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Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy,

David Magarshack (Translator)

Start date: September 1, 2012

Finish date: September 30, 2012

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Jan 08, 2013 Livinginthecastle rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I think this book contains several novels with very different aims spliced together. I have to say I don’t do well with long novels, I’m always itching to read something else and discover new characters, so in some ways having the very different stories packed into one great big lump helped me to read to the end of this long book. However this approach can be a little unsatisfying overall.

The book mainly concentrates on two couples, but most of time the males are given most of the ‘airtime’. Le I think this book contains several novels with very different aims spliced together. I have to say I don’t do well with long novels, I’m always itching to read something else and discover new characters, so in some ways having the very different stories packed into one great big lump helped me to read to the end of this long book. However this approach can be a little unsatisfying overall.

The book mainly concentrates on two couples, but most of time the males are given most of the ‘airtime’. Levin seems to be one that gets ponderous meandering thoughts, at times it feels like an essay, with several chapters devoted to agricultural theory and the meaning of life, with no discernable help to the story or character; it feels very forced. I thought perhaps it was to encompass the issues facing the whole of Russian society, but the peasants are sketched in small encounters with their masters and not much more.

In some ways this is a very enjoyable soap opera and is quite readable, (easier as an e-book because you can search for unfamiliar names), but at other times it is a hard slog. The central character Anna Karenina, doesn’t get much space and only towards the end of the book do we see how she unravels. In a sense, Kitty and Anna once they are ‘caught’ by their respective partners they are pushed aside, and Levin and Vronsky take the lead in the narrative, which I was disappointed with as I wanted more from Anna. The other problem I had was I didn’t believe the ‘great love’ between Vronsky and Anna, to me, it was just flattery and lust thrown out of all proportion, maybe that’s why it’s considered so tragic. I was also very interested in Dolly and Oblonsky, but after the beginning of the book they seemed to disappear, which happens a lot; it's almost as if Tolstoy just lost interest in certain characters and he just discarded them. Also the suddenly speaking in French, really really annoyed me at times- what was the point?

Anyway I’m glad I've read it, but I think Tolstoy was a bit confused as to what he wanted to write; a schlocky romance soap opera (which was probably shocking) or an opus tackling the whole of Russian society at that time? So 2 books in 1, neither of them done particularly well. I’ve given it a three because I did get to the end.
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