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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
This was one of the best classical novels I have ever read .
The below four lines for me was the most crucial part of the story , but Tolstoy slightly snuck it in , and expected his readers to find these pearls hidden in his story :
‘Well , you know -people are different ;one man lives just for his own needs ,like Mityukha , who only stuffs his belly , but Fonkanych -he’s a righteous old man .He lives for his soul.Remembers God .’
Tolstoy subtly yet beautifully portrayed that wisdom can be found in the most unassuming places .
It was a peasant in his opaque language who imparted the answers to Levin , not his acclaimed education or the intellectual chatter ,which he was highly used to and exposed to .
The understanding he gained ,through the wisdom imparted by the peasant triggered a spiritual evolution and slowly started to piece the puzzle of the meaning of life for him and he did his part in employing every fibre of his being to enhance his understanding , which then gave him access to the truth he was seeking which released him from the shackles of darkness that kept threatening him in the past .
On the other hand Anna Karenina also someone of equal intellectual capacity , failed to find the answers for the most important question in Life
“ Her life’s purpose.”
She failed to find wisdom which could have been a guiding light and as a result became a victim of her own negative thoughts .
And no one but Tolstoy could have brought out such a brilliant truth and the complexity of the human mind .
The below four lines for me was the most crucial part of the story , but Tolstoy slightly snuck it in , and expected his readers to find these pearls hidden in his story :
‘Well , you know -people are different ;one man lives just for his own needs ,like Mityukha , who only stuffs his belly , but Fonkanych -he’s a righteous old man .He lives for his soul.Remembers God .’
Tolstoy subtly yet beautifully portrayed that wisdom can be found in the most unassuming places .
It was a peasant in his opaque language who imparted the answers to Levin , not his acclaimed education or the intellectual chatter ,which he was highly used to and exposed to .
The understanding he gained ,through the wisdom imparted by the peasant triggered a spiritual evolution and slowly started to piece the puzzle of the meaning of life for him and he did his part in employing every fibre of his being to enhance his understanding , which then gave him access to the truth he was seeking which released him from the shackles of darkness that kept threatening him in the past .
On the other hand Anna Karenina also someone of equal intellectual capacity , failed to find the answers for the most important question in Life
“ Her life’s purpose.”
She failed to find wisdom which could have been a guiding light and as a result became a victim of her own negative thoughts .
And no one but Tolstoy could have brought out such a brilliant truth and the complexity of the human mind .
challenging
reflective
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
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel feels incredibly weighty as nearly every character can be interpreted as some sort of tragic protagonist.
The ending, often touted as one of the most compelling in literature, did not fully land with me.While I followed Anna’s storyline and was satisfied by her suicide as it’s ultimate conclusion, the treatment of Levin’s final storyline did not please me. Levin, who becomes somewhat of a foil to how Anna ultimately sees the world, is struck by a spiritual epiphany at the end. This did not work for me because it feels incredibly transient, as if we the reader are seeing only one moment of peace in Levin’s life. I cannot help but picture a future in which he continues to wrestle with existential thought, leaving me feeling sad, rather than hopeful, for this character.
The ending, often touted as one of the most compelling in literature, did not fully land with me.
challenging
dark
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:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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
I have thought a great deal about why I failed to fall in love with Anna Karenina. It looked like it would tick many of my boxes - sweeping, immersive, trenchant, character-driven, full of compassion and psychological insight, historical, and on and on. How can a person who adores Middlemarch and Vanity Fair and The Way We LIve Now and even enjoyed The Bostonians do anything but love Anna Karenina?
Well, I don't know the answer. All I know is that for me, Anna Karenina was a tiresome slog, and for the most part just plain boring. To the extent that it has any psychological insight into its characters, it is largely superficial. To the extent it tries to broaden its scope outside of the navels of its characters and into social issues of the day (as Middlemarch does so deftly), it does so in the most tiresome and cheapest way possible: by having rich, privileged people sit around endlessly discussing social theories with one another.
I can't help but feel that Tolstoy squandered his generous allotment of pages, making very poor choices about what to include in them and what to elide. So much that I would have wanted to see in the narrative, he skipped, despite having hundreds and hundreds of pages to work with; while things I really can't be made to care at all about, such as grouse hunts, have chapter upon endless chapter devoted to them.
This is not to say that Anna Karenina doesn't have moments that sing to me; and I'm sure many of my thoughtful and brilliant friends who enjoy this book could say "well, what about ____?" and I would have to admit that yes, ____ was handled beautifully and was one of the high points of the book. But on the whole, Anna Karenina has been for me a tiresome and unsatisfying read.
Well, I don't know the answer. All I know is that for me, Anna Karenina was a tiresome slog, and for the most part just plain boring. To the extent that it has any psychological insight into its characters, it is largely superficial. To the extent it tries to broaden its scope outside of the navels of its characters and into social issues of the day (as Middlemarch does so deftly), it does so in the most tiresome and cheapest way possible: by having rich, privileged people sit around endlessly discussing social theories with one another.
I can't help but feel that Tolstoy squandered his generous allotment of pages, making very poor choices about what to include in them and what to elide. So much that I would have wanted to see in the narrative, he skipped, despite having hundreds and hundreds of pages to work with; while things I really can't be made to care at all about, such as grouse hunts, have chapter upon endless chapter devoted to them.
This is not to say that Anna Karenina doesn't have moments that sing to me; and I'm sure many of my thoughtful and brilliant friends who enjoy this book could say "well, what about ____?" and I would have to admit that yes, ____ was handled beautifully and was one of the high points of the book. But on the whole, Anna Karenina has been for me a tiresome and unsatisfying read.
Well this was a battle I had almost lost.
Anna Karenina is a very character driven story. Not much happens, but what goes on in the minds of the characters is important. Each and every character is well formed, no one is left in the background to be forgotten.
Anna is such a complex and difficult character, you cannot predict what she will say or do. Levin is my new big love, a man too proud at some time, but willing to leave it at the door sometimes so he can find happiness.
Dear Anna Karenina,
Teach me how to love with such passion.
Anna Karenina is a very character driven story. Not much happens, but what goes on in the minds of the characters is important. Each and every character is well formed, no one is left in the background to be forgotten.
Anna is such a complex and difficult character, you cannot predict what she will say or do. Levin is my new big love, a man too proud at some time, but willing to leave it at the door sometimes so he can find happiness.
Dear Anna Karenina,
Teach me how to love with such passion.
Hey I finished an 850 page Russian classic novel, will someone give me a pizza party?
only boring part was russian politics but the end was fab