Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

27 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: War and Racism

charleyyyyy's review

challenging emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

I can't believe I've finally finished this book. It was worth it though, I think this is a very rewarding read, and I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Medical content, War, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Misogyny

skinshela's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Beautifully written story about Russian nobility in the 19th century, specifically the lives of Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin as foils of each other. Tolstoy conveys  strong themes of morality, life and death, class, gender and love. From a modern Western context, many of the conflicts in the story can seem quite unnecessary but with an open mind the characters; their feelings and reactions to the events throughout the book is quite touching. I really recommend this for sure!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Classism, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexism, War, and Racism

celery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, War, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Racial slurs, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Self harm, Sexism, and Violence

nyah_lou's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Racism

margauxreadit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Suicide

heidi_meredith's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

As soon as I started this, I felt I'd rated my previous book too highly. Tolstoy has such incredible and witty insight into human nature. I'd never noticed before how similar he is to Austen, albeit she works more through dialogue than monologue. 

I found Levin and Dolly most relatable for me. 'All day she felt as if she were acting in a theatre with better actors than herself, and that her bad performance was spoiling the whole affair.'

It is interesting to see the parallel journeys that Anna and Levin make in their quests for meaning and to note the similarities in some of their lines of thought, but their very different outcomes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Minor: Racism

olivemypuns's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death and Racism

reebeee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What can I say about this novel that hasn't already been said? The slow pace and long page count pay off in the moving, detailed, realist prose and narrative. Much of the historical and social context went over my head, and I wish I had read this in a class or guided reading group to fully gasp its intricacies. While it's one of the best books I've read this year, it wasn't one that I always enjoyed reading, thus the slightly docked rating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Antisemitism and Racism

madddiebear's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

One of my favorite books I read this fall. I truly think if you are going to choose a longer Tolstoy work that this is the one to go with. It's all about love, god, and truly one of the most insane breakdowns I've ever seen in my life. While the farming parts are oh-so-slow, I have to admit they are masterfully done. Take your time and try to chunk it out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, and War

Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism