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gitavikram 's review for:
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Fantastic. Which comes as no surprise if you know me.
The common characterization of Anna Karenina as a saucy romantic affair drama is limited and frankly, inaccurate. This is not a plot-driven narrative by any means. The majority of the story is actually about our other protagonist, Levin, and his struggled search for meaning and purpose.
The shining star of Anna Karenina and the reason I think it deserves every accolade it has is Tolstoy's immeasurable ability to write characters, nailing everything from their anxious thought spirals to their paltry social observations so well that you'll think "Damn, how did a 200-year old Russian man get inside my head?" I was in love with every character for how complex and flawed they all are. There is no cartoonishly stark distinction between good and evil here -- nearly everyone is morally ambiguous, a perfect reflection of true human-ness. The realism of his characters makes for the perfect framework upon which to perform a thorough, well-rounded exploration of some of the existential questions that Levin, a representation of Tolstoy himself, struggles with.
Here are some of the themes that stuck out to me. I don't agree with the protagonist's conclusions on any of them, but there is plenty of back-and-forth discussion on these topics including well-developed opposing perspectives:
The common characterization of Anna Karenina as a saucy romantic affair drama is limited and frankly, inaccurate. This is not a plot-driven narrative by any means. The majority of the story is actually about our other protagonist, Levin, and his struggled search for meaning and purpose.
The shining star of Anna Karenina and the reason I think it deserves every accolade it has is Tolstoy's immeasurable ability to write characters, nailing everything from their anxious thought spirals to their paltry social observations so well that you'll think "Damn, how did a 200-year old Russian man get inside my head?" I was in love with every character for how complex and flawed they all are. There is no cartoonishly stark distinction between good and evil here -- nearly everyone is morally ambiguous, a perfect reflection of true human-ness. The realism of his characters makes for the perfect framework upon which to perform a thorough, well-rounded exploration of some of the existential questions that Levin, a representation of Tolstoy himself, struggles with.
Here are some of the themes that stuck out to me. I don't agree with the protagonist's conclusions on any of them, but there is plenty of back-and-forth discussion on these topics including well-developed opposing perspectives:
- Relationship between work and purpose What kind of work can provide meaning to the worker? Levin sees the bureaucratic government positions held by many of his peers to be removed from any tangible result, while his own farm was the perfect workplace where everyone, landlord and peasant alike, can feel fulfilled by physically reaping the fruits of their labor. No, this did not inspire me to quit my corporate job and start an online candle business, but I found the discussion fascinating and meaningful, some of it even to my own life.
- Individualism vs. collectivism As someone from a more collectivist Eastern culture living in the most individualistic country on the planet, this is obviously something I think about a LOT. This quote by Levin really touched me, not because I agree with the message, but because it was so illuminating for me into the American capitalist mind
...this ability to act for the common good, of which he felt himself completely deprived, was perhaps not a virtue but, on the contrary, a lack of something - not a lack of good, honest and noble desires and tastes, but a lack of life force, of what is known as heart, of that yearning which makes a man choose one out of all the countless paths in life presented to him and desire that one alone
It made me think about how the concept of the American dream, "heart" as Levin calls it, is really used as a marketing device of capitalism by keeping people focused on themselves and their own (money-making) dreams rather than on the common good of the people, systems of protection, etc. - Are you there, God? It's me, Levin I have been an atheist since birth. As a child I used to think that God was a thing that everyone pretended to believe in as some sort of collective charade to keep up appearances. Because of this staunch, innate non-belief, I've had a lifelong fascination with people who believe in God. The "When your child is in the hospital, then you'll pray to God" argument never worked for me because -- okay, so God is meant just as a coping mechanism for people with trauma? Which is why I audibly groaned when our very logical boy Levin suddenly called out to God during a life-changing moment later on in his character arc. Like, seriously? You can't deus ex machina your way out of this one Tolstoy. Tell me more. And he did indeed tell me more. I loved Part 8, where we are walked through Levin's final internal monologue, where he ultimately reaches the conclusion that he does believe in God but that "God" is actually just his own conscience.
Oh, I jest. Levin and I are besties now, I can do that. I loved it. The perfect ending to the whole thing.
I would also like to highlight that the most heartbreaking part of the whole thing for me was Dolly's monologue in the carriage, where she compares her life to that of the disgraced Anna, finding herself surprisingly envious of Anna, forced to reckon with the fact that she wasn't brave in the same way, and that maybe she had given up too much of herself for her unfaithful husband and their 5 children. I just found this to be a really relatable albeit taboo feeling. Women are meant to be wives and mothers, servants to others, and to admit you might want to be anything else would be selfish and disgraceful. The men of course, can do whatever they want. The raging sexism is obvious in Anna's story as well.
In conclusion: Excellent multi-layered character writing, fascinating moral conundrums left and right, and oh yeah it's FUNNY too. 10/10. I'm already looking forward to reading it all over again at some point and picking up on all the things I missed last time. With a book like this, you could do that infinite times before getting bored.