Anna Karenina

Dec 04, 2012 Nataliya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nataliya by: The annoying movie ad on Goodreads - the blinking and flashing and seizure-inducing one

Shelves: russian-classics, 2012-reads, i-also-saw-the-film

As a daughter of a Russian literature teacher, it seems I have always known the story of Anna Karenina: the love, the affair, the train - the whole shebang. I must have ingested the knowledge with my mother's milk, as Russians would say.

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My grandpa had an old print of a painting hanging in his garage. A young beautiful mysterious woman sitting in a carriage in wintry Moscow and looking at the viewer through her heavy-lidded eyes with a stare that combines allure and deep sadness. "Who...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Brad rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: most-hated, classic, matches-and-lighter-fluid, meta-review

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

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Aug 05, 2012 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 19th-century, russians, grande-dames, mawwiageiswhatbringsustogethertoday, woundedsoulsandfragileflowers, grand-opera

So, I have this ongoing etiquette problem. Though sometimes I think it is a matter of respect. Or maybe social awkwardness. I’d consult my Emily Post on the issue, but it’s a unique bookworm sort of problem. I don’t think Ms. Post got that deeply into the protocol of neurotic bibliophiles.

Anyway, the question is.. why do I unconsciously call an author by their first name sometimes? In some respects, I’ve had this conversation before in the context of gender. That is, are discussants more likely...more

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Jun 23, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die; Top 10 Books by Living Writers; Newsweek's Metalist 100; Oprah Book of the Month

Shelves: 1001-core, classics, favorites

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

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Jan 04, 2013 Jenn(ifer) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-russians, beach-reads, own, gr-group-coreads, the-tops, you-should-read-this, read-in-2012, 5-f-ing-stars, my-reviews-that-dont-suck

Read the end of Anna Karenina and listen to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mUmdR...

It’ll break your heart.

When I first completed this book, I sat down at my computer and attempted to review it, and all I could come up with was,

“F*ck you, Tolstoy!!”

I know that sounds juvenile, but I still have that feeling. I’m so ANGRY with him for what he did to Anna. I’m so angry that we were barely given a chance to know her. (Yes, I'm aware that she's a fictional character who never actually ex...more

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Jun 20, 2008 Terry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Terry by: Rich Moran

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 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 feel the immensity of the place opening up all around you. You keep having this experience of turning a corner and finding something beautiful that you hadn’t been told to expect or catching sight of something familiar from a surprising angle. You start to trust the abundance of the place, and your anxieties that someone else will have eaten everything up before your arrival relax. (Maybe that simile reveals more about me than I’d like.)

My favorite discovery was the three or four chapters (out of the book’s 239) devoted to, of all things, scythe mowing—chapters that become a celebratory meditation on physical labor. When I read those chapters, I felt temporarily cured of the need to have something “happen” and became as absorbed in the reading as the mowers are absorbed in their work. Of course, the book is about Anna and Vronsky and Levin and Kitty and Dolly and poor, stupid Stepan Arkadyich. It’s about their love and courtship and friendship and pride and shame and jealousy and betrayal and forgiveness and about the instable variety of happiness and unhappiness. But it’s also about mowing the grass and arguing politics and hunting and working as a bureaucrat and raising children and dealing politely with tedious company. To put it more accurately, it’s about the way that the human mind—or, as Tolstoy sometimes says, the human soul—engages each of these experiences and tries to understand itself, the world around it, and the other souls that inhabit that world. This book is not afraid to take up any part of human life because it believes that human beings are infinitely interesting and infinitely worthy of compassion. And, what I found stirring, the book’s fearlessness extends to matters of religion. Tolstoy takes his characters seriously enough to acknowledge that they have spiritual lives that are as nuanced and mysterious as their intellectual lives and their romantic lives. I knew to expect this dimension of the book, but I could not have known how encouraging it would be to dwell in it for so long.

In the end, this is a book about life, written by a man who is profoundly in love with life. Reading it makes me want to live.

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Jun 12, 2007 Sammy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: d-the-bad

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 and length ne...more 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 and length necessarily, but because of it's content. More often than not I found myself suddenly third a way down the page after my mind wandered off to other thoughts but I kept on reading... am I the only one with the ability to do that? You know, totally zoning out but continuing to read? The subject I passed over though was so thoroughly boring that I didn't bother going back to re-read it... and it didn't affect my understanding of future events taking place later on in the book.

Leo Tolstoy really enjoys tangents. Constantly drifting away from the point of the book to go off on three page rants on farming methods, political policies and elections, or philosophical discussion on God. Even the dialogue drifted off in that sort of manner. Tolstoy constantly made detail of trifling matters, while important subjects that added to what little plot line this story had were just passed over. Here is a small passage that is a wonderful example of what constantly takes place throughout the book:

"Kostia, look out! There's a bee! Won't he sting?" cried Dolly, defending herself from a wasp.

"That's not a bee; that's a wasp!" said Levin.

"Come, now! Give us your theory," demanded Katavasof, evidently provoking Levin to a discussion. "Why shouldn't private persons have that right?"

No mention of the wasp is made again. Just a small example of how Tolstoy focuses much more on philosophical thought, and thought in general, more than any sort of action that will progress the story further. That's part of the reason the story took so long to get through.

The editing and translation of the version I got also wasn't very good. Kit reckons that that's part of the reason I didn't enjoy it as much, and I am apt to agree with her. If you do decide to read this book, your better choice is to go with the Oprah's Book Club edition of Anna Karenina.

The characters weren't too great either and I felt only slightly sympathetic for them at certain moments. The women most often were whiny and weak while the men seemed cruel and judgemental more often than not. Even Anna, who was supposedly strong-willed and intelligent would go off on these irrational rants. The women were constantly jealous and the men were always suspicious.

There's not much else to say that I haven't already said. There were only certain spots in the book which I enjoyed in the littlest, and even then I can't remember them. All in all I did not enjoy this book, and it earned the names Anna Crapenina and Anna Kareniblah.

But remember this is just one girl's opinion, if it sounded like a book you might enjoy I highly advise going out to read it. Just try and get the Oprah edition.(less)

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Nov 29, 2007 Trevor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 because I re...more 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 because I realized that what I was reading was pure feeling: when we realize that Anna is no longer pushing Vronsky away, when Levin proposes to Kitty, and later when Levin thinks about death. The book effectively threw a shroud over me and sucked me in--I almost missed my train stop a couple of times.
That being said, there were some parts that were difficult to get through. I felt myself slowing down in Part VI. I was back in through the remainder of the book once I hit Part VII, but I understand how the deep dive into politics and farming can be off-putting. Still, in those chapters Tolstoy's characters are interacting, and it's incredible to see them speak and respond to one another. It's not only worth the trouble, but deep down, it's no trouble at all. It's to be savored, and sometimes we must be forced to slow down and think about the characters' daily life as they navigate around in their relationships.
A word about this translation. When I was in college I attempted to read the Constance Garnett translation. I didn't stop because it was awful (I think finals came up, then the holidays, then more classes, etc.). However, I never really felt like the words were as powerful as they should have been. Years later, the only image that stuck in my mind was of Levin meeting Kitty at the ice skating rink. I just never really entered the world of Anna Karenina, perhaps my fault more than anything. However, the diction and sentence construction in Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation is poetic and justifies the title "masterpiece." Through this translation I grew to appreciate Tolstoy not just because he told good, philosophical stories, but because he could do so with utmost subtletly and compactness--yes, I think Tolstoy is concise. Each word has its place.
Understandably, many are unwilling to give themselves to this book. Many expect it to do all of the work. But it's an even better read because if the reader works, the experience of reading this book is incredible.(less)

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Dec 31, 2012 Sean rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, 19th-century, russian

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” One of the most famous lines in the history of literature. A phrase that sets the tone for the events that unfolds in this massive tome from one of Russian’s most famous novelist, Leo Tolstoy. This author is mostly famous for his double fisted pair of epics which feature a panoramic view of 19th century Russian society. This book, Anna Karenina rests in one hand as a tragic love story whereas the other complex war ep...more “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” One of the most famous lines in the history of literature. A phrase that sets the tone for the events that unfolds in this massive tome from one of Russian’s most famous novelist, Leo Tolstoy. This author is mostly famous for his double fisted pair of epics which feature a panoramic view of 19th century Russian society. This book, Anna Karenina rests in one hand as a tragic love story whereas the other complex war epic, War and Peace. Both of these books have become household names in the world of classic fiction. Both have experienced a reputation of being both equally loved and feared by those readers who have braved the 1000 pages and the long term investment that each of these novels demand.

Anna Karenina is the first of Tolstoy’s novels that I have read. Although the main plot is fairly simple, it is one of the most complex novels I have ever read in terms of characterization and morality. The book is a quintessential example of realism in literature so the true strength lies in the complexity of its characters and its themes. Anna Karenina discussed many themes such as love, marriage, jealousy, infidelity, economics, art, and politics. It really is all there. It leaves very few areas untouched. I believe many themes are still relevant in today’s society. It really presents an interesting study of the challenges of being human.

description

The plot follows the personal life of two families. One is in the early stages of creation; the other is on the verge of destruction. Both are inter-twined and both are presented with the same problems. Like the characters in this novel, one of the most important goals in anyone’s life is to achieve happiness. The definition of happiness varies from person to person. However, in many people’s lives happiness is something ambiguous. Many people do now know what makes them happy. Many believe that money, love, power, or a healthy family are the ingredients that bring them a sense of happiness. However, when some of these goals are achieved, a person may still feel as if they have not fully achieved happiness even though they have everything that they have always wanted in life. The same feelings are experienced in this book. I have never read a novel that had more realistic characters and been more relevant to the challenges of modern life today than Anna Karenina.
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Feb 27, 2013 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fiction, 500-pages-or-more, favorites, russian, 19th-century

In lieu of a proper review of my favorite book, and in addition to the remark that it would be more aptly named Konstantin Levin, I present to you the characters of Anna Karenina in a series of portraits painted by dead white men.

Anna Karenina (Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent)

Alexei Karenin (Portrait of Edouard Manet by Henri Fantin-Latour)

Alexei Vronsky (Study of a Young Man by John Singer Sargent)

Konstantin Levin (Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife by John Singer Sargent

Kitty Sch...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Mariel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Jay Gatsby

Recommended to Mariel by: Pat Benatar

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 own ankles all the sam...more 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 own ankles all the same. Humbert Humbert would see what he wanted to see. If he wanted to see his own toes he would see them. Le Petit Prince, well... I did not mean to get distracted on the fog. The fog is not as important as what it would be hiding. Can you feel the vibrations? It is also pretty great for atmospherics and that is why I have chosen to include it in my scene.
The tortured cries of tortured Orcs, in a hell that is no Divine Comedy, even if you didn't especially like Orcs. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooow! That's somewhere between a grunt and a howl. Of pain! You don't want to know where losers of the Celebrity Death Match go. Maybe you would think twice before voting for this review if you knew what would happen to the loser.
"What's this?" Anna Karenina asked the handsome youngish man she was still deciding was worthy or not to protect her in this dark and unknown land. It might be Siberia. It is harder and harder to keep the man, clearly wealthy for he has a expensive looking gold pocket watch and well tailored clothes, attentive. He continues to check his gold watch and time the approach of, yes it is six she can see now, six figures. Anna's eyes narrow on the leader, jealous that she can command this man from afar. Is she dancing or convulsing? It isn't like any ballroom dance that Anna knows.
Their dresses are in tatters at the knees, just above the fog and the shins. The sleeves are attractively ripped that they must be tailored. Her own gown is stained from the vomit of Le Petit Prince. It was unfortunate that she repulsed the monsieur with her lack of motherly skills. He sobbed over a watery bit of madeleine left over in his pocket and ran towards a gaggle of feminists just over there in the woods. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that in a group of six women at least one must be looking for a rich man." Anna sighed inside. "But what of love?"
Close up starting at the knees, scandalously shown in their perfectly torn hem, like a good pair of ripped jeans. Elizabeth and her sister Jane shake their shoulders right to left and then left to right. Younger sisters Mary, Kitty and Lydia repeat their movements in perfect synchronicity, like the best synchronized swimmers in a 1950s movie or birth control advertisement. It's all about girl power. Their dance movements are closer than before and now they are face to face with Anna and Gatsby. Jane flounces her serviceable gray skirts. "I got your letter. I wanted to send you a reply. Love is a battlefield, sistah. If we stay true to ourselves love is real." Anna looks from Gatsby's struck eyes and wonders but what of love. It looks easy when you have the same dance moves and the sisters Bennett. "I can't do it alone. I mean, I think these girls are kind of annoying. Elizabeth and Jane are okay, but Lydia?" Lydia scowls in reply. Jane Eyre extends her hand to Anna. "You can do it. We are strong! Heart ache to heart ache we stand!" Anna finds her feet are moving. "No promises, no demands?"
Jay Gatsby doesn't get it. He thinks that Jane Bennett is very beautiful. She might be impressed by how much money he has...
Winner: Jane Eyre(less)

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Nov 24, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Anna, oh Anna...what have you done?!

In Anna Karenina there are multiple examples in which one love is fostered at the expense of another. On the one hand the reader clearly sees the wrong being done and rails against it, but if a moment of further reflection is indulged, we wonder if we too might not have done the same. Should true love be grasped at any cost? What price is too high?

However, Tolstoy didn't just write a tragic romance, he had social issues he wanted to discuss...and discuss he di...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Reynje marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: book-everests-and-epicness, classic

At least once a year since I was fifteen, I have attempted to finish Anna Karenina. I get to the exact same point each time (around halfway) and then just... stop. I have no idea why. It's turning into my book-nemesis, which drives me crazy because I want to love it.

Anyway, I declare 2012 "Reynje vs Anna Karenina: Ultimate Book Smackdown".

It's on.

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Apr 03, 2013 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Levin, Levin, Levin, you are a conceited monkey. Why you worry so much?? Is it because you think your problems are bigger than everyone else's? Is it because you don't have enough to fill your days? I would think planting and harvesting would be enough to make a guy dog-tired at night. Dog-tired enough that his infernal mind would shutty uppy for even half a page. Or is it because you think your problems are greater than others'? That you as landowner are the sole decider of everyone else's fate...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Brett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

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 characters aren't static...more 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 characters aren't static, but neither are they in some kind of transition from A to B throughout the book. They are each inconsistent in strikingly real ways. They think things and then change their minds. They believe something and then lose faith in it. Their opinions of each other are always swirling. They attempt to act in ways that align with something they want, but they must revert back to who they are. But who a character is is a function of many things, some innate and some external and some whimsical and moody.

So all the characters seem too complex to be characters in a book. It's as if no one could write a character that could be so contradictory and incoherent and still make them believable, so no one would try to write a character like Anna Karenina. But people are that complex, and they are incoherent and that's what makes Tolstoy's characters so real. Their understandings of each other and themselves are as incoherent as mine of those around me and myself.

One of the ways that Tolstoy achieves this is through incredible detail to non-verbal communication. He is always describing the characters movements, expressions, or postures in such a way that you subtly learn their thoughts.

He does an amazing job in the internal monologues the characters experience. You frequently hear a character reason with himself and reveal his thoughts or who he is to you in some way, and all the while you feel like you already knew that they felt that or were that. Even as the characters are inconsistent. There are times when he can describe actions that have major implications on the plot with blunt and simple words and it still felt rich because the characters are so full.

The book takes on love, marriage, adultery, faith, selfishness, death, desire/attraction, happiness. It also speaks interestingly on social classes or classism. He also addresses the clash between the pursuit of individual desires and social obligations/restraints. There is just so much to wrestle with here.

And you go through a myriad set of emotions and impressions of the characters as you read. At times you can love or hate or adore a character. You can be ashamed of or ashamed for or reviled by or anxious with or surprised by a character. And you feel this way about each of them at points. But it isn't at all a roller coaster ride of emotion. It's fluid and natural and makes sense.

One of the many points that the book seemed to reach to me was the strength and power of love. Tolstoy displays it in all its power and all its inability. In the end love is not sufficient enough to sustain. He writes tremendous triumphs for it, and then he writes the months after when the reality of human failings set in. But love is good, and there is hope. Life can be better with love in it. Should I have kids one day I think I'll make reading this book a precondition for them to start dating (that and turning 25).

I was also surprised by a section towards the end of the book where Tolstoy through Levin, my favorite character and the one that I identified with the most, makes a case for Christianity that was so simple but at the same time really impacted me. I guess I'll leave that alone here.

Basically, I don't have high enough praise for this book. I hope everyone reads it. It is very long, and I found the third quarter or so slow. But I could definitely read it again. Not soon but it could become a must read every 15 years or so for me. Between he nature of the content and the quality of the words, I would say that this is the greatest masterpiece in words that I've ever found.
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Mar 09, 2013 Sunny in Wonderland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1305-read

After reading Tolstoy's short story The Death of Ivan Ilych, I felt confident that I enjoyed the author's writing style enough to commit to a thousand page novel. And, I'm glad I did.

This was a five star book for me during the first six parts. But the last two parts - especially the last part which was added to the story by Tolstoy after he'd already finished his commitment to his publisher - was full of too much philosophical, religious, and political commentary to keep me entertained.

Neverthel...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Angus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-novel-100, the-classics-club, reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

The Day She Caught the Train

My unforgettable art appreciation professor mentioned Anna Karenina when he was discussing realism. I don’t exactly recall how it came about, but what I remember is that he told us how the novel ends. Nobody was disappointed except for me. I groaned quite audibly and squirmed on my seat, but he went on to tell us that the would-be reader has a lot of reasons to pore through all the novel’s pages despite knowing the fate of the eponymo...more

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Aug 30, 2008 Tyler rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century

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 out, he decide...more 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 out, he decides to paint the biggest, baddest Madonna and Child ever. Such is Tolstoy’s approach to the book’s theme, an admiring homage to God, family and class.

Though the author paints on a sprawling canvas, this theme handcuffs the plot, which gets so predictable that it can be seen hundreds of pages in advance more or less what will happen. This same sprawl handcuffs character development because the characters have to be all bad or all good in order to make the author’s point. So the book needs exemplary writing in order to work.

Here, however, Tolstoy never really trusts us to extract the message from his story. He tends to spell it out for us in case we didn’t get it the first time. After a few promising paragraphs, or pages, the prose gets eclipsed by remarks better suited to religious tracts, the kinds with cartoon crosses and all caps, and a penchant for showing up anonymously in public places. As a result, too much of the author can be seen and not enough of his story.

Further damaging the narrative is the laughable misogyny by which the Stepford-wife females make fools of themselves. At one point, for example, three upper class women victoriously demonstrate to a dazzled peasant cook that their recipe makes the tastiest jam. All through the book, the corset-yanking writer pulls out every cliché, right down to the hooker with a heart of gold who, mortified by her own scarlet shame, literally (with a shawl) effaces herself before a ruling-class woman of virtue and promptly exits the stage after a disgraceful cameo.

We’d have a veritable encyclopedia of sexism except that these caricatures must in turn compete with more subtle excoriations of liberals. The eponymous Anna, her eyes glittering, showcases the step-by-step descent into nihilism that liberalism causes, abetted by freethinkers and possibly even by atheists. Though more subtle, this condemnation is still much too obvious to the reader.

Choking on dogma, the story scrapes bottom awhile. But luckily, about page 700, the author drags the manuscript off the mortuary table and applies shock. Over the next 240 pages, he tones down the agitprop, and Levin’s generally well written epiphany in the last 60 pages shoves this Frankenstein past the finish line.

The author tries to mine the same vein as Dostoevsky, another religious conservative. But where Dostoevsky succeeds brilliantly, Tolstoy fizzles. The urge to moralize so impedes the narrative flow that it ruins the effect. What’s left is an archipelago of excellent prose floating on a pond of unctuous treacle.

I wanted to give this novel at least some credit for these stretches of good writing. But sadly, the distractions in the writing conspired with a predictable plot and monochromatic characters to turn this book into a train wreck.

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May 03, 2008 Dia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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May 13, 2013 Simona Bartolotta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici

Più mi addentro nei meandri e nelle meraviglie della letteratura russa, più questa mi affascina e mi lascia semplicemente basita. Per chiarirci, la mia conoscenza per quanto riguarda questa materia è, a dir poco, molto limitata, ma sto cercando di recuperare. Inoltre, se è vero che il buongiorno di vede dal mattino, posso essere certa di avere davanti a me un viaggio, se non dei più riposanti, quantomeno dei più interessanti e stimolanti, considerando che è iniziato sotto la buona stella di uno...more Più mi addentro nei meandri e nelle meraviglie della letteratura russa, più questa mi affascina e mi lascia semplicemente basita. Per chiarirci, la mia conoscenza per quanto riguarda questa materia è, a dir poco, molto limitata, ma sto cercando di recuperare. Inoltre, se è vero che il buongiorno di vede dal mattino, posso essere certa di avere davanti a me un viaggio, se non dei più riposanti, quantomeno dei più interessanti e stimolanti, considerando che è iniziato sotto la buona stella di uno degli autori che meglio hanno saputo far breccia nel mio cuore: Dostoevskij.
Ma in verità, in verità vi dico: Tolstoj magari non supera il padre de I fratelli Karamàzov, ma di certo riesce a eguagliarlo. In Anna Karenina dà prova di un virtuosismo stilistico tra i più particolari e raffinati che io conosca. Per tutto il tempo, leggendo (ad eccezione di quando Lévin si metteva a discutere di lavoro e lavoratori e altro con qualche malcapitato) ho avuto la sensazione di poter davvero vedere la storia dipanarsi e svolgersi sotto i miei occhi, come se stessi guardando un film. Vi prego di non credere che la mia sia semplicemente una frase fatta, buttata lì giusto perché non avevo da dire nulla che valesse la pena dire; è la pura verità. Gli ambienti, i personaggi, persino cose impalpabili come l'atmosfera o i sentimenti con Tolstoj hanno la magica proprietà di diventare tangibili, attuali. Se potessi banalmente dire che Anna Karenina è un libro coinvolgente, credetemi, lo direi semplicemente, e mi toglierei dall'impiccio. Ma "coinvolgente"... insomma, mi sembra un po' poco. E', più che altro, travolgente: volente o nolente, ci sei dentro comunque. Un altro aggettivo che userei senza indugio è "empatico", perché a volte mi è sembrato -quasi sempre a dire il vero- che fosse il libro a capire me, piuttosto che il contrario. Intendo dire che, sebbene sia stato scritto ben più di un secolo fa, non ho avuto alcun problema a comprendere, per fare un esempio, le reazioni dei personaggi, o altre situazioni specifiche. E' una cosa, questa, che per una lettrice o un lettore che, come me, vuole sempre trovarsi nel vivo della storia è un piacere notare.

A proposito di storia, finora ho parlato a vanvera quasi per tutto il tempo, e senza neppure un accenno alla trama. D'altronde, le due cosette che devo dire sono abbastanza trite: avrei voluto più Anna & Vrònskij e meno Lévin, e di questa preferenza spiegherò subito il perché. Trovo che l'ambiente in cui si muovono Anna e Vrònskij, la loro situazione, il loro amore, ma soprattutto la straordinaria personalità di lei, la sua contraddittorietà e il suo fascino e insomma tutto ciò che concerne questa coppia; trovo che proprio in tutto questo si trovasse racchiusa la scintilla giusta per innescare nel lettore quel processo strabiliante che si chiama 'attività cerebrale'. Perché Anna Karenina, degno della sua qualifica come Capolavoro della Letteratura, fa quello che i capolavori della letteratura (in special modo, aggiungo io, di quella russa) sanno fare meglio, e cioè far pensare, toccare certe corde nell'animo di chi legge, corde particolari che poi non smettono di vibrare per un bel pezzo, in alcuni casi mai.

Il personaggio migliore secondo me? Anna. Centomila volte Anna. Se fossi una scrittrice e una mia protagonista avesse anche solo un quarto dello spessore psicologico, della sua verve, del suo stile, credo che sarei felice per tutto il resto della mia vita. Tra i tanti -ma per me sempre pochi- passi che Tolstoj le dedica, ce n'è uno, il primo di tutti, la cui importanza ho saputo cogliere solo con il senno di poi. In esso si trova l'essenza di Anna, quella sua caratteristica che sarà poi la sua rovina quella «abbondanza di qualcosa che colma il suo essere».
La scena si svolge in una stazione, e siamo al momento del primo incontro tra Vrònskij e Anna. Si incrociano all'entrata di uno scompartimento del treno, lui si ferma per lasciare il passo ad un'elegante signora che sta per uscire, e queste sono le parole di Tolstoj, con le quali concludo la mia recensione nella speranza di aver saputo parlare bene di questo capolavoro e aver contribuito, almeno un po', ad aumentare la vostra voglia di leggerlo o, perché no, rileggerlo.

"Egli si scusò e stava per andare nella vettura, ma provò la necessità di guardarla ancora una volta, non perché ella fosse molto bella, non per quell'eleganza e quella grazia modesta che si vedevano in tutta la sua persona, ma perché nell'espressione del volto leggiadro, quand'ella gli era passata vicino, c'era qualcosa di particolarmente carezzevole e tenero.
Quand'egli si volse a guardarla, ella pure voltò il capo. I scintillanti occhi grigi, che sembravan neri per le ciglia folte, si fermarono amichevolmente, con attenzione sul volto di lui, come se ella lo riconoscesse, e immediatamente si portarono sulla folla che passava, come cercando qualcuno. Vrònskij fece a tempo a notare l'animazione rattenuta che balenava sul volto di lei e svolazzava fra gli occhi scintillanti e il sorriso appena percettibile, che incurvava le sue labbra vermiglie. Come se un'abbondanza di qualcosa colmasse talmente il suo essere, da esprimersi all'infuori della sua volontà ora nello scintillio dello sguardo, ora nel sorriso. Ella aveva spento deliberatamente quella luce nei suoi occhi, ma essa splendeva suo malgrado nel sorriso appena percettibile."

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Aug 13, 2008 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*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 their hardest to reflect real...more *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 their hardest to reflect real life. to me that is satisfaction, honesty and comedy.

poor tolstoy/levin; he's so serious and agonized. i really felt his spirit lift when he went into nature odes. like the setting of Levin's final emotional release was so pared down and rich.

now what was really cool was the counterpoint between Levin and Anna. on one level they work together as foils. but on a second level they are kindred spirits both managing discontent. this synchronizes with something i learned in training today. we're supposed to emphasize to the kids both their similarities to one another and also their uniqueness. i overall got this feeling from tolstoy that he is a very empathetic person who wants to display human nature without bias but in all its complexity as a kind of appreciator.

i much liked how Levin was perceived by others. sometimes he was seen as a good man, a brooding man, a difficult man, a saintly man. the whole book you felt he was trying on different modes of existence, like he was forming. or maybe he was the same all along but people judged him based on their own tastes. he never seemed natural in any setting except when alone in nature or with kitty. i like how levin felt simultaneously like an emotional construction zone and the sanest person in the book. he was so plagued by acute frustration and confusion. he was really pitiful. it's weird to feel pity and admiration simultaneously.

i think what i've written so far explains the book pretty well. overall the book gives you a weird feeling towards making judgements. i used to think it was something easy "sex in the city - i love it; fast food - evil; etc." but tolstoy really challenges the way we habitually understand things that is in a one-dimensional way. tolstoy shows you everyone from so many different angles that a character's presence becomes more and more something that just exists. there are no archetypes blowing messages out of megaphones; i think tolstoy would consider archetypes lowbrow. as i read i was playing the judgement-making game, but over time i had to stop doing it. it wasn't necessary in the world of this book. this was a new feeling for me.

right now i feel a little mixed up and pushed around. but also i think i just ingested too many words :P

p.s. i felt like tolstoy was conflicted in his feelings towards anna and levin. i think this is why i don't know how to feel. see how i don't feel right if i can't easily peg a character down?

well i am not sure whether to give three or four stars. three stars because i don't feel post-read euphoria like i like. four stars because tolstoy really put it all out there. four stars for respect.(less)

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Mar 02, 2008 Shauna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 with them...more 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 with them - even though I am product of our mad, technological times. After all, huge changes are occurring in Tolstoy's Russia, fighting as it is with the adoption of a materialistic, perhaps nihilistic view of life. Perhaps this struggle is not so different from our own.
I understand many things about the book, the relationship that evolves between Levin and Kitty - wonderful, by the way - which is the experience I have had when the illusions of romance drop away and you begin to know the person as they really are and to realize that they have a whole world locked away in them that you can seldom touch. When you love, you carry a sense of that (as does Kitty - natural creature that she is) but often it cannot be expressed in words. Tolstoy has caught that well, I think.
I can understand Oblonksy and I think the characterization is so concise and brilliant. People like that (or are they personnae?) do exist - I've met them and I envy the easy way in which they sail, untroubled, through life.
But Anna... I remain puzzled and annoyed by her. I don't know if anyone can enlighten me. What exactly is missing for her? She finds her passion, her love and it is not enough, it cannot fulfil. Is it simply too isolating? She finds some intellectual fulfillment when time hangs heavy on her. Is it because she has a spiritual, our soul level (like Levin) that cannot ultimately be realized through erotic love? Is it because she cannot hold the fascination of a man who desires to be of the world as much as, or more than, he desires her? Is that why she resorts to opium? Is it really because of the societal strictures (misogyny even?) and the inability of her and Vronsky to forge a life together that is accepted by others? Would she have been happy, say, if she had met Vronsky instead of "the other Alexei", had married Vronsky in order to have his children? Is it because she has been disloyal to Sergei, her former and, other, great passion? Is that what causes her to propel herself to destruction?
I can't resolve it in my mind and have spent some hours looking about for answers since I finished the book. Perhaps there is no easy solution and perhaps it is an amalgam of the issues (and more?) that I have listed above.
Finally, I was glad that the novel ended with Levin's realization (I guess one can't call it a discovery since he is fully understanding what was already in his soul) that perfection is not possible. One can strive to be a good soul and it is the striving that becomes the purpose and satisfaction of life. We'll still have to display all our warts.
Is that what Anna failed to see?(less)

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May 04, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2007

It would be hard to get more epic in scope, ambition and emotion than with Anna Karenina. I've been wanting to read this for years, especially since watching the BBC miniseries with Kevin McKidd as Vronsky - despite how depressing the story can be, I really enjoyed the adaptation.

Now to the book. God, where do I start? Let me apologise in advance for the terribly scattered nature and clunky writing of this "review", I have lots of interruptions and am too tired to think clearly.

Anna Karenina en...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: translated-from-russian, literary, review

Sergei Ivanovich suggests to Konstantin Levin (the fictional character most closely resembling Leo Tolstoy himself) early on in the novel that: ‘The chief task of philosophy in all ages has consisted precisely in finding the connection that necessarily exists between personal and common interests.’

And it is the central interest of this book. When the various relativist critics of Tolstoy’s oeuvre use glib assessments of his personal worldview that they feel are patterned into it, such as misogyn...more Sergei Ivanovich suggests to Konstantin Levin (the fictional character most closely resembling Leo Tolstoy himself) early on in the novel that: ‘The chief task of philosophy in all ages has consisted precisely in finding the connection that necessarily exists between personal and common interests.’

And it is the central interest of this book. When the various relativist critics of Tolstoy’s oeuvre use glib assessments of his personal worldview that they feel are patterned into it, such as misogyny or didacticism, they are enacting and negotiating through their own version of this tension: for to be labelled a ‘misogynist’ is to enforce a common interest upon a personal one in a similar way as happens to the namesake of the novel: Anna Karenina.

‘She raves about you. … She says you’re a real heroine from a novel and that if she were a man she would have committed a thousand follies for you.’

You will hear much in the way of this character, Tolstoy’s great heroine, as being a redeeming feature in his sea of outmoded political barbarism. While she is perhaps the chief protagonist of the drama---certainly the most dramatic moments of the novel centre around her---she is by no means heroic. Of all the focal characters, she most heavily fails to establish a liveable connection between her personal and common interests, so she is certainly a tragic figure; but she often comes off as a spoiled brat, so utterly full of herself and her entitlement that you can squirm.

‘Anna took a knife and fork in her beautiful, white, ring-adorned hands and began to demonstrate. She obviously could see that her explanation could not make anything understood, but, knowing that her speech was pleasant and her hands were beautiful, she went on explaining.’

Tolstoy is far too great an author to create a focal character like Anna that could be so easily used as a gender politic rallying point. She is fantastic, in all her flawed humanity. The few pages where Levin meets her fully, and she wins him over, is a fantastic glimpse into how this character won Tolstoy over too.

‘…she was a bad woman. Well, what are these desperate passions! It’s all to prove something special. So she proved it.’ Vronsky’s mother (understandably perhaps) sums her up harshly. She was a bad woman. She cheated, she lied, she manipulated, she abandoned; and all for a love that wouldn’t last. Not in the format that she could understand it, anyway. So many of the blurbs and synopses say that Vronsky spurned her ‘Do I live? [Anna asks herself] I don’t live, I wait for a denouement that keeps being postponed.’ But Vronsky never spurns her. His love changes, and hers does also, but her demands on him, and life in general, of which she is the focal point, do not change.

I can only imagine how any modern film version will spoil this novel. Much more focus on the ‘We all want something sweet, tasty, if not candy, then dirty ice-cream.’ And less on the ‘All that day she had had that she was playing in the theatre with actors better than herself and that her poor playing spoiled the whole thing.’ Anna is a broken human being, not a battleship: at heart, she is not the strong woman but the frightened girl. Trotting out a society-is-to-blame excuse for her is facile and empty, which is what makes it so interesting, heartfelt, tragic and beautiful.

Anyway, this is a masterpiece by a master, and translated by the Peaver/Volokhonsky team masterfully I have to imagine, since if it were not, I would not have such a solid English-language impression of Tolstoy’s masterfulness…
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Jul 18, 2012 Elena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books

This is obviously a masterpiece, no point in denying it.

[There may be spoilers ahead]

To me, Anna Karenina felt like the slow destruction of a woman.
Anna is a respectable Saint Petersburg woman.
Married, a son, and unmistakable wealth.
She's strong and decisive--at least at the beginning.
That's all until she meets Alexey Vronsky.
She falls into this spiral of passion; she leaves her husband and her son, to live it at the fullest.
But this only worsen her situation, that becomes more and more unstable...more

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Nov 18, 2008 Nicholas Karpuk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Character-Driven Fiction, Russophiles

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 thoroughness of his exploration of all topics, and the...more 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 thoroughness of his exploration of all topics, and the names.

I'm not upset by length in books, probably because of all the fantasy books I read in elementary and middle school, so that's something I just shrug over in books, as I'm sure many regular readers do.

The names were something I know people get confused over. They're long, they're Russian, and everyone seems to have two dozen of them. I'm pretty good at remembering names, so the only times I was thrown involved minor characters who were thrown in. The best suggestion I can give if you're having issues with that is to check out the character lists available on many websites, or just write it down somewhere convenient. It's really a pretty minor issue.

What I do have issues with is some of the thoroughness. When people say that "Anna Karenina" is a story of life, it's a pretty accurate summation. It covers more topics and matters related to being a member of the Russian upper class in the 19th century than most people probably want to know.

For the most part it's well done, with the exception of a few chapters discussing the government and bureacracy. Reading about Alexei Alexandrovich do his boring desk job isn't page-turning material.

What held this book together for me was the characterizations. Tolstoy puts a lot of love and detail into the characters, and they almost all come off as very compelling, very flawed people. Reading about all these conflicted personalities bouncing off of each other as they move through society is what kept me going through all 750 pages of this behemoth.

Clearly there's tons of analysis on this book for those who are really into such things, and I understood the reasons why after I'd finished. There really is a lot to think about by the time the book is through. Questions on faith, fidelity, and the role people are supposed to play for their country are discussed through out.

Beyond the feeling that sections were padded out for serialization, my main complaint is in the aforementioned character of Alexei Alexandrovich. He's the character Tolstoy had the least sympathy for through most of the book. There's a brief chunk after his wife leaves him that we view him experiencing anything meaningful, and after the novel moves on to other characters, it never comes back to him. Events happen near the end of the book that should have had a major impact on his character, but no resolution for his situation is given, nor is his character revisited. In a novel with such a major amount of love shown to the characters, it really stuck out.

Otherwise, "Anna Karenina" was a worthwhile, if lengthy experience, and for those who like character driven work it's definitely worth giving a try.(less)

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Jan 24, 2012 Jeremy added it · review of another edition

Shelves: russian-literature

Wow. This for me is just vastly better than War and Peace. Instead of trying to sketch the entire Russian world, here he focuses in on 2-3 interrelated families. The psychological depth Tolstoy creates for Anna, Vronsky, Levin and all the rest of these people is just incredibly vivid. You feel their insecurities and longings like they're your own. The dialogue, both internal and external, is fantastic, and each character feels so real, so totally brimming over with this little moments of honesty...more

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May 09, 2012 Emily May rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 1001-read, fave-classics

This is a book that I was actually dreading reading for quite some time. It was on a list of books that I'd been working my way through and, after seeing the size of it and the fact that 'War And Peace' was voted #1 book to avoid reading, I was reluctant to ever get started. But am I glad that I did.
This is a surprisingly fast-moving, interesting and easy to read novel. The last of which I'd of never believed could be true before reading it, but you find yourself instantly engrossed in this kind...more

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Aug 10, 2007 Keith rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thisyear

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

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Jul 11, 2010 سارة درويش rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

أسوأ مافيها عناوين الفصول لو حذفت لاستمتعت أكثر بالرواية .
الترجمة في طبعة مكتبة الأسرة ليست جيدة جداً ، من الممكن اعتبارها مقبولة
الرواية نفسها جيدة ، آنا لم تحب أيهم ، لم تحب حتى نفسها

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Classics Without ...: 900 Pages to a Better Vocabulary!	21	103	16 hours, 10 min ago
Classics Without ...: Favorite Quotes - Possible Spoilers	13	26	16 hours, 16 min ago
Classics Without ...: * Part 4 Chapter 1 - 23	11	42	May 19, 2013 11:26am
Classics Without ...: * Part 7, Chapter 1-31	3	27	May 18, 2013 04:29pm
Classics Without ...: Options for enjoyment	16	123	May 17, 2013 01:02pm
Classics Without ...: Foreshadowing (SPOILER ALERT)	5	19	May 17, 2013 09:53am

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