From the Bookshelf of Should have read classics…

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy,

David Magarshack (Translator)

Start date: January 14, 2012

Finish date: March 1, 2012

Discussion: Buddy Reads-Current

Why we're reading this: This is the Depths of Winter buddy read for January. This will run around 6 weeks.
[close] This is the Depths of Winter buddy read for January. This will run around 6 weeks.

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last updated May 14, 2012 06:53AM

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last updated Dec 27, 2011 02:24PM

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Nov 05, 2017 Joy Gerbode rated it it was ok · review of another edition

ANNA KARENINA

My impressions of this book were mostly not good. It seemed to me to be a very, very, long soap opera, mostly about infidelity of one kind or another. Infidelity in marriage, in friendships, in social dignities, and even in one’s own dreams. There were no particularly wonderful word feasts or metaphors; the closest we have here is comparing the relationship to a horse with a romantic love affair, and the horse’s obstacle race to an illicit love affair. There was WAY too much detaile ANNA KARENINA

My impressions of this book were mostly not good. It seemed to me to be a very, very, long soap opera, mostly about infidelity of one kind or another. Infidelity in marriage, in friendships, in social dignities, and even in one’s own dreams. There were no particularly wonderful word feasts or metaphors; the closest we have here is comparing the relationship to a horse with a romantic love affair, and the horse’s obstacle race to an illicit love affair. There was WAY too much detailed description of totally irrelevant things. And the worst was there were WAY too many characters to keep track of. I had to resort to a Sparknotes list of characters just to remember who was who. Making this even more difficult was the fact that Tolstoy didn’t always call the characters by the same name; sometimes they were called by first names, sometimes last names, maiden names, or titles, and sometimes by a descriptive name, such as Kitty's husband.

In fairness to the book, I have to comment on a few things I enjoyed. I did appreciate the descriptions of Russian farm life, and especially the joy that Levin got from doing the hard work of a farmer. I appreciated the glimpse into Russian social life, although that glimpse made me very glad I didn’t live in it. There were a few lovely moments, but way too few for a book of such length. In fact, I appreciated the character, Levin, in many ways throughout the book, particularly his new-found belief near the end that life is basically as good as you make it. This idea, along with a new-found faith in God, allowed him, not to become something he had not been, but to overcome the human moral faults he had previously had.

One thing that did stand out to me was Tolstoy’s inference that “you need to be careful what you wish for”. It seemed that everyone in the book who got what they desired, ended being unhappy with it. The exception was Levin, who got much of what he desired, but in the end, decided that his happiness was related to his attitude and not to getting his every desire.

For a book I really didn’t like, I’ve sure written a lot about it; but if you think my review is long, you should read the book!!!
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Sep 14, 2017 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audible-book, 2017-reads

Is it possible to be horribly angry at a character while at the same time feeling such great pity for her? That's how I ended up feeling about the title character of this story, Anna Karenina. The thought of reading a Russian book was a bit intimidating for me. I'm not sure what I expected, but I don't think that I expected to find a book so full of passion. Anna Karenina is a character ruled by passion. For good or for bad, she is driven by her inner passion. The feelings of the main characters Is it possible to be horribly angry at a character while at the same time feeling such great pity for her? That's how I ended up feeling about the title character of this story, Anna Karenina. The thought of reading a Russian book was a bit intimidating for me. I'm not sure what I expected, but I don't think that I expected to find a book so full of passion. Anna Karenina is a character ruled by passion. For good or for bad, she is driven by her inner passion. The feelings of the main characters of the story helped to drive the narrative, making what could have been a difficult reading actually end up being a very readable book. This book has been described as a thinking book, and that it is. There are pages and pages of the story dedicated to discussions about all types of subjects, ranging from Russian agricultural practices to politics to family dynamics. If you read this story only hoping to find the tragic history of Anna Karenina, you might be a bit disappointed to have her story interrupted countless times by characters pontificating their thoughts about societal issues of the day. But if you recognize that this book is not to be simply a romantic (or not so romantic) story of a woman who puts herself in a horrible bind as she follows the whims of her heart, but instead see Anna's story as one part of Leo Tolstoy's grander examination of the world around him, I think that you can find many interesting ideas that can keep you thinking long after the book ends.

Just a few thoughts about the story ... I'm not exactly sure what Tolstoy is trying to say regarding marriage. At times it seems as if he seems to be saying that the conventions of marriage are stifling and unnecessary and unnatural. So many of the marriages portrayed in this story are dysfunctional, to say the least. Anna's marriage seems to be a bad situation for her, keeping her from reaching her full potential in life. But as she chooses to follow her passion, abandoning her husband and child for Vronsky, things eventually end up much worse for her. She is a boat without anchor, and she seems to be unable to find a place anywhere where she can be at peace. I think almost everyone knows how this ends for her, but I won't spoil anything. I will just say that Anna is INCREDIBLY selfish in all her choices during the entire novel. She was selfish in her marriage to Karenin. She was selfish in her interactions with Vronsky, especially at the end of the novel. And her ultimate act to end her part in this novel was horribly selfish. What an infuriating character! And yet, it was easy to pity her situation as well. She was in an untenable situation so often, and she never quite fit into this society into which she had been born. All I can say is that her story was a giant bummer of a story. Not the happiest story I've ever read.

My favorite character in the story was probably Levin. He was the character who most often was caught up in intellectually working through his philosophies of life and society. I appreciated his struggles in coming to terms with religion in his life. I appreciated the duality of his character ... where so often his practices in life were not really in keeping with his intellectual philosophies. He had grand ideas about how the world should be, but when life was flung at him, he reacted more passionately, reaching out for God in his despair, for example, even though he thought of himself as a non-religious person. The chapters detailing his reactions as his wife was in labor were almost beautiful to me. I appreciated his struggles to feel a connection with his new son, his difficulty in adjusting to marriage and its restrictions on the freedom he enjoyed as a bachelor, and his difficulty in understanding his feelings about God and religion. He was interesting to me and the least frustrating of all the characters of this story.

It was a blessing to listen to the audiobook version of this story read by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She was AMAZING. Her diction was flawless, and she brought all of these characters to life. She didn't just read the words of this story. She inflicted emotion into the dialogue so that I could really feel what the characters were feeling. I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook. I still feel like I'd like to read the book for myself so that I can pause a bit after the philosophical passages to think a bit more deeply about them, but overall I would say that this was a wonderful experience to listen to this book. I can see why it is a classic. Four stars. ...more

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