Reviews with content warning for Death - Anna Karenina

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Anna Karenina by Nina Berberova, Leo Tolstoy

65 reviews

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective relaxing 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

4.25

I have finally finished this tome! I found it to be surprisingly easy to read, full of drama and scandal, with richly developed characters and interpersonal relationships. I loved being able to see how the characters, their worldview and their relationships with the other characters changed over the course of the novel, in such a vivid manner that you could feel impending disaster just from the way they spoke. All the main characters were weirdly loveable despite their actions, and it was especially interesting to see Tolstoy’s own life mirrored in the story of Levin.

Having said this, I did find the interspersed verbiage about a collection of political, religious, and societal issues of the time to be somewhat tedious, and they often killed the momentum. It did give opportunities to delve deeper into each character’s psyche, but I was ultimately not engrossed.
When significant events occurred, the writing was enthralling, humorous and utterly enjoyable.
I would say this is definitely worth the read, not only to say you’ve read it, but as a whole experience.

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demo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

An excellent book occasionally spoiled by Tolsoy's tendency towards the driest didacticism .

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franpesca's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

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rebekahvldz's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.5

I’m not sure I could’ve appreciated that ending the way I did a year or two ago. Anna Karenina is one of the most complex, provocative, reflective, moving and vibrant books that I have ever read. The characterization was spectacular- Dolly, Stiva, Levin, literally felt like they were buzzing off the page. It was a beautiful, insightful book, one that I am so glad I can now say I have read. I can’t believe the accuracy of my instinct that this would be one of my favorites, because it is, without a doubt, in my top three and already, it has shaped my vision of the book beginning in me, no matter how small the idea is right now.

One thing kept going through my head as I read those last remaining pages- how true this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/9hws4r/i_read_anna_karenina_in_5_days_and_now_i_think_my/) rang. This book is the peak for me- the writing, the story, the insights, the characterization, the personal significance of the story, the timelessness of its moral lessons even now- all of it enthralled me. It swept me up and took me with it and just like that Redditor, I will dearly miss the characters.

The only two gripes I have with it is that I wish there had been more study of Vronsky and Kitty’s characters and how dissatisfied I was with the ending. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the ending with Levin. It was one of my favorite parts of the book but I didn’t like that it was literally the last page or how none of the characters’ reactions to

Anna’s death were explored. I wanted more closure, more insight into how Dolly, Levin, Kitty, Stiva, Alexei, etc. would’ve reacted. I wanted to know how the high society which so poorly treated her received the rocking news. I wanted to read about Vronsky being told, running to the station and dropping to his knees with heaving sobs. I wanted to hear that Alexei, wracked with guilt, ran to his son and grabbed him close, sobbing into Seyrhoza’s unsure chest. I wanted to read the various measures with which everyone who loved and didn’t love her responded to this horrifying news. But I didn’t get that. Instead, I got hardly a glimpse of Vronksy’s despair. It was dissatisfying and even more so, because her death didn’t feel justified enough. I needed a more concrete reason other than her sudden descent into paranoia-induced madness. The expectations I carried into this book and even up until the halfway mark was that this was simply a story of her trying to leave Alexandrovich and him refusing, forcing her only resort to become her death at the train station. To read how they dragged on for months, in resentment and restlessness, instead of the grand romance I had expected was extremely disappointing and anti-climactic. Especially that her suicide was over some fickle feeling she’d contrived in her head. Maybe if the expectations of society and the weight of what she would do after he left her were more prominent, it would have felt more justified.

Regardless, I cannot say enough good things about this book and think that everyone should, given the chance, immerse themselves in it.

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kellywa2711's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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sierrabaldwin85's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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mrkat's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

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

3.75

I was slightly disappointed in this book. For a book titled Anna Karenina, it has very little to do with the woman herself, and more to do with the society in which she lives. I realise that it is a "classic" and it shows a lot about the time and place in which it was written, but I was bored while reading it. The story felt as if it was like Moby Dick in terms of unnecessary tangents about anything from politics to farming methods and like Gone With the Wind in terms of character development or lack thereof. None of the characters grew, nobody learned anything, and nobody changed

(maybe with the exception of Anna Karenina herself, who went crazy and jumped in front of a train).

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