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barefootsierra's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Infidelity
Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Animal death, Abandonment, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and War
Minor: Racial slurs, Antisemitism, and Child death
annasorr's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Classism, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, War, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Animal death
charleyyyyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Classism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Medical content, War, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Misogyny
celery's review against another edition
- 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
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
tiny_reader_bri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Animal death, and Toxic relationship
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Suicide, Infidelity, Classism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy
aristarcodisamo's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Misogyny, and Animal death
Minor: Emotional abuse and Classism
chriswoody94's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Suicide and Infidelity
Moderate: Classism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
olivemypuns's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Animal death and Racism
mariasrv's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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,
Graphic: Animal death and Suicide
Minor: War and Child death