Anna Karenina in The Dusty Bookshelf

Aug 28, 2012 Ashe rated it did not like it

It's a nice story overall but it really was dragged on for too long. There were so many characters to keep track of and in the end you didn't hear about them (like Varenka for instance). Tolstoy added pages of meaningless dialogue in there or some small problem of Levin like his irritation with the way of farming the peasants preferred. The core of this problem went on from chapters 24-30! Most readers can't relate to that at all! They have to be absorbed in the story!
And at first, he presented It's a nice story overall but it really was dragged on for too long. There were so many characters to keep track of and in the end you didn't hear about them (like Varenka for instance). Tolstoy added pages of meaningless dialogue in there or some small problem of Levin like his irritation with the way of farming the peasants preferred. The core of this problem went on from chapters 24-30! Most readers can't relate to that at all! They have to be absorbed in the story!
And at first, he presented Anna to us as a smart, sensible woman who just wanted to be free from her husband. She and Vronsky loved each other dearly but then you read on to find out just how bitter and jealous she can get and how uncaring HE turns out to be! True love doesn't usually end up like this! And then there's that pathetic way he killed her off. HE KILLED OFF HIS MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER!! And then proceeded to skip ahead two months so we never get to read the minutest details on what happened after her suicide! It's like J. K Rowling killing off Harry Potter! At the very most, you may choose to kill of your secondary most important characters for a little bit of shock but not the main character herself! THE BOOK JUST CAN'T GO ON AFTER THAT!
I scoffed when I read that Kitty "has not thought and not thinking of getting married, but she's very ill and the doctors have sent her abroad. They are even afraid she may not live." So yeah, some people sometimes fall into a little depression after a heartbreak but they move on. It's part of life and most women do not have the privilege of going abroad if things ever get a little too tough for them.
Then he chose to paint Oblonsky in two contrasting colors as well. In the beginning of the book, it was said that most of his household sided with him on the affair. (Note how Leo Tolstoy makes adultery seem like a thing that people can't help doing. He doesn't show the world of the person who's been deceived.) He went about his day normally and it was like he didn't feel any guilt at all! Dolly was never able to trust him ever again and she said it herself once, she just "puts up with him." But then you go around seeing how friendly he is to people and how happy he is most of the time. It's like, make up your mind already! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review