Good thing we don't have to talk about what the author meant or the storyline really too much because then I would have to talk about how much I really kind of hated Anna Sergeyevna as a character. All she did was basically sit around and cry and cheat on her husband without even really having a fun time with it (which is I guess what you're supposed to do if you're gonna choose to have an affair?) because she just cried all the time and blabbers on while the guy she's talking to is not even listening to her (which is also not good on ya, Gurov.) But good thing we don't really have to talk about that, right?
What we should talk about are a few sentences here and there (but really I loved the ending):
"...when Gurov grew cold to them their beauty excited his hatred, and the lace on their linen seemed to him like scales."
"Sitting beside a young woman who in the dawn seemed so lovely, soothed and spellbound in these magical surroundings -- the sea, mountains, clouds, the open sky -- Gurov thought how in reality everything is beautiful in this world when one reflects: everything except what we think or do ourselves when we forget our human dignity and the higher aims of our existence."
"And it seemed as though in a little while the solution would be found, and then a new and splendid life would begin; and it was clear to both of them that they had still a long, long road before them, and that the most complicated and difficult part of it was only just beginning."
The first part just has great visual imagery. It would be a different thing to say that he started to despise the women and just be done with it. Here by saying the lace seemed to turn to scales really describes the specificity of how he starts to sour towards them, where the things that used to entice him seem disgusting - it even brings to mind reptilian qualities, which is even more repulsive in that context.
The second quote sounds like something I want to experience for myself, which is harder than it sounds to encompass in writing. The syntax of the sentence itself adds to a lilting kind of feel, where it's long and soothing to read. And it would be cool to find another human to feel spellbound with in magical surroundings - the mix of the concrete and the philosophical in this sentence brings that out.
I like ending more than most endings of things that I've ever read. Which is not saying a lot since I usually hate endings and writing endings and having things end. But it's also saying something, because if I actually managed to like it a little, he must have done something right. And what he did right was say that it wasn't actually the ending. I'm not saying we can all do this and end stories by saying hey, this is not where these people's lives actually end, surprisingly they go on. But for this story, I feel it's appropriate and leaves the reader feeling satisfied. The character's story is far from complete. They're going to go through ups and downs and their whole storyline is far from being resolved, but this is where we part with them.
