Selected Book
Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club)
- Paperback
- Author: Leo Tolstoy
- Publisher: Penguin Classics
- Release Date: May 2004
- ISBN-10: 0143035002
- ISBN-13: 9780143035008
- List Price: $17.00
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummarySome people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing. |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Exquisite Art
Rating:
This superb novel presents readers with Anna Karenina, the trapped and bored wife of a Russian gentleman who, despite her staid and comfortable life, chooses to toss everything out the window in pursuit of a foppish count. Modern readers may admire her spunk and independence, but in Tolstoy's world, shallow behavior brings consequences, not least in the eyes of high society.
Tolstoy also sketches a vivid portrait of nineteenth-century Russia, which is expertly conveyed by translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky; many times during the novel I almost felt I'd walked straight into the scenery. The author does a splendid job of exploring the vicissitudes of landowner culture, too, but by no means does he dwell on related polemics. Tolstoy's a lot like Levin, the somewhat autobiographical character: more interested in hunting with his bird dog than in dealing with the more disappointing and materialist world of people. One of my favorite passages entails Tolstoy's elaborate description of the heroine, not as a person, but as a painting. It's as if here, in art, Tolstoy finds true beauty and transcendence.
The lady's also a bit of a mystery: that is, Tolstoy adroitly (and wisely) refuses to define her motives precisely. Why does she behave in this callous, maddening and self-destructive way? Doesn't she care about the effect on her family? Her vows? Her God? Although Tolstoy does explore ontological themes like God versus rationalism and man versus nature, he shrouds his protagonist in grey. She's well-developed, and the novel hints at her upbringing and rationale, but like Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, we're ultimately left throwing up our hands in exasperation as Karenina melts into the bile of her own mistakes.
At 838 pages, this novel's a whopper: we 21st century folk don't always have (or take) the time to savor something this vast, and for those who'd love to but can't, I recommend checking out Anna Karenina: In Half the Time (Compact Editions). But this translation is a PEN/Book of the Month Club prize winner for a reason, and if you can spare a chapter a day or thereabouts and set your expectations accordingly, you'll be rewarded with a fine literary experience.
My Titles
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Scarlet Letter-esque soap opera of epic proportions
Rating: 
The opening sentence, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," is one of the best and most memorable parts of this lengthy book, which is reminiscent of the peace parts of War and Peace. The reader soon learns of the trials of a member of one such "unhappy family," Dolly Oblonsky, who has just learned of her husband Steva's affair. The adulterer's sister, Anna Karenina arrives by train to convince her sister-in-law to forgive the roving-eyed philanderer. Karenina, unhappily married, falls in love with Count Vronsky, whose courting of Princess Kitty Shcherbatsky causes the young woman to refuse an offer from the one who loves her, Konstantin Levin. Forced to choose between continued unhappiness with her husband Alexei Karenin, or sacrifice her son Sergei to become Count Vronsky's lover and suffer certain societal shunning, she chooses the latter. As a result, this formerly confident woman becomes depressed, paranoid, with child (a girl, who she can't love), and filled with despair; not necessarily in that order. Both Kitty and Levin go through their own trials but gain marital and familial bliss.
I enjoyed this book more the first time (years ago) than this second, recent reread, probably because I've gone from single to married with children. As a mother, it's easier to be hard on a woman who would sacrifice her child's happiness for her own. In fact, after she fell into her downward spiral, I was a bit relieved when to reach the end of Part Seven. Of course, being by Tolstoy, the book contains deeper themes than that of society's double standards for the treatment of adulterers versus adulteresses - maybe something more along the lines of "you reap what you sow." If you are an amateur like me, you may want to consult the Cliff Notes to find out what the less obvious ones are (the whole Count Vronsky's steeplechase as a metaphor to his relationship with Anna was lost on me). According to Marianne Sturman, author of the Cliffnotes, "unselfish seeking of goodness obtains a state of grace, whereas a predatory self-assertion results in damnation" is "Tolstoy's basic moral philosophy." In my mind, Sturman's sentence succinctly summarizes the premise of this 800 plus page novel. If I had planned to read only one of the two, I'd choose Anna Karenina and skip War and Peace. But persons interested in history are probably more likely to enjoy the latter, in spite of its many times longer list of characters and increased length over Anna Karenina. Helpful companion read: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina Cliff Notes by Marianne Sturman. Similar: The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Too wordy-
Rating:
I do think the story line is good. However it is way too wordy. The words were beautifully written but I tired of them & it was boring because of it. I am a quick reader but I had a hard time pushing thru it.
I didn't like this book.
Rating:
I won't say "Don't purchase this book," because different people have different tastes. This wasn't my taste. I read this right after reading "Pride and Prejudice," and the period and focus on class and society has me fatigued.
I appreciate the treatment of important axiological and theoretical issues in the piece by Tolstoy. He discusses social science, philosophy, politics, economics, religion. In that sense, the book was a feast for me. And he treated as many perspectives in which he was versed with great respect. One can't read this book and not walk away more intelligent.
But my feeling while reading most of this book was one of, "Christ, get on with it." Unfortunately, I was saying this through something I actually appreciated; I appreciated his attention to interpersonal relationships and intrapersonal reasoning about these relationships.
In short, there are lots of things I appreciate. I appreciate mechanics, but I wouldn't read an 850 page Chilton's manual.
"Anna Karenina" Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Rating:
An excellent new translation of the Tolstoy classic; Pevear and Volokhonsky have given the novel a fresh, new feeling. I have read other translations several times in the past, but reading this version was a rediscovery of a Tolstoy novel that explores the many facets of love among the Russian artistocracy.
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