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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had such a lovely time re-reading this 10 years after the first time I'd been introduced to Anna and Levin. There's so much to say about this book, and I don't want this to be a ten-paragraph long recap, so I'll keep it brief. Reading AK the second time around, I saw the value in why we should revisit books we've already read, especially ones so focused on how we should best live our lives. This is the kind of book that gets salt in your existential wounds, but also makes you appreciate the beauty in everyday life. Seriously, I smelled a flower on the street the other day! It is no coincidence that the professor who taught the class in which I originally read AK called it "literature of prosaic", a title that felt more earned with this read.
Thank you to my favorite buddy to read with, Justin, who never updates his goodreads! We read Anna to mark 10 years of the unofficial book club that formed in our Russian Lit class, and it was so fun to revisit the first book we read together. Ok, it was actually Brothers Karamazov, but there was no way I was re-reading that.
Thank you to my favorite buddy to read with, Justin, who never updates his goodreads! We read Anna to mark 10 years of the unofficial book club that formed in our Russian Lit class, and it was so fun to revisit the first book we read together. Ok, it was actually Brothers Karamazov, but there was no way I was re-reading that.
challenging
slow-paced
Okay, so first, I will start with the things I enjoyed before getting into a rant. I loved parts that opened up the discussion around class divide, gender expectations, and religion. I enjoyed a look at Russian society through the upper class lens. I did like Levin and Kitty, but... that leads me into my rant. I thought Levin and Kitty had one of the most realistic relationships, and the drama and misunderstandings made sense in the beginning. Towards the end, though, it felt like all the other relationships in this book, where they went back and forth on whether they loved or hated each other and had fights and jealousy that was just done for the sake of drama. Also, Levin felt like the main pov and character, and Anna was like a side character, so I am confused about why the book was titled after Anna as that led me to think going in that she would be the main person we follow. Anna herself and the men in her life are extremely unlikable and toxic. Anna herself is so wishy, washy, and creates her own drama, then blames it on others right up to the end. The way she treats her children is disgusting. I felt for her husband until he used their son as a weapon and blamed him for his mother's sins. Veronsky was also dislikable, beginning with him and Kitty and then in his relationship with Anna. He really shouldn't be in a serious relationship. Dolly and Anna's brother felt like they were just used as a way to parallel Anna's adultery. I should have felt some empathy or sadness with how Anna's part of the story ended, but honestly the thought in my head was good riddance which shouldn't be the response for anyone in that situation, but as she is fictional and such a hateful character I stand by that thought. Without the soap opera relationships in this story or a focus on just Levin and Kitty along with the things I liked, I might have enjoyed this one way more.
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
relaxing read; this translation makes it quick. this doesn't do well as a drama or romance, but if someone told me this was a comedy i'd believe them. towards the end it started to remind me of prasifka’s none of this is serious in that everyone was acting ridiculously.
kitty-levin story line was what got me past the first 300 pages, and accidentally reading a spoiler about anna was what got me to the end. also levin doesn't deserve kitty; i don't particularly like her but levin is totally ridiculous.bro is constantly tormenting her with his insecurity like buddy relax you are a 30 year old man and this is a barely adult woman let's relax for a minute who is meant to be the adult in the room here?
farming scenes & russian names were overhyped i really don't get what the fuss was about. farming scene was fine and somewhat interesting. russian names are easy to understand as long as you flick to the guide in the front; also, you have so much space to get used to them.
i would’ve liked to see the reckoning of what happens to anna, but i guess the focus in the end is a telling indicator of how fallen women were treated.
this levin guy was so funny in the start & middle but by the end he was making me so annoyed like buddy why are you so angry and jealous one second then best friends the next this guy seriously needs to sit down and get his act together.
contextually, knowing how tolstoy treated his wife, levin seems less like a scathing critique of hyprocrisy and indecisiveness and more like a semi-egotistical self-insert fan fiction.
on further retrospection, this did not live up to the hype. i did not have any philosophical revelations unfortunately.
a bit disappointed that i couldn't emotionally connect with any of the characters, especially considering that it's 800 pages - there's tons of space to establish some sort of feeling of investment. having read some of tolstoy's short stories, there's clear evidence that he's good at establishing emotional connection in a short amount of time but buddy must've lost the forest for the trees.
also, there is no character arc for levin at all. the entire time, bro has these amazing philosophical revelations that are completely shallow. the end is him finding God and being like "well, it's not like i'll actually change!". he hasn't grown as a character at all, it's just that he's now self-aware that he's doing it, which is almost worse - his intellectualising then is knowingly hyprocritical instead of endearingly naive. his treatment of kitty makes it especially ridiculous how insecure his character is. levin is a satire of tolstoy (except this is literally how tolstoy treated his wife ahahahah :| )
kitty-levin story line was what got me past the first 300 pages, and accidentally reading a spoiler about anna was what got me to the end. also levin doesn't deserve kitty; i don't particularly like her but levin is totally ridiculous.
farming scenes & russian names were overhyped i really don't get what the fuss was about. farming scene was fine and somewhat interesting. russian names are easy to understand as long as you flick to the guide in the front; also, you have so much space to get used to them.
i would’ve liked to see the reckoning of what happens to anna, but i guess the focus in the end is a telling indicator of how fallen women were treated.
this levin guy was so funny in the start & middle but by the end he was making me so annoyed like buddy why are you so angry and jealous one second then best friends the next this guy seriously needs to sit down and get his act together.
contextually, knowing how tolstoy treated his wife, levin seems less like a scathing critique of hyprocrisy and indecisiveness and more like a semi-egotistical self-insert fan fiction.
on further retrospection, this did not live up to the hype. i did not have any philosophical revelations unfortunately.
a bit disappointed that i couldn't emotionally connect with any of the characters, especially considering that it's 800 pages - there's tons of space to establish some sort of feeling of investment. having read some of tolstoy's short stories, there's clear evidence that he's good at establishing emotional connection in a short amount of time but buddy must've lost the forest for the trees.
i never shelf any book with 'currently reading' here. it binds me, asks for too much commitment. hence i only add books i want to read or have finished reading. this giant of a book, however, requires commitment. so i will log here, over the course of a month, whenever i finish one or two parts of this novel to hold myself accountable :D anna junerina here we go