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A review by novi
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
It's a long book and i finished it in a month-ish. Sort of proud for a slow reader like me lol. I don't know how to review this.. but i'm certainly glad that i read this thick book. It's a beautifully tragic book but it's still hopeful and light at times, and even relatable. I still don't 100% understand Anna, i think i need to read analysis about her to help me understand her more. But Levin is relatable to certain degree. I heard that his character is based on the author himself or something like that, so i'm actually kinda embarassed saying that i relate a lot to him, but i do feel that we're both are just mess of contradiction lol.
Once again, this is a long book (but the chapters are mostly quite short, so it helps a little) and sometimes i got bored reading it especially when there's nothing going on with the plot and just Levin being Levin, going on and on about farming and his (internal or external) debates and conflicts. But it's a very complex book so i don't know how to really put everything i feel about it here. My favorite part of the book is the giving birth of Kitty's child. I found the pre-birth panic sooo funny (towards the end, before the climax (or anti-climax?) end of the book, this book was seriously getting comedic, probably to prepare us for the tragedy) and the rest of the birthing process and the aftermath was the most beautiful part of the book. It's so pure.
Before reading this, i already watched the adaptation on the year it was released (2011/2012?) and it's one of my favorite films ever because the production is so unique, but i appreciate the film and the book as their own thing, because it's impossible to summarize this book into a two hour movie. Some things i note though: in the movie, we can clearly see the beginning (the "courting") of Anna and Vronsky, while in the book, we see it either from other character's point of view (not from Anna or Vronsky) or the book just skipped over the whole thing then BAM. Pregnancy. One other thing i wanna say: Alicia Vikander was the PERFECT Kitty. So so so so perfect.
Once again, this is a long book (but the chapters are mostly quite short, so it helps a little) and sometimes i got bored reading it especially when there's nothing going on with the plot and just Levin being Levin, going on and on about farming and his (internal or external) debates and conflicts. But it's a very complex book so i don't know how to really put everything i feel about it here. My favorite part of the book is the giving birth of Kitty's child. I found the pre-birth panic sooo funny (towards the end, before the climax (or anti-climax?) end of the book, this book was seriously getting comedic, probably to prepare us for the tragedy) and the rest of the birthing process and the aftermath was the most beautiful part of the book. It's so pure.
Before reading this, i already watched the adaptation on the year it was released (2011/2012?) and it's one of my favorite films ever because the production is so unique, but i appreciate the film and the book as their own thing, because it's impossible to summarize this book into a two hour movie. Some things i note though: in the movie, we can clearly see the beginning (the "courting") of Anna and Vronsky, while in the book, we see it either from other character's point of view (not from Anna or Vronsky) or the book just skipped over the whole thing then BAM. Pregnancy. One other thing i wanna say: Alicia Vikander was the PERFECT Kitty. So so so so perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism