Anna Karenina in Constant Reader

Jul 03, 2013 Kenneth P. rated it liked it · review of another edition

For me the book rises and falls with its long-windedness.

There are espansive, detailed, multi-chaptered treatments of private clubs and drawing rooms and vast estates that are as endless as they are stunning. There are watering spas and shooting marshes, racetracks and hayfields, all of which eat up hundreds of wonderful pages. The characters are genuine, psychologically complex. Relationships between them form a delectable network of countless, juicy encounters that keep the pages turning. Lon ...more

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Mar 24, 2009 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary

A curious book. The title character's story gets submerged in a story about the marriage of Levin and subplots about various other characters, many of who have little or no contact with AK. Things stop periodically for descriptions of local election practices, snipe hunting, and wheat harvesting. For a finish Tolstoy spends the 30 pages on Levin's understanding of the Meaning of Life, an understanding that is directly contradictory to AK's understanding.

While the book tends to meander from scene ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Courtney Stirrat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-reader, feminista, oneofthosebooksyoujusthavetoread, own, classiclit, audible

I both love and hate Anna Karenina, but most of all I find the title immensely deceiving. Perhaps Tolstoy could have preempted DH Lawrence and grabbed "Husbands and Wives," particularly because A Tale of Two Cities had been taken. When I take the novel in that fashion, as an exploration of love, marriage, societal norms and expectations, betrayal, forgiveness, and the binds that support and destroy the novel opens up like a lotus. If I try to view it as an epic tale of Anna's relationship with t ...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, constant-reader, classics-corner

Bought it to read for the Classic Corner section of Constant Reader this coming month. What a beautiful edition! Best part so far: when I went to purchase it at my local independent bookshop, I got it free as a loyalty club gift! Sweet.

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Oct 27, 2007 Tamela rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read this when I was 17 or 18, thirty years ago. I can still remember staying up late, late, late into the night reading. Anna feelings were so real.

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