false 376420 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174282920m/376420.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174282920s/376420.jpg Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.]]> 152 314 2507928 book 1873 Anna Karenina total:32020|5:12473|4:10864|3:6130|2:1836|1:717| 32020 128600 49942 3800 85 4.01 57073 6747 72230 4.00 13611 1446 1507322 103544 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.00 22309 1873 2 39 false Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue May 29 00:49:31 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 20:16:54 -0800 2009
...more...]]> 3700109 124789 151 0143035002 9780143035008 654 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183m/151.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183s/151.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151.Anna_Karenina 4.08 4509 1873 5 20 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 08:20:17 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 02:34:08 -0800 2009 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 contradicto...more...]]> 21180794 1121514 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 21 false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 28 11:42:52 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 16:43:22 -0700 2008
It was my first Tolstoy to read, and the defining thing that separated what he wr...more...]]> 31531395 1096417 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 1 7 false Wed Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 29 11:11:23 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 17:50:44 -0700 2008 ...more...]]> 20242861 1086452 151 0143035002 9780143035008 654 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183m/151.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183s/151.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 12 false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 14:51:31 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 06:57:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 15950321 927861 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 7 false Mon Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 19:13:03 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 02 12:17:38 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3994387 248996 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 2 5 true Thu Aug 02 17:57:51 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 17 03:29:16 -0800 2009 more...]]> 29080204 1390616 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 6 false Wed Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 16:34:42 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 23:07:56 -0700 2008
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 conte...more...]]> 12402977 777559 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 4 5 true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 10:28:48 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 10:07:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 94189 50 151 0143035002 9780143035008 654 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183m/151.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183s/151.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 4 false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun Feb 25 00:53:20 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 16 16:07:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 32342614 1028489 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 1 4 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Mon Sep 08 10:02:25 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 10:17:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 73652771 111921 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 3 4 true Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 13:03:34 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 13 07:11:59 -0800 2009
I'm going to start with a quick plot summary, because before I read this I didn't really know what Anna Karenina was actua...more...]]> 36012893 1547058 151 0143035002 9780143035008 654 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183m/151.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183s/151.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 5 4 true Mon Mar 16 21:01:16 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 23 06:48:19 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 16 21:01:16 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 25108895 88244 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 4 5 false Wed Aug 06 22:05:21 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 06:05:15 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 22:05:21 -0700 2008 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 b...more...]]> 21141974 306725 5685 0142000272 9780142000274 57 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165541683m/5685.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165541683s/5685.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5685.Anna_Karenina 4.20 300 Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.]]> 1873 5 11 false Thu Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 20:37:48 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 20 19:09:47 -0700 2008 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 hav...more...]]> 3595960 195949 151 0143035002 9780143035008 654 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183m/151.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882183s/151.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 2 3 false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 13:52:49 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 21 12:22:09 -0700 2007
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 - pe...more...]]> 1845088 125737 155 1593080271 9781593080273 50 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882184m/155.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156882184s/155.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/155.Anna_Karenina 4.21 314 Anna Karenina “one of the greatest love stories in world literature.” Matthew Arnold claimed it was not so much a work of art as “a piece of life.” Set in imperial Russia, Anna Karenina is a rich and complex meditation on passionate love and disastrous infidelity.

Married to a powerful government minister, Anna Karenina is a beautiful woman who falls deeply in love with a wealthy army officer, the elegant Count Vronsky. Desperate to find truth and meaning in her life, she rashly defies the conventions of Russian society and leaves her husband and son to live with her lover. Condemned and ostracized by her peers and prone to fits of jealousy that alienate Vronsky, Anna finds herself unable to escape an increasingly hopeless situation.

Set against this tragic affair is the story of Konstantin Levin, a melancholy landowner whom Tolstoy based largely on himself. While Anna looks for happiness through love, Levin embarks on his own search for spiritual fulfillment through marriage, family, and hard work. Surrounding these two central plot threads are dozens of characters whom Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together, creating a breathtaking tapestry of nineteenth-century Russian society.

From its famous opening sentence—“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”—to its stunningly tragic conclusion, this enduring tale of marriage and adultery plumbs the very depths of the human soul.
</div>]]> 1873 5 3 false Mon Jun 11 08:26:40 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 16 21:13:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 43282573 48404 6101643 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1232148159m/6101643.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1232148159s/6101643.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6101643.Anna_Karenina 3.50 2
LoC Catalog Card Number: 66-14559]]> 1873 3 5 false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 15:21:45 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 06:46:28 -0800 2009
While reading this book, I kept wishing that I could just read a "good parts version" as William Goldman called Th...more...]]> 41822579 822380 152 0451528611 9780451528612 2442 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041m/152.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1221762041s/152.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152.Anna_Karenina 4.02 32020 1873 3 2 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 06:53:26 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 13:05:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 34200206 1574263 1744140 0899666728 9780899666723 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1744140.Anna_Karenina 4.00 2 Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.]]> 1873 3 3 false Tue Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 30 09:37:56 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 18 14:35:08 -0800 2008
Tolstoy seems to have a somewhat threatening reputation in the world of books. "War and Peace" was th...more...]]> 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=376420