Anna Karenina in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Mar 12, 2007 superawesomekt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books, classics, book-club, russia, x-well-educated-mind-list-x, russian-literature

First read in January 2006. Just finished reading for the second time April 2016. Enjoyed this reading substantially more, which is saying a lot considering I rated it 5 stars last time.

I really think I would recommend this book to everyone. (perhaps carefully with the adolescent crowd although certainly many would be ready for it.) Tolstoy is masterful at presenting his tableau of relationships, faith, and the purpose of life in spite of pain and isolation.

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Apr 03, 2007 Ms. McGregor rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is my third foray into Tolstoy, after The Kreutzer Sonata and Resurrection, and probably my least favorite. Although it was impressive the way we came to understand and empathize with so many characters, many of which changed dramatically through the course of this epic story. (And I was so glad that one of my favorite characters, Levin, was one of the only characters to remain constant throughout.) I could both empathize AND grow tired with characters like Anna who knew what they were doin ...more

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Apr 19, 2007 Kecia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, russian-lit, oprah, classics

Heartbreaking. Sad. And yes, it's long. But oh so wonderful! It will always be one of my favorites. I should have read it again with the Oprah crowd. ...more

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Mar 22, 2010 Kristen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

I almost don’t know where to begin with “Anna Karenina.” Like Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children,” Tolstoy manages to create an entire universe in AK that can’t be encapsulated in a Goodreads post. I knew so little about the novel before picking it up -- basically all I knew was that it didn’t exactly end well for Anna. But in many ways I felt the most compelling parts of AK were not at all about her; rather, the storyline of the Levins felt far more authentic and real to me.

To be sure, Tolstoy wri I almost don’t know where to begin with “Anna Karenina.” Like Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children,” Tolstoy manages to create an entire universe in AK that can’t be encapsulated in a Goodreads post. I knew so little about the novel before picking it up -- basically all I knew was that it didn’t exactly end well for Anna. But in many ways I felt the most compelling parts of AK were not at all about her; rather, the storyline of the Levins felt far more authentic and real to me.

To be sure, Tolstoy writes Anna with a great deal more sympathy than most male authors of his period would have. But I felt that his description of the love affair between Anna and Vronsky was one of the weakest points of the novel – apart from the fact that she’s beautiful, and he’s beautiful, I didn’t see what drew them to each other, and beyond that what really kept them together. In stark contrast to that was the love affair between Kitty and Levin, which felt genuine and alive – when they fell in love, I knew why.

For me, Tolstoy’s greatest achievements were in the little vignettes about the relationships and moments that define our lives: the courtship and confession of love between Kitty and Levin, Anna’s visiting of her son on his birthday, Levin’s anxieties about his pregnant wife and their unborn child, and even Alexey Alexandrovitch’s behavior when confronted with the fact that his wife no longer loves him. Tolstoy is masterful at creating shades of grey, and showing characters at their best, at their worst, and how most of us, most of the time, fall somewhere in between. Even if I didn’t agree with a character’s actions, I often understood their position and why they acted the way they did. That a book published 140 years ago still feels timely and relevant today is a testament to Tolstoy.

Sure, the fact that every character seemed to blush or flush at the slightest thing felt Victorian and a bit dated. The wild flashes of jealousy that seem to possess each character at one point or another feel, a little, well, Russian. And by the end Anna was starting to annoy me so much that I was beginning to look forward to her tragic end. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and how a novel that was 900 pages long didn’t feel as laborious as I expected.
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Jul 09, 2007 aimee rated it it was ok · review of another edition

To quote Liz Lemon on the seminal comedy 30 Rock, "blergh". I found this novel dragged considerably towards the end and I experienced difficulty in finishing it at all; and considered giving up on it.

In the debate regarding the greatest novel of all time, I would definitely cast my vote in the direction of Flaubert's Madame Bovary over this work.

I hated most of the characters and could not find compassion for them or their plights. I'm glad I've now read it, but I do not have any intention of ...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Erin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Took me four months to read - mostly because while it was good I would describe it as a page turner. I would get distracted and it would take me a while to get back in the groove. Despite my three star rating I think it's a book I would like to read again. I think I'd get a lot more out of it the second time around - this time I spent most of my memory space keeping track of the story lines. A second reading would allow me to appreciate this book much more. ...more

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