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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Read for Memoria College class. Really interesting to read this book while I was going through a divorce. I had a lot of "So it's not just me" moments while reading about Karenin's inner thoughts.
tolstoy can YAP.
i'm just going to come to terms that i have no desire to finish this one after about 20 hours of listening.
i'm just going to come to terms that i have no desire to finish this one after about 20 hours of listening.
I have tried reading Tolstoy in the past with no success. I thought the first 150 pages of War and Peace (the only ones I managed to read back in high school) were slow, unimportant and honestly quite boring.
I don't know if I were too young back then or if I simply liked Anna Karenina more, but I have to say - I adored Tolstoy's writing this time! I had to read only a few chapters and I was hooked. The writing was exquisite and the way we got to see what's going on inside each character's head was fantastic. I don't think anyone can read this book and not recognize themselves in at least some aspect of the characters. I felt that Tolstoy was an excellent psychologist and showed us thoughts and emotions we didn't even realize we've experienced. That to me was the best part of the book.
I have to say, I wasn't completely invested in Anna's story, but there were enough side characters that were interesting enough. I do wish there was a bit more action in the story, but hey, that's just me. I also failed to realize why the book carries Anna's name, when she was in no way the main subject of this book.
All in all, I think I just have to give War and Peace another try. I won't be able to go too long without more of Tolstoy's writing.
I don't know if I were too young back then or if I simply liked Anna Karenina more, but I have to say - I adored Tolstoy's writing this time! I had to read only a few chapters and I was hooked. The writing was exquisite and the way we got to see what's going on inside each character's head was fantastic. I don't think anyone can read this book and not recognize themselves in at least some aspect of the characters. I felt that Tolstoy was an excellent psychologist and showed us thoughts and emotions we didn't even realize we've experienced. That to me was the best part of the book.
I have to say, I wasn't completely invested in Anna's story, but there were enough side characters that were interesting enough. I do wish there was a bit more action in the story, but hey, that's just me. I also failed to realize why the book carries Anna's name, when she was in no way the main subject of this book.
All in all, I think I just have to give War and Peace another try. I won't be able to go too long without more of Tolstoy's writing.
reflective
Update May 9, 2021: Rereading this 14 years later, I tuned into so many different plot lines and details than I did the first tine around. Perspectives obviously shift over a lifetime and this is definitely one of those books that will mean different things to you at different points in your life.
challenging
emotional
tense
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
challenging
sad
slow-paced
I’m glad I finally read it. I enjoyed the translation. I felt it was easily attainable. This had been on my shelf for awhile. I bought the audio version on Libby. I appreciate that the introduction was moved to the end of the audiobook due to spoilers.
Anna Karenina is a silly, spoiled woman who feels sorry for herself because her husband won't give her a divorce so she can marry her lover. She abandons her son for her lover, but can't love the daughter she has with him. Kitty and Levin's story is so much better. Tolstoy enjoys going off on tangents that aren't central to the story, which makes it difficult to want to finish the book.
Leo Tolstoy's magnum opus was a truly delightful read; with each turn of the page the story drew me deeper and deeper into the hustle and bustle of 1860s Russia. The characters’ struggles appear to transcend time and bear similitudes with the present day adversities commonly seen in our daily lives– the turbulences of a lovers’ quarrel, the quest for the meaning of life, and all the trifles of human existence. Even the crippling debts shouldered by the noblemen find an echo in today’s society. The painfully relatable inner lives and emotions that these characters experience made my pulse rise and fall in motion with theirs.
Tolstoy’s mastery of the language is not only impressive, but often made me chuckle. The delivery of complex ideas and emotions is done swiftly and gracefully. One analogy of (no real importance) vividly marked my memory:
“He knew it was not possible to forbid Vronsky to trifle with art, knew that he and all the dilettanti had a perfect right to paint what they liked – but to him it was unpleasant. One cannot forbid a man's making a big wax doll and kissing it. But if the man came and sat down with his doll in front of a lover, and began to caress it as the lover caresses his beloved, it would displease the lover. It was this kind of unpleasantness that Mikhaylov experienced when he saw Vronsky's picture: he was amused, vexed, sorry, and hurt.”
This passage rendered Mikhayklov’s unspoken conflict tangible and makes the reader sympathize with the artist and his bitter disposition.
Another salient scene that stood out to me was the horse race which marked the climax of the first half of the story. Following Frou-Frou’s fall and the crowd’s dismay, Karenin offered on three separate occasions to take Anna home. However, the latter dismissed her husband’s gesture without a second thought. The importance of her refusal shone through in the immediate aftermath, as the affair unfolds and the push and pulls between the estranged husband and wife took on an unseemly symmetry with the scene of the steeplechase. This was the symbolic and decisive moment when the reader realizes the depth of Anna’s love for Vronsky and her lack of repentance for Karenin’s suffering.
“What is the chief factor that drove Anna to take her own life?” is likely a question that perplexed many readers, including myself. How did a self-possessed and charming woman like Anna become a wreck of nerves and jealousy? The answer rests partly in the social constructs and standards of that era. The stakes were stacked unevenly between the two lovers, with the stigma directed primarily towards Anna. She was deemed to be a fallen woman, while Vronsky was permitted to enjoy much of the same lifestyle as he did prior to their scandal. To an intelligent woman like Anna, there is nothing more infuriating than a lack of control over one’s own destiny and having to rely on a man’s love and good grace to derive merit. She lived to please him and grew profoundly unhappy as the initial glamour of their relationship wore off. As time passed, any coldness Anna detected in Vronsky’s demeanor provoked a crisis in her because it was perceived as the last of vestige of his love for her. Consequently, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the couple’s affection dwindled whilst the tension between them rose continually.
Despite the green eyed monster that shattered her composure numerous times, Anna knew and admitted that she never truly questioned Vronsky’s faithfulness towards her. Instead she was truly unsatisfied by the hopelessness of their situation which weighed her down terribly.
In the end, I wondered if Anna regretted the path that she picked. If so, was that why she chose to come full circle and commit suicide just as that unfortunate man did on the day of her fateful meeting with Vronsky?
Tolstoy’s mastery of the language is not only impressive, but often made me chuckle. The delivery of complex ideas and emotions is done swiftly and gracefully. One analogy of (no real importance) vividly marked my memory:
“He knew it was not possible to forbid Vronsky to trifle with art, knew that he and all the dilettanti had a perfect right to paint what they liked – but to him it was unpleasant. One cannot forbid a man's making a big wax doll and kissing it. But if the man came and sat down with his doll in front of a lover, and began to caress it as the lover caresses his beloved, it would displease the lover. It was this kind of unpleasantness that Mikhaylov experienced when he saw Vronsky's picture: he was amused, vexed, sorry, and hurt.”
This passage rendered Mikhayklov’s unspoken conflict tangible and makes the reader sympathize with the artist and his bitter disposition.
Another salient scene that stood out to me was the horse race which marked the climax of the first half of the story. Following Frou-Frou’s fall and the crowd’s dismay, Karenin offered on three separate occasions to take Anna home. However, the latter dismissed her husband’s gesture without a second thought. The importance of her refusal shone through in the immediate aftermath, as the affair unfolds and the push and pulls between the estranged husband and wife took on an unseemly symmetry with the scene of the steeplechase. This was the symbolic and decisive moment when the reader realizes the depth of Anna’s love for Vronsky and her lack of repentance for Karenin’s suffering.
“What is the chief factor that drove Anna to take her own life?” is likely a question that perplexed many readers, including myself. How did a self-possessed and charming woman like Anna become a wreck of nerves and jealousy? The answer rests partly in the social constructs and standards of that era. The stakes were stacked unevenly between the two lovers, with the stigma directed primarily towards Anna. She was deemed to be a fallen woman, while Vronsky was permitted to enjoy much of the same lifestyle as he did prior to their scandal. To an intelligent woman like Anna, there is nothing more infuriating than a lack of control over one’s own destiny and having to rely on a man’s love and good grace to derive merit. She lived to please him and grew profoundly unhappy as the initial glamour of their relationship wore off. As time passed, any coldness Anna detected in Vronsky’s demeanor provoked a crisis in her because it was perceived as the last of vestige of his love for her. Consequently, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the couple’s affection dwindled whilst the tension between them rose continually.
Despite the green eyed monster that shattered her composure numerous times, Anna knew and admitted that she never truly questioned Vronsky’s faithfulness towards her. Instead she was truly unsatisfied by the hopelessness of their situation which weighed her down terribly.
In the end, I wondered if Anna regretted the path that she picked. If so, was that why she chose to come full circle and commit suicide just as that unfortunate man did on the day of her fateful meeting with Vronsky?