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Dec 16, 2009

Sammy rated it:

People are going to have to remember that this is the part of the review that is entirely of my own opinion and what I thought of the book, because what follows isn't entirely positive, but I hope it doesn't throw you off the book entirely and you still give it a chance. Now... my thoughts:

I picked up this book upon the advice of Oprah (and her book club) and my friend Kit. They owe me hardcore now. As does Mr. Tolstoy. This book was an extremely long read, not because of it's size a More...

44 comments like (86 people liked it)

Jul 13, 2010

Brad rated it:

WARNING: This is not a strict book review, but rather a meta-review of what reading this book led to in my life. Please avoid reading this if you're looking for an in depth analysis of Anna Karenina. Thanks.

I grew up believing, like most of us, that burning books was something Nazis did (though, of course, burning Disco records at Shea stadium was perfectly fine). I believed that burning books was only a couple of steps down from burning people in ovens, or that it was, at least, a s More...

69 comments like (80 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Trevor rated it:

Not since I read The Brothers Karamazov have I felt as directly involved in characters' worlds and minds. Fascinating.
I was hooked on Anna Karenina from the opening section when I realized that Tolstoy was brilliantly portraying characters' thoughts and motivations in all of their contradictory, complex truth. However, Tolstoy's skill is not just in characterization--though he is the master of that art. His prose invokes such passion. There were parts of the book that took my breath be More...

7 comments like (60 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

K.D. rated it:

Summer of 1985. My very manly brother, who rarely read classics, holding and reading a very thick book entitled Anna Karenina. “What is that thick book? Why is he interested on that?” I thought to myself. On the wall by his bed, was a big close up photograph of Sophie Marceau. Around that time, most teenage males in the Philippines were fans of this ever-smiling young lady and her poster was in their bedrooms. Our house was not an exemption. This was before my brother joined the US Navy. A decad More...

32 comments like (27 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2008

Brett rated it:

Alright, I'm going to do my best not to put any spoilers out here, but it will be kind of tough with this book. I should probably start by saying that this book was possibly the best thing I have ever read.

It was my first Tolstoy to read, and the defining thing that separated what he wrote from anything else that I've read is his characters. His characters are unbelievably complex. The edition of this book that I read was over 900 pages, so he has some time to do it. His characte More...

2 comments like (53 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2008

Tyler rated it:

When the Russian elite first read this idyll to their vanity, they must have fallen headlong into the reflecting pool right after Narcissus. For now, you see, not only are they rich and powerful, but according to Tolstoy they’re also supremely virtuous. The theme of this book does the trick.

Say a painter decides to do a Madonna and Child. Looking around, he frowns as he sees that this subject has already been painted thousands of times in every possible way over the ages. To stand More...

20 comments like (15 people liked it)

May 03, 2008

Dia rated it:

What turned out to be the most interesting to me as I devoured this lush book was Tolstoy's amazing ability to show how we change our minds, or how our minds just do change -- how enamored we become of a person, a place, a whole population, an idea, an ideal -- and then how that great love, which seemed so utterly meaningful and complete, sours or evaporates just days, hours, or even minutes later -- in short, how truly fickle we are. And at the same time, each of the characters was in some way More...

2 comments like (34 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2011

Mariel rated it:

Celebrity Death Match versus Jane Eyre. This review is a sequel to Manny's review that is a sequel to Paul's review.

Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina in The Bloody Paper Cut, or was it the Spineless Book Fights Back or was it the Revenge of the Dog-Eared? Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina in the Dance of Lover's Death. Or was it... Hell, I don't know.

Fog rises up from the ground and remains shin level. Well, shin level for an average genteel lady. A tall elf would be able to see their ow More...

43 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jun 07, 2010

Teresa rated it:

*update*

ohmygoodness that took forever. that was a commitment. i think that was the longest book i've ever read. whew.

so well obviously it was a lot to ingest so i'm sure my feelings will be developing and changing in the days to come. right now i feel satisfied and content with the book, but not amorous or breathless. i really enjoyed section eight because it gave you a happy ending, but one that felt very rational and possible. i am very much for endings that try More...

3 comments like (12 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2008

Shauna rated it:

This was an amazing book. Shakespearean in its ability to create living, breathing characters who walk off the page. I never doubted for a moment that Levin, and Anna, and surprisingly, Oblonsky were people that I might bump into on the streets of Moscow back in 1850 or whenever the book was written.
But, really, the reason the characters seem so real is that they are not restricted to their time. Their concerns and feelings represent the human dilemma and it is easy for me to empathize More...

4 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Nicholas rated it:

In picking a work of Tolstoy, I grabbed "Anna Karenina" because if I was going to spend that much time with Russian fiction, I'd rather read love stories than warfare.

Tolstoy seems to have a somewhat threatening reputation in the world of books. "War and Peace" was the book cartoon characters used as shorthand for an impenetrable volume of high brow fiction.

The main reasons for this appears to be a combination of the length of the work, the thoroughne More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Keith rated it:

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0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2008

Steve rated it:

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0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Melanie rated it:

OK people...This is the BBE (best book ever)...I think I’ve read this three times; on my own and once the classroom setting. Though it’s famous for the first line, (“All happy families are alike…”) I actually have a tough time getting through the first 400 pages (JUST KIDDING!). Actually, this is the type of book that you love for 100 pages, hate for 100 pages, love for 100 pages, etc. I can see how this could deter readers, but I’ve found that the love/hate dynamic keeps me interested and mak More...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Sep 08, 2008

Collin rated it:

There are two problems with reading anything by Leo Tolstoy. 1) That guy seriously needed an editor with a forceful personality, as his most famous books are far too long. 2) It's nearly impossible to keep the characters apart, because they all have something like 10 different names depending on the situation and social setting (this is true of much of Russian literature, though for me it's worst by far with Tolstoy).

I don't remember much about this book, to be honest, as I read it More...

11 comments like (12 people liked it)

Nov 13, 2009

Madeline rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

13 comments like (16 people liked it)

Mar 16, 2009

Jessica rated it:

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6 comments like (7 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2008

Karima rated it:

WOW! I did it! I finally read ANNA KARENINA. I have been promising myself to tackle this book for almost 30 years, and, OH BOY, what a TOUCHDOWN!
More precisely, I read AND listened to it. The book I read was a translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The audio version, read by Davina Porter (remarkable!) was a translation by Constance Black Garnet.It was very interesting reading/listening simultaneously and comparing the two translations. I can't say I preferred one over More...

8 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2008

Terry rated it:

In the beginning, reading Anna Karenin can feel a little like visiting Paris for the first time. You’ve heard a lot about the place before you go. Much of what you see from the bus you recognize from pictures and movies and books. You can’t help but think of the great writers and artists who have been here before you. You expect to like it. You want to like it. But you don’t want to feel like you have to like it. You worry a little that you won’t. But after a few days, you settle in, and you fee More...

5 comments like (32 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2007

Christi rated it:

I wish I could say that I loved it as much as I thought I would. Or as much as I expected to love such a revered work of literature.

It took me three starts over the course of three years to finish this book. I got as far as page 565 in 2004. I almost wish that's where the book ended - perhaps right after Kitty gives birth. Because I did not enjoy the last 100 pages or so of this book. But I truly enjoyed the complex characters and the entertwining of their lives. It's really just a b More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Amanda rated it:

I quite honestly LOVE this book and will readily admit I took an entire class in college just because we were going to be reading this novel. I've read it twice (or maybe three times) already and will read it again. My copy's spine is taped, and is underlined out of control, but this story stays with you long after you stop reading it. It's your stereotypical Russian novel with a million characters living their day to day lives... Beyond the story of Mrs. Karenina and her beloved Vronsky is a ca More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2009

JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it:

This is primarily the story of Anna Karenina's troubled affair with Alexey Vronsky. It's also the story of Konstantin Levin's search for love and truth in society.

While reading this book, I kept wishing that I could just read a "good parts version" as William Goldman called The Princess Bride. I kept getting bogged down in Tolstoy's reflections, mostly through Levin's eyes, of how decadent, silly, redundant, and complicated life in the upper class of 19th-century Russian More...

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2011

Steve rated it:

I've read this one three times now. Simply one of the best novels I've ever read. It's long, and at times Tolstoy won't shut up when he starts getting philosophical, but after a while you don't care, because the book has gained such momentum that you can't stop reading.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 02, 2011

يارا rated it:

نادرا ما اقرا مثل تلك الروايه ...ربما قد نكون ممللنا من قصه السيده المتزوجه التى تعشق رجل اخر هذا ايضا ما ترويه الروايه...ولكن حين يكون الكاتب مثل تلستوى فان الامر سيختلف كثيرا
هذه الروايه لا تروى حكايه بل ترصد لنا كم هائل من المشاعر الانسانيه الحائره المتضاربه المتناقضه تقول ذلك من خلال قصه الفناها ومللناها ...ولكن لايهم ماذا تحكى الروايه...ولكن الى ايت تريد ان ترسى بنا الروايه
_ آنا كانت مع زجها الاول
تنعم براحه الضمير ولكنها لاتنعم برضاعن حيانها معه وحين كانت تنعم
More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

NicoleMichele rated it:

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." p. 5

I wasn't reading a story. I was viewing these peoples' existences. This wasn't about one woman or one woman's love triangle. It was 19th century Russia - society, courtship, matrimony, childbirth, relations, death, ideology, Christianity, politics... This book is extraordinary because of the profound characters, the elaborate dual plots and mainly because Tolstoy drew on so much life exp More...

9 comments like (7 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2010

Dagny rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

9 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 24, 2011

إسراء rated it:

قرأتها منذ اكثر من سنة مضت
و عند العودة اليها فؤجئت بما كتبته " في الريفيو "

ربما لم يتح لي صغر سني مسبقاً أو عدم إكتمال النضج الكافي للاستمتاع بها

تبدأ الرواية بمشهد انتحار و مأساة تراجيدية مجهولة لتتعجب منها البطلة لتصبح نهاياتها بنفس المشهد !

تلك المرأة العجيبة " آنا "
التي تركت زوجاً و أبناً و بيتاً و حياة كاملة مستقرة من الشكل الخارجي فقط
و حياة سعيدة كما يظنها البعض...

سعياً وراء حب أعمى و مشاعر لمن لا يستح More...

9 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2011

Amanda rated it:

Anna Karenina has long held a place in my top ten favorite books of all time, but I haven't read it since high school. I realize this was about 8 years ago, and that I needed a refresher if I was going to go on claiming such undying adoration for the thing. So, I began The Epic Re-Read...and finished in just a few days. It's as engrossing, sweeping, and infuriating as I remembered.

Ok, let's address the things most people talk about when you bring up the AK: yes, it's long. Yes, Anna More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Per Michelle's request, a review! It has been a while since I've delved into any heavy literature, so when I saw AK on my branch library's shelves I thought, why not? I'd always intended to read it. And all the cold weather and snow and misery- a perfect book to read over the holidays! Unfortunately, for every passage that was one of those wonderful, wow, I'm right in the room with these characters, fascinating to have fictional characters from another land and time feel so real bits, there More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 22, 2008

Matt rated it:

Ethan Hawke recommended this book in Entertainment Weekly. When the man who helped create "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" says something, I listen.

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

So begins "Anna Karenina." This is a Russian novel, by Leo Tolstoy no less, so any brief summary is impossible. Instead, I will summarize the summary.

There is the Oblonsky family: Stiva, the c More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

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