Anna Karenina

Has anyone taken on any of Tolstoy's epic reading projects? I've been driving myself crazy trying to finish Anna Karenina, which I started since a little while after Luke's birth. It's one of those "light-bulb" (on-again-off-again) feats, but I came to a point (about a month ago) which I had it and avowed to finish the whole thing before I touch another book. It's a remorseful decision because now I am stuck with the vicious light-bulb cycle and can't start a new book.

It's far from being a bad read(very informative, vivid in bringing back the nostalgia of a bygone era, and penetrating descriptions of the ethical and psychological struggles of the characers), but it's a little dragging. In one sense you gain a lot of knowledge on the European court and political climate through the backdrop of the story, while in its evil-twin side of the same token, it's a bit of TMI. (No offense to those who actually enjoy the TMI. It's probably me.) As I bob my head through the waves of old Europe's intricacies, there is this dash-and-halt rhythm of two intertwining plots, where one goes fast and heavy (Anna and Vronsky's adulterous affair) and the other is a droning bore no more exciting than the chanting in a Zen temple (Levin's agricultural pursuits interspersed with updates on his unrequited love for Kitty). For a tired mom who has only a few minutes of reading time to spare at the end of each day, it's more tempting (and economical) that I skip about 400 pages of stuff just to get the point.

So now I'm in the thick of Vronsky cajoling Anna to elope, while Levin's farming somewhere in the country. Dash-and-halt repeating itself once again. Am I missing something? I mean, it's a literary classic and made it to Oprah's book club (not that I picked it because of her recommendation). Can anyone enlighten (or ease my frustrations)?