Anna Karenina
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The best russian book ever written..

But, I promiss my self to continue reading. I hope ASAP.




Did you read the recent translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky? I have friends who really didn't like the book and I wonder if the reason may be because of the loss of some of Tolstoy's linguistic power in the editions past.
The translation is so important, I believe, because the excitement of the story comes from Tolstoy's skill as a writer and his ability to capture the universal qualities of human nature in a way that I haven't read with such consistency ever before. As I mentioned in my brief review of the book, I wouldn't care if the story itself was about plowing fields in mid-August--I just loved the character descriptions, their inner dialog, and the universal themes that were able to come through as a result of Tolstoy's writing.


I'm continually trying to understand Polish culture and society. My readings into Russian culture have proven highly instructive, and enormously helpful. This book has proven to be vexing, instructive, and quintessentially Russian.
Stylistically, this book is interesting, quite a bit of "inner dialog" and 3rd person observation which I find slightly annoying. I'm told this sort of "omniscient narrator" is normal for the time this book was written - but as mentioned above, at times I found it a bit much ("to the depths of his soul, Vronsky wanted to kiss her").
The characters and settings are delightful. I sense the place and people quite clearly. Especially the portrayal of Russian aristocracy - it's magnificent and disturbing - the relationship between the peasantry and the aristocracy.
The book is dripping in symbolism (the guy who gets cut in half by a train, the horse who breaks his back, the sexual / ecstatic mowing of the field) - it's almost to obvious for me. Why does Tolstoy point so strongly at these things? Perhaps he is pointing less strongly at things I've missed!
I found Anna Karenina to be a quiet and silent presence in the book - she loved another man, and that was a central plot point, but it's almost like she was the center of gravity around which this book moved. She didn't say a whole lot. Patriarchal? I don't know.
I'm so happy I read this book - it's like a very rich dinner that I need to eat slowly, and savor. But as I continue to struggle to understand Polish culture (and Russian culture) I realize the more I know, the less I know.






OMG, totally agreed with you about the Russian names, it seems everyone is Alexi,Alexander, Alexandre, and one person can have abosut two o three diferent names...aww!!so confuseing.....

Of course, there are numerous wondrous Russian authors besides Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Chekhov, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai Gogol, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Boris Pasternak.
(I don't know why these don't lead to decent author pages, which I believe do exist on Goodreads for these authors. I have tried twice now. Well, I have been messing around with these to the point where they sometimes seem to work, sometimes not. If you can't get to the author directly, try one of his works for more information.)




what did you think of Master and Margarita ? I loved the series :)... and the oil spills and she falls on the rail tracks... or the man claiming he sees the devil and then confined. Also every memorable how it starts , when the man talks about how he has been around for ages as if he was never dead.



Well I was also talking about Russian TV series that was made out of the work. It was really really good :)

Likewise Sir :)
I am fascinated at how real Tolstoy made their thoughts and emotions. Being with them as they change, as their life opens up (or falls apart)was such a vivid experience. Pieces of the story that come to my mind, come so naturally, they are like a memory.
David wrote: ""War and Peace" also is obviously a Russian genius work: it's miraculous that one man could publish both "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" in one lifetime. Tolstoy's shorter, spiritually centered..."
Thank you for the recommendations.
David wrote: ""War and Peace" also is obviously a Russian genius work: it's miraculous that one man could publish both "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" in one lifetime. Tolstoy's shorter, spiritually centered..."
Thank you for the recommendations.

I would like to read War and Peace, but, it's such a big literature to conquer, not sure if I could make it to the end. for now, the book is looking nice on my bookshelves.


I feel exactly the same, that book is a GIANT both in size and masterpiece.






like it


Now wiser and much much older, I read Anna Karenina in English (in Canada). I know love is not everything--and I know much more of Tolstoy and Russia. And yet every time I pick the novel up and open it on any page, it lives for me with the same force as it did so many years ago. And I think of Tolstoy's gift..to be able to create life on a page, with such power..what joy!!!



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Also normally one in a story has the hero and villain, right? well this one is so genuine in this aspect, because when you're going to get on someone's side, Tolstoy describes this person's life and then you see this person's reasons and ways of thinking, so you can't really blame them anymore, and so on. For me.. it helped me a lot on moral circunstances, exactly because of this previous point that I explained.
Tolsoy is a wonderful writer, so I'm looking forward to his other books like War and Peace.
And again, Please read it if you have the chance! it's really worth it!.