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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Perfection
“a rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy”
I think I agree
“a rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy”
I think I agree
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: 4.5/5 stars
I like to set reading goals for each year and 2023 is my year for Russian literature. I thought to myself, “What better book to start with than Karenina?” Before I took on the whopping 960-page novel, I decided to check out the 2012 film adaptation by Joe Wright, to get a sense of the characters because the Russian names felt intimidating. I know the 2012 adaptation is contentious with fans, but I adored its style and the visual representations of society as theater.
As for the novel itself, it was a gripping tale that had its finger on the pulse of what it means to be human. Tolstoy has a certain way of perfectly capturing a realistic conversation and behavior that is difficult to even explain; it seems to be a sort of mythical power. “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
Our main characters, Anna and Levin work as interesting counterparts to compare and I was quite surprised by the fact that *spoilers* they do indeed meet over the course of the novel which does not occur in the 2012 film. I found myself wondering why Tolstoy would choose to present the stories of Anna and Levin together. Are Levin’s virtues supposed to bring out Anna’s flaws? Or are we supposed to focus on the genders of the characters, and how life was seemingly set up for Levin to succeed while Anna’s life is tragic? Regardless of intention, seeing the epic rise of Levin and the fall of Anna is quite satisfying on a dramatic level. Though, I cannot say I was entirely pleased that the free-thinker, agnostic Levin ends the story by accepting the lord and savior into his heart. I know this journey parallels Tolstoy’s own, but through a modern lens and due to my personal preference, this choice was less than ideal. The comment about him getting into bee-keeping however, was a very cute little addition to end Levin’s story.
My favorite part of the novel centered around the character of Dolly, sister-in-law to both Levin and Anna, going to visit Anna and her “husband” Vronsky. It was interesting to hear Dolly’s impressions of Anna for it is one of the first times a character outside of the love triangle is able to share their honest opinion on the situation. As a good friend of Anna, Dolly is sympathetic to her situation, pitying Anna’s newly developed pathetic-ness. However, Anna does possess a certain power, and with her beauty, style, and demeanor, she enchants Dolly. It is through Dolly, that we get a very clear characterization of Anna.
Out of all of the characters, I must admit that my favorite is Oblonsky. Every time I noticed his name on the page, I lit up. The character is so humorous and makes such a great foil for Anna. While Oblonsky and Anna share a lot of the same qualities like their blunt say-it-like-it-is attitudes, charm, and their affinity for adultery. Fortunately for, Oblonsky, he gets out mostly unscathed; the same cannot be said for his sister, another indicator of proto-feminist messaging.
My only nitpick about Anna Karenina is it does get a bit repetitive from time to time and it is certainly too lengthy. It is for these reasons that it has lost half a star in my book. However, overall, I had a great time with this novel and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of good literature.
I like to set reading goals for each year and 2023 is my year for Russian literature. I thought to myself, “What better book to start with than Karenina?” Before I took on the whopping 960-page novel, I decided to check out the 2012 film adaptation by Joe Wright, to get a sense of the characters because the Russian names felt intimidating. I know the 2012 adaptation is contentious with fans, but I adored its style and the visual representations of society as theater.
As for the novel itself, it was a gripping tale that had its finger on the pulse of what it means to be human. Tolstoy has a certain way of perfectly capturing a realistic conversation and behavior that is difficult to even explain; it seems to be a sort of mythical power. “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
Our main characters, Anna and Levin work as interesting counterparts to compare and I was quite surprised by the fact that *spoilers* they do indeed meet over the course of the novel which does not occur in the 2012 film. I found myself wondering why Tolstoy would choose to present the stories of Anna and Levin together. Are Levin’s virtues supposed to bring out Anna’s flaws? Or are we supposed to focus on the genders of the characters, and how life was seemingly set up for Levin to succeed while Anna’s life is tragic? Regardless of intention, seeing the epic rise of Levin and the fall of Anna is quite satisfying on a dramatic level. Though, I cannot say I was entirely pleased that the free-thinker, agnostic Levin ends the story by accepting the lord and savior into his heart. I know this journey parallels Tolstoy’s own, but through a modern lens and due to my personal preference, this choice was less than ideal. The comment about him getting into bee-keeping however, was a very cute little addition to end Levin’s story.
My favorite part of the novel centered around the character of Dolly, sister-in-law to both Levin and Anna, going to visit Anna and her “husband” Vronsky. It was interesting to hear Dolly’s impressions of Anna for it is one of the first times a character outside of the love triangle is able to share their honest opinion on the situation. As a good friend of Anna, Dolly is sympathetic to her situation, pitying Anna’s newly developed pathetic-ness. However, Anna does possess a certain power, and with her beauty, style, and demeanor, she enchants Dolly. It is through Dolly, that we get a very clear characterization of Anna.
Out of all of the characters, I must admit that my favorite is Oblonsky. Every time I noticed his name on the page, I lit up. The character is so humorous and makes such a great foil for Anna. While Oblonsky and Anna share a lot of the same qualities like their blunt say-it-like-it-is attitudes, charm, and their affinity for adultery. Fortunately for, Oblonsky, he gets out mostly unscathed; the same cannot be said for his sister, another indicator of proto-feminist messaging.
My only nitpick about Anna Karenina is it does get a bit repetitive from time to time and it is certainly too lengthy. It is for these reasons that it has lost half a star in my book. However, overall, I had a great time with this novel and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of good literature.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
incredibly and magnificent work that succeeds in making the mundane vividly interesting. you won't believe you can withstand and appreciate that many pages about grass being mowed, but you can! and you will!
particularly loved the interrogation Levin's character has throughout the novel, and the pinnacle of it appearing through his relation with his brother. less so the conclusion but i'll forgive someone who had to put guns and ropes away in order to not kill himself, lol.
definitely a product of its time, what book isn't, right, but my heart ached for all of these women stuck in marriages that aren't even necessarily all awful but still unsatisfying and socially forced upon them. the fear and desire that they experience at once for anna's situation was heart-wrenching.
in the end this book felt more about the shame in wanting things they shouldn't, the extent to which one will go to in order to find a respectable meaning to life, all of the characters narrowing their eyes like anna does so they won't truly see what surrounds them.
"She has no name. That is, she's Karenina."
particularly loved the interrogation Levin's character has throughout the novel, and the pinnacle of it appearing through his relation with his brother. less so the conclusion but i'll forgive someone who had to put guns and ropes away in order to not kill himself, lol.
definitely a product of its time, what book isn't, right, but my heart ached for all of these women stuck in marriages that aren't even necessarily all awful but still unsatisfying and socially forced upon them. the fear and desire that they experience at once for anna's situation was heart-wrenching.
in the end this book felt more about the shame in wanting things they shouldn't, the extent to which one will go to in order to find a respectable meaning to life, all of the characters narrowing their eyes like anna does so they won't truly see what surrounds them.
"She has no name. That is, she's Karenina."
Too many tangents and commentary. If they weren't there I would definitely have liked it more. My eyes just kept glazing over and I kept setting the book aside for other things.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
With this being the second Tolstoy book I’ve read now I can say arguably that this book is better. I like them both for different reasons but I feel like this book made me feel a lot more emotions than War and Peace did. Tolstoy did a wonderful job of writing a character that he wanted to hate but you could tell he just couldn’t by the end. It’s worth the time and effort to read and I’ll always recommend it.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes