Anna Karenina
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4.5 • 101 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written, “Anna Karenina” is Tolstoy’s classic tale of love and adultery set against the backdrop of high society in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A rich and complex masterpiece, the novel charts the disastrous course of a love affair between Anna, a beautiful married woman, and Count Vronsky, a wealthy army officer. Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together the lives of dozens of characters, and in doing so captures a breathtaking tapestry of late-nineteenth-century Russian society. As Matthew Arnold wrote in his celebrated essay on Tolstoy, “We are not to take Anna Karenina as a work of art; we are to take it as a piece of life.”
The best novel ever written. —William Faulkner
A perfect work of art. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One of the greatest love stories in world literature. —Vladimir Nabokov
To read him… is to find one’s way home… to everything within us that is fundamental and sane. —Thomas Mann
Customer Reviews
Interesting
Profound opening line
A dark and desperate love story
Anna Karenina has been an object of my obsession for years now. Tolstoy’s portrayal of characters is very true; the characters are so realistic and well developed that it feels like I know them personally. Lots of contrasts can be seen, from Stiva and Anna’s love affairs carrying very different consequences (or lack of), highlighting the differing expectations for men and women. Moreover, the stifling urban life vs the natural countryside. Levin and Anna are also two sides of the same coin almost, in their pursuit of love. They’re both contradicting and at times infuriating characters, but so realistic that you can’t even be mad at it. 1 star taken away because I had to translate a lot of the French dialogue, and also some of the conversations and banter between the characters that were clearly commentaries on Russian society and politics went over my head.
Loved this
Tough to get around the Russian names but obviously great story and intriguing characters and time.