external activity. The 'desperate energy' shows he's not working for joy or purpose, but as an escape mechanism that isn't working.
In Today's Words:
He threw himself into work like his life depended on it, but the busier he got, the more obvious it became that staying busy wasn't going to fix anything.
"The peasants worked and were content, but he could not find their peace."
Context: Levin observes his workers who seem naturally satisfied with their simple labor
This highlights the painful awareness that comes with education and self-reflection - you can see others' contentment but can't access it yourself once you've started questioning everything.
In Today's Words:
His coworkers seemed genuinely happy just doing their jobs, but he couldn't figure out how to be that satisfied with simple things anymore.
"His body was exhausted, but his soul remained as restless as ever."
Context: After hours of backbreaking farm work under the hot sun
This perfectly captures the disconnect between physical and spiritual needs. You can tire out your body completely and still have your mind racing with unanswered questions about life's purpose.
In Today's Words:
He was physically wiped out, but his mind was still going a million miles an hour with all the same worries.
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Running From Questions
Using constant activity and physical exhaustion to avoid confronting deeper existential questions that require stillness and reflection to resolve.
Thematic Threads
Spiritual Crisis
In This Chapter
Levin's desperate attempt to silence existential questions through physical labor
Development
Escalating from earlier intellectual doubts to now desperate physical avoidance
In Your Life:
When you find yourself staying frantically busy to avoid thinking about what's really bothering you
Class Divide
In This Chapter
Levin envies the peasants' apparent contentment with simple survival
Development
Continuing theme of Levin feeling caught between worlds
In Your Life:
When you romanticize others' seemingly simpler lives while feeling trapped by your own awareness
Physical vs Spiritual
In This Chapter
Physical exhaustion fails to quiet spiritual restlessness
Development
Building tension between body and soul throughout Levin's arc
In Your Life:
When you try to solve emotional problems with purely practical solutions
The Examined Life
In This Chapter
Levin realizes he can't return to unexamined existence
Development
Progression from questioning to accepting that questioning is his nature
In Your Life:
When you realize you can't unknow what you now know about yourself or life
Seeking Meaning
In This Chapter
The fundamental questions about existence refuse to be silenced
Development
Setting up for Levin's eventual spiritual breakthrough
In Your Life:
When life's big questions demand answers despite your attempts to ignore them
Modern Adaptation
When the Overtime Stops Working
Following Anna's story...
Anna throws herself into double shifts at the law firm's document review center, staying until midnight scanning contracts and briefs. She volunteers for weekend work, holiday coverage, anything to keep her hands busy and her mind occupied. The affair with Marcus from the courthouse has left her reeling—torn between her marriage to David and a love that could cost her everything. She thinks if she can just exhaust herself enough, the guilt and confusion will fade. But even after fourteen-hour days, even when her eyes burn from computer screens and her back aches from hunching over files, the questions follow her home. Should she leave David? Can she trust Marcus? What about her daughter? The harder she works, the louder her heart beats with uncertainty. Her supervisor notices her sudden dedication, but Anna knows she's just running from the hardest decision of her life.
The Road
The road Levin walked in 1877, Anna walks today. The pattern is identical: using physical exhaustion as emotional anesthesia, hoping that if we tire our bodies enough, our hearts will finally be quiet.
The Map
This chapter shows Anna that avoidance through overwork only delays the reckoning. The questions that matter most don't disappear when we're tired—they wait.
Amplification
Before reading this, Anna might have kept picking up shifts, thinking she could work her way out of emotional turmoil. Now she can NAME the pattern (productive avoidance), PREDICT where it leads (nowhere), and NAVIGATE toward the stillness she actually needs to make this choice.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
Why does Levin throw himself into physical farm work, and what is he hoping it will accomplish?
analysis • surface - 2
What does Levin discover about the relationship between physical exhaustion and spiritual questions?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people using busyness or work to avoid dealing with deeper problems in your own life or community?
application • medium - 4
If you had a friend like Levin who was working themselves to exhaustion to avoid facing difficult questions, what advice would you give them?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's struggle reveal about the difference between problems that can be solved through action versus those that require reflection?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Avoidance Activities
Think about the last time you felt overwhelmed by a big life question or decision. List three activities you threw yourself into instead of dealing with the issue directly. For each activity, write down whether it actually moved you closer to an answer or just kept you busy. Then identify what question you were really trying to avoid.
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between productive action and busy work
- •Consider whether the avoidance activity felt urgent but wasn't actually important
- •Think about what you were afraid would happen if you sat still with the question
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you finally stopped running from a difficult question and faced it directly. What did you discover when you created space for stillness instead of filling it with activity?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 198
What lies ahead teaches us key events and character development in this chapter, and shows us thematic elements and literary techniques. These patterns appear in literature and life alike.