Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Anna Karenina

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

122 reviews

jeanned_arc's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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elihrus's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75

This book is a tough one. A lot of philosophy about God and blame... And a lot of pseudo-communism and agriculture. I guess I wouldn't read the 870 pages again.

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brighetti's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

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

1.5

Prone to rambles and tangents on politics, agriculture, and the mundanity/everyday logistics of the characters' (lead or background) lives. After

Anna died

, the next page jumped straight into a long explanation of one of the character's published book being a flop. It was chapters later before the book returned to even acknowledging

Anna's death

. This interrupting tangent didn't even feel like it was used as a literary device to build tension, or create a sense of everyone else's relative normality/mundanity before they found out the shocking news - it felt like a jarring jump cut that never brought the reader to a satisfying release of tension following

her decision to die

. I've heard this book heralded partly because of how much it packs in - how many topics it covers, how informative it is about Russia at the time, and that it's not only a "great" love story but also basically a historical Time Capsule. I would argue that the amount it packs in is a discredit to the story. The information Tolstoy has added feels to be at his own whim, to satisfy his own interest, and at times it even feels as though he is vicariously boasting about his own knowledge and interests via the characters. It very rarely furthers the story, and (as is the case in the example above) actively stilts and disrupts the energy/momentum/tension/interest of the plot. Having said that, some of the passages about agriculture where the most pleasant to read - as they evokes pleasing images of fields and nature - which was a nice respite from the long-winded internal monologues of some of the other characters. Tolstoy manages to tell us extensively how the characters a feeling, what they are struggling with internally, by cycling through their thoughts on a repeated loop before they finally act. This, however, did not actually invest me in their emotional turmoil because it was all *told* not shown, and told rather repetitively at that.
The "great" love story isn't even that great in my opinion - as a reader I don't feel that their love is strong, I am told. Occasionally their actions (i.e. what they give up) is used to demonstrate how much they love each other, but that is still not quite written well enough to make me feel it. So, by the time the relationship is

fraught with toxicity and begins to crumble

, their love story hasn't been set up convincingly enough for me to be properly invested.

Also surely "a love strong enough to die for" is not true love. True love would never want you to die, and would never what to use death to hurt you.

There were passages that I enjoyed reading, and moments in the plot where I was engaged, but overall Tolstoy uses far to many words to tell a story in a less than interesting way. I simply think he could have done with a hard-truth editor. Or perhaps redirected some of the tangents into separate books so they are not so interruptive in this one.

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ineedsomemoretea's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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theoriginalallison's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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charleyyyyy's review against another edition

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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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catleuumlivro's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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carolinebl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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

I can’t believe the cover is of a train track; that’s out of line. Poor Anna.

Tolstoy’s characters are remarkably complex. For nearly 900 pages we are absorbed into the inner workings of their lives, the mundane and the scandalous.

I appreciate the note of hope after such a depressing ending for others. I do wish we could have seen more of other perspectives, though Levin’s brought the story to a firm conclusion.

I see why this is lauded as the great work of realist fiction; I won’t forget this story. Unhappy families are still unhappy, but I’m glad we have more choices now.

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tabascobich's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

I really like the juxtaposition of first Levin seeing all the good in people after his proposal to kitty and later Anna seeing all the bad, due to her unhappiness and broken heart in delirium.

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shawdo'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

5.0

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