Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

9 reviews

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

---

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

aude's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Suicide, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Child death

Minor: Racial slurs, Classism, and War

knenigans's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

I did not love the story or the overarching message but I did very much enjoy the writing and it is clear why this remains so popular.

I wish I had read this novel when I was 15, I think that would've been the perfect age for me to fully appreciate it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Infidelity, Suicide, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, Drug use, Grief, Classism, Death, Antisemitism, Child death, and Addiction

mariasrv's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

(Note: I read this in Russian)

In an attempt to examine my own Russian-ness and form an opinion on Tolstoy as an adult (I studied his books in high school), I recently finished reading War and Peace and decided to tackle Anna Karenina next. 

On a personal level, I enjoyed Anna Karenina a lot more than I did War and Peace. Anna Karenina is a lot more contained, the plot is more linear, the structure of the book was great, and the characters cohesive. I loved Tolstoy's language, factual but poetic, and I found his psychologism mesmerizing. 

I think Tolstoy's insight into the human nature, together with his tenderness towards life and mastery as a writer, worked amazingly in this book. Of course, Tolstoy was examining the question of what makes a happy family through his own lense, which at this point is deeply outdated, both on a personal level (sometimes he comes off as a ranting grandpa) and on a societal level. But if you try to squint a bit, so to say, at some of the details, the bigger picture is beautiful and still relevant. 

Anna's plot line is a disturbing and poignant examination of a life being ruined because of feeling unloved, getting caught in passion, misunderstandings, and societal limitations.

The scene where she throws herself under the train is scary because of how much the text managed to put me in the same hopeless mindset.

Contrary to many other reviewers, I deeply sympathized with Levin. He is, of course, a bit of a self-insert, with accordingly Tolstovian views and values, but, unlikely basically everyone else in the novel, his primary driving force is sincerity, and Tolstoy doesn't shy away from acknowledging that sincerity is not without its faults. As Levin says in the end,

he will still fight with his wife, be inappropriate in conversations, and argue with the maids, but his life will, despite that, be full of meaning, because he strives to do good and follow his heart.

I don't agree with Levin (and Tolstoy) about many things, from religion to his stance on women's rights, but I think he's right that being led by a sincere and sometimes awkward earnestness is perhaps the best choice to deal with this life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide

Minor: War and Child death

mondovertigo's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal death and Classism

Minor: Child death

obfuscatress's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Child death and Suicide

novelyon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

anna's narrative slapped but levin was so boring, and worse, a landlord.........the peasants should've killed him the way the serfs did fyodor dostoevsky's dad :/

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Pregnancy, Drug use, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism, Child death, War, Racism, and Sexual content

lauren_loves_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child death, Antisemitism, Racism, and Racial slurs

karenaerts's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Islamophobia