"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
Buckle down for a beautiful tragedy.
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I finally read this classic by Leo Tolstoy, and now I need a break. I started “Anna Karenina” in December and it took me a few months to finish. It’s beautifully written, as would be expected of Tolstoy, and I am not surprised many critics have voted this the best novel of all time. It is a contemporary story of a Russian society woman who had married young to a man she did not love and decides to have a passionate affair later in her life.
It is a train wreck seeing a forceful, beautiful, and respected woman be beat down into a pathetic, insecure, depressed, and suicidal state. The almost 1000 pages is not just about Anna’s love triangle with Vronsky and Karenin though. There are other couples we follow - mainly Dolly & Oblonsky and Kitty & Levin. One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this book is that you were just an observer - Tolstoy doesn’t try to sway you on any of his characters. He was simply stating, “This is who they are and these are their actions - now, Reader, form your own opinions.” In addition, the drama didn’t only stem from the love triangles and affairs. There was drama in politics, business, and religion. Tolstoy covered it all - which for me, was quite overwhelming and just made the book drag. It may have been because 1876 is no longer “contemporary” and it was hard to relate/follow these types of issues. Whereas, the concept of the love affair hasn’t really changed.
What surprised me most is that my favorite character was not Anna (in fact, she was closer to my least favorite), but it was Levin. It wasn’t because of his character (I disagreed with many of his viewpoints), but it was how his relationships were portrayed with others. Tolstoy had a way of allowing the Reader to read between the lines of a dialogue and by the actions of those characters. This was most prominent in Levin’s relationships with his brothers and it made every scene between them very real and heartfelt.
You need to be ready to read this novel. If you are, it is truly magnificent.
| Pub Date: | 1877 | Page Count: | 964 Pages | ISBN: | N/A |