Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"I've tried everything, Vronsky thought; the only thing left is not to pay attention." Most solid piece of advice I'm taking from this book.
Anna Karenina is an interesting book. Not in itself. It is terribly dull book that meanders from meaningless moment to meaningless moment until its entirely unsatisfying conclusion. But in how it is rated by other people... I mean it is a classic with > 4 rating on Goodreads and I have to say I'm baffled.
If you cut 600 of its 938 pages it would be a meh book about the various relationships of several Russian aristocrats who live really tedious, and meaningless lives. A three out of ten for the few moments of true tension.
In reality, it is a sprawling mess that is desperate for the editor's pen. There are literally dozens of chapters where nothing interesting happens. Levin goes hunting. Levin does some farm work. Levin finds God, oh Jesus shoot me now why won't this book get to the bloody point!?
The main narrative of Anna and Vronsky is interesting for the most part but even that descends into farce by the end when both characters become such whiny idiots you stop caring if they live or die never mind if they make their relationship work.
Seriously, unless you have too much time on your hands or have some kind of masochistic love of reading about old Russian farming techniques avoid this like the plague. The fact one person has given this five stars never mind 300,000 people on Goodreads amazes me. I'm not sure if I got a different book to them but wow. All I can say is if you think this is five stars wait until you read literally any other book, you'll be blown away to discover character, plot and pacing...
If you cut 600 of its 938 pages it would be a meh book about the various relationships of several Russian aristocrats who live really tedious, and meaningless lives. A three out of ten for the few moments of true tension.
In reality, it is a sprawling mess that is desperate for the editor's pen. There are literally dozens of chapters where nothing interesting happens. Levin goes hunting. Levin does some farm work. Levin finds God, oh Jesus shoot me now why won't this book get to the bloody point!?
The main narrative of Anna and Vronsky is interesting for the most part but even that descends into farce by the end when both characters become such whiny idiots you stop caring if they live or die never mind if they make their relationship work.
Seriously, unless you have too much time on your hands or have some kind of masochistic love of reading about old Russian farming techniques avoid this like the plague. The fact one person has given this five stars never mind 300,000 people on Goodreads amazes me. I'm not sure if I got a different book to them but wow. All I can say is if you think this is five stars wait until you read literally any other book, you'll be blown away to discover character, plot and pacing...
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Came for the tragic romance, stayed for the detailed discussion of post - emancipation agrarian reform.
I loved this book and it will haunt me. It was, at times, very funny (which i hadn’t expected at all), as well as obviously being deeply tragic. As great literature does, for the period that I read the book, it took me into a time, a place and circumstances very different to my own and enveloped me.
It is long though and can be hard work. Some of the passages about the politics of the time are somewhat abstruse. I’m glad that I read it on holiday when I had time to give it the effort it deserved.
It is long though and can be hard work. Some of the passages about the politics of the time are somewhat abstruse. I’m glad that I read it on holiday when I had time to give it the effort it deserved.
It’s not so much the story that I became invested in, but the way Tolstoy perfectly expresses the characters thoughts and feelings. I do love the story and I actually quite enjoyed the depth he gave the women: Dolly, Anna, Kitty. Whilst reading Anna Karenina, I had some sort of realization that people have been experiencing the same thoughts and feelings and problems we have today. It’s easy to not read the classics because of their old language and maybe feeling like it’s not current. But after reading Anna Karenina I felt more connected to people of the past and was sad for their loneliness in their feelings. We are so blessed today to be able to make connections easily through social media where we can find people experiencing what we are going through. I don’t know if I’m even making sense but I had to quickly write down these tidbits before I forget and move on to my next book. I want to remember how I felt while reading Anna Karenina.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
VRONKSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY KILL YOURSELF