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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Definitely wasn’t as blown away on the reread but I still love this book. Tolstoy has a masterful way of exploring human emotions and experiences.
Que libro... que escritura y qué compleja situación.
Translated into English. Sometimes (very) long-winded (about for instance tillage, religion). It has some accurate predictions about a.o. communism, Rasputin. Well written, good characterisations, but very long. Also the ultimate fate of the main person will haunt you for a while. 3½ stars.
Il motivo per cui un classico viene definito tale è l’immortalità del messaggio che trasmette. Leggendo Anna Karenina, romanzo sul tradimento per eccellenza, mi sono effettivamente resa conto del significato di questa definizione: nonostante Tolstoj abbia scritto questo enorme romanzo nella seconda metà del 1800, è sbalorditivo quanto possano risultare attuali e condivisibili gli stati d’animo e i comportamenti dei personaggi. Tolstoj mette magistralmente per iscritto emozioni che qualunque lettore riesce a sentire proprie, senza però essere in grado di esprimerle compiutamente. I vari protagonisti, tutti legati l’un l’altro o per parentela o altro tipo di rapporto, subiscono una vera e propria evoluzione nel corso della vicenda (tranne rari casi come Oblonskij, estremamente attuale e emblema della mondanità russa del tempo): ogni personaggio rappresenta una storia d’amore diversa e le contrapposizioni tra questi vengono brillantemente rese evidenti dall’autore tramite casi di omonimia (come i due Aleksèj, Karènin e Vronskij o Lèvin e l’autore stesso), o la simmetria tra l’inizio e la fine. Bellissima inoltre l’antitesi tra la Mosca ortodossa, puramente russa, e Pietroburgo, corrotta nella sua natura spiccatamente europea. Non nascondo di aver trovato pesanti alcune sezioni, come i capitoli dedicati alla lavorazione dei campi o le numerose pagine riguardo la caccia; tuttavia la lettura è stata per me sorprendentemente scorrevole. Ero stata abbindolata dai luoghi comuni riguardo i classici russi, per antonomasia libri introspettivi e talvolta tediosi: questo pregiudizio è stato totalmente smentito e non vedo l’ora di leggere altri famosissimi classici della letteratura russa. Non posso non dare 5 stelle ad un libro che mi ha coinvolta così tanto emotivamente.
“Tutte le famiglie felici si assomigliano fra loro, ogni famiglia infelice è infelice a suo modo”.
“Tutte le famiglie felici si assomigliano fra loro, ogni famiglia infelice è infelice a suo modo”.
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
this was so long and i’m very tired but i still want to write what i thought about it.
for every interesting dialogue/well written description/enjoyable storytelling/moving-relatable moment there were 500 pages i didn’t care about. i understand that at the time people (tolstoy) had NOTHING to do and he was delighted while describing Levin’s agricultural methods and everyone’s current trauma, but all of this was boring for me.
also, i’m not very sure i agree with most of the points being made through these characters. and it was so focused on men even though it’s literally: “anna karenina”. i liked her character and many others, and it’s the reason i read 2000 pages about every Levin’s thought, but i need to reflect a little bit to form an opinion.
i’m not sure if it was worth it, but i’ll close this off with two quotes i really liked:
“BEFORE any definite step can be taken in a household, there must be either complete division or loving accord between husband and wife. When their relations are indefinite it is impossible for them to make any move.
Many families continue for years in their old ruts, hated by both husband and wife, merely because there is neither complete discord nor harmony.”
“Respect was invented to fill the empty place where love ought to be!”
for every interesting dialogue/well written description/enjoyable storytelling/moving-relatable moment there were 500 pages i didn’t care about. i understand that at the time people (tolstoy) had NOTHING to do and he was delighted while describing Levin’s agricultural methods and everyone’s current trauma, but all of this was boring for me.
also, i’m not very sure i agree with most of the points being made through these characters. and it was so focused on men even though it’s literally: “anna karenina”. i liked her character and many others, and it’s the reason i read 2000 pages about every Levin’s thought, but i need to reflect a little bit to form an opinion.
i’m not sure if it was worth it, but i’ll close this off with two quotes i really liked:
“BEFORE any definite step can be taken in a household, there must be either complete division or loving accord between husband and wife. When their relations are indefinite it is impossible for them to make any move.
Many families continue for years in their old ruts, hated by both husband and wife, merely because there is neither complete discord nor harmony.”
“Respect was invented to fill the empty place where love ought to be!”
”Yet that grief and this joy were alike beyond the ordinary conditions of life; they were openings, as it were, in that ordinary life through which there came glimpses of something sublime. And in the contemplation of this sublime something the soul was exalted to inconceivable heights of which it had before had no conception while reason lagged behind, unable to keep up with it.”
Don’t get me wrong - this was a great read and some sections were utterly brilliant. I get why people call this the greatest novel, but also oh my god some chunks of this book were an absolute slog to get through. Did not really care much for the last 30 pages unfortunately and only pushed through because I was going to die before DNFing a book after reading 860 pages.
Shame that Tolstoy couldn’t write 860 pages about Varenka because she was easily the best character lol
Don’t get me wrong - this was a great read and some sections were utterly brilliant. I get why people call this the greatest novel, but also oh my god some chunks of this book were an absolute slog to get through. Did not really care much for the last 30 pages unfortunately and only pushed through because I was going to die before DNFing a book after reading 860 pages.
Shame that Tolstoy couldn’t write 860 pages about Varenka because she was easily the best character lol
I am obsessed, to say the least. How terribly tragic yet beautiful read.
I LOVED Anna Karenina, which was a little surprising because I did not enjoy War and Peace.