Wow. Almost done with it, and WOW...it's now one of my favorite books of all time. "I liked his not taking humanity as something outside zoological laws but on the contrary regarding it as dependent on its surroundings, and searching in this dependence for the laws of its development." I think this is my favorite passage out of the thing so far, and I think it sums up the entire book.
I love this book, I think it it one of my favorites. I read it when I was 15 years old and I was just shocked! <3
Anna Karenina is one of the very few books I have encountered where the characters have been so wholly, unashamedly and completely human. They are so rounded you can dislike parts of them, and love other parts of them, feel sorry for them, then get annoyed with them - they are true people, both flawed and good. Except for Lenin - he annoys me no matter what he does. Judgemental barstard. I read it every couple of years and am always in awe of Tolstoy, it's in my top three for sure.
I loved Anna Karenina too. It's one of the best ever! But if you like that kind of literature, you should read some more of russian authors, like Gogol or Dostoevsky for example. 'Crime and punishment' is one of the must read.
I read the book when I was around 15, and I must say, it impressed me... Anna is a very human character, as Wiccan witch said, and it's easy to relate to her... and Kitty, oh, I was so annoyed with her, and yet, and the end, I couldn't stop loving the woman she had become... I hope to read more of Tolstoy this, year, maybe War and Peace? I plan on starting reading The Brothers Karamazov soon, since my father, a Dostoievsky fan to boot, has been pestering me about it for some time
This is one of the greatest novels ever written. A must read for all the connoisseurs of literature. It can easily be said as one of the favourite novels.
I'm taking a class on Anna Karenina this summer. Never read it, but I'm really excited after reading all of your posts!
I loved Anna Karenina so much, I could never get tired of reading it. It touched me on so many levels with the whole dynamic and story. It actually reminded me of the girl I really like, which is both good and bad.
Simply the best. The degree to which Tolstoy can depict multiple perspectives is unnervingly clear. One of my favorite characters is Oblonsky, who is so flawed, so selfish, but also full of vitality and exuberance. And I love the way that Count Vronsky changes throughout the book, from one-dimensional cad, to something much more complex and pitiable.
I know a retired professor of literature who said ANNA KARENINA is the one novel he would choose if he were to be isolated on a desert island for a year and could take only one novel with him. It's the kind of novel that be read every 10 years and you discover something new to you each time you read it. Tolstoy got the idea for it when a woman near where he lived committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train. Her body was laid out in the train station and Tolstoy actually went down there to see the body. He became obsessed with the question why would a woman choose such a horrible way to kill herself. Women usually choose poisoning or drug overdoses or some non-bloody way to do themselves in.
yes, but which translation did you read? I have been studying translations of Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA and WAR AND PEACE recently and there is actually a great deal of difference between the various translators of Tolstoy due to the differences between Russian and English. In English we have many words that mean essentially the same thing. In Russian they have one word that can have many meanings.
I adore the work of Leo Tolstoy, his philosophy and views on politics, religion, morality and society. Anna Karenina is the first book I read from him.
