Anna Karenina in The Dusty Bookshelf

Nov 04, 2013 Kristina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

Anna Karenina is a monster of a book - my edition had 736 pages of tiny print - but it's well worth the time and effort it takes to read. It is the first Russian masterpiece I've read, and I enjoyed most of the experience.

Anna Karenina is told from two main perspectives. The first is that of (naturally) Anna Karenina, a high-born Russian woman caught between an unhappy marriage to her husband and a passionate love affair with a military man. The second is that of Konstantin Levin, a gentleman f Anna Karenina is a monster of a book - my edition had 736 pages of tiny print - but it's well worth the time and effort it takes to read. It is the first Russian masterpiece I've read, and I enjoyed most of the experience.

Anna Karenina is told from two main perspectives. The first is that of (naturally) Anna Karenina, a high-born Russian woman caught between an unhappy marriage to her husband and a passionate love affair with a military man. The second is that of Konstantin Levin, a gentleman farmer who strives to live a virtuous life. Tolstoy contrasts the two stories, showing that leading a life of scandal and deceit, like Anna, will lead ultimately to tragedy, while leading an honest and simple life, like Levin, will lead ultimately to happiness.

I thought that the Anna half of the story was by far the stronger of the two, and the most interesting. Her emotional struggles were beautifully described and felt true. A modern reader can most certainly relate to her feelings of guilt, jealousy and sadness at her situation. I could see myself in a lot of her irrational flights of imagination. Who among us hasn't sat and worried over something, torturing ourselves with imagined scenarios depicting the worst possible outcomes for a situation that is bothering us? Another interesting aspect of Anna's story is the examination of the sexist culture of the time period. As a fallen women, Anna is essentially a prisoner in her own house, unable to leave without facing embarrassing censure and scorn from society. All of her friends break off contact, leaving her isolated. Her lover, Vronsky, because he is a man, is still able to have friends, have fun and go where he wishes without fear of public rebuke. This double standard leads to disaster for Anna, as she heads closer and closer to a mental breakdown from loneliness and boredom. The writing in this section was extremely compelling and thought provoking.

I struggled with the Levin half of the novel. Much of his story dealt with problems of the day, such as Russian farming methods, questions about how to utilize peasants for field work, the current political situation and religion. While it was interesting to have a window into nineteenth century Russia, not much of this material was especially relevant to me. I also found Levin to be a little too good and virtuous. He was such a boy scout through the whole story that I found him to be quite an unrealistic character. His frequent emotional reactions to the most innocuous of situations were very tiring to read as well. He was constantly unhinged by the smallest of events - a mistimed blush or an unexpected glance, for example, were enough to set him off and make him think the end of the world was coming. I frankly found him to be annoying throughout much of his section.

Tolstoy clearly had a moral agenda to push with this novel. It actually reminded me a lot of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, as that was another book where the author very clearly wanted to warn women to BE GOOD, but Anna Karenina made up for all the moralizing with the emotional depth and realism present in Anna's half of the story. While Tolstoy doesn't condone her behavior, it seemed as if he understood that societal structure played a large part in her situation and that there was more going on emotionally with Anna than a simple failing of a weak woman. This is certainly a masterpiece of a novel and well worth a read for those patient enough to explore it. ...more

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Jan 22, 2021 Jeremy rated it really liked it

The first third of this famous, panoramic novel is absolutely riveting and amazingly insightful into human nature. This level of quality continues until the end, but I felt wasn’t as consistent or as memorable - apart from a few dramatic set pieces.

I concede this may in part be the fault of the reader...in these times of distraction and busyness, an evenly paced, longer read such as this can become more challenging the longer it takes and the more life imposes itself.

The highlights for me were t ...more

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Dec 23, 2023 Katie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm going to be thinking about this one for awhile. I'm very glad I finally read it, and was pleasantly surprised at how approachable the writing style was. Rating definitely subject to change (if it does, it will be higher, not lower.) ...more

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