You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by bengreen
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
4.0
Anna Karenina is a story about addiction.
Addiction to indulgence, to argument, to philosophy, to gambling, to drugs, to propriety, to station. Each addict gradually destroys their relationships and themselves and too few - perhaps only one or two - breaks free, sometimes just a moment too late.
***SPOILERS***
The unraveling of Anna and Vronsky's love affair in Moscow perplexed me until near the end, when we see Anna taking multiple doses of opium many months after her labor. It was then that I realized with a shock that she'd become addicted to opium and her mood swings, paranoid delusions, depression, and toxic cynicism were all products of her drug abuse. It was so clear in those last scenes from her perspective that she was high as a kite. The way every subtle glance of total strangers revealed their whole soul and the secrets of the universe and society to her is familiar to anyone who's been sufficiently dosed up.
In light of this twist on her story, I began to reconsider the rest of the book and realized that each character was struggling with a kind of psychological or spiritual addiction of their own, that was equally destructive in its own way.
I scanned other reviews and was surprised no one mentioned this theme.
Addiction to indulgence, to argument, to philosophy, to gambling, to drugs, to propriety, to station. Each addict gradually destroys their relationships and themselves and too few - perhaps only one or two - breaks free, sometimes just a moment too late.
***SPOILERS***
The unraveling of Anna and Vronsky's love affair in Moscow perplexed me until near the end, when we see Anna taking multiple doses of opium many months after her labor. It was then that I realized with a shock that she'd become addicted to opium and her mood swings, paranoid delusions, depression, and toxic cynicism were all products of her drug abuse. It was so clear in those last scenes from her perspective that she was high as a kite. The way every subtle glance of total strangers revealed their whole soul and the secrets of the universe and society to her is familiar to anyone who's been sufficiently dosed up.
In light of this twist on her story, I began to reconsider the rest of the book and realized that each character was struggling with a kind of psychological or spiritual addiction of their own, that was equally destructive in its own way.
I scanned other reviews and was surprised no one mentioned this theme.