Signet Classics Anna Karenina [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." That line opens and sets the tone of "Anna Karenina," a tangled and tragic tale of nineteenth century Russia. Tolstoy's story of lovers and family is interlaced with razor-sharp social commentary and odd moments that are almost transcendent. In other words, this is a masterpiece.

When Stepan Oblonsky has an affair with the governess, his wife says that she's leaving him, and now the family is about to disintegrate. Stepan's sister Anna arrives to smooth over their marital problems, and consoles his wife Dolly until she agrees to stay. But on the train there, she met the outspoken Countess Vronsky, and the countess's dashing son, who is semi-engaged to Dolly's sister Kitty.

Anna and Vronsky start to fall in love -- despite the fact that Anna has been married for ten years, to a wealthy husband she doesn't care about, and has a young son. Even so, Anna rejects her loveless marriage and becomes the center of scandal and public hypocrisy, and even becomes pregnany by Vronsky. As she prepares to jump ship and get a divorce, Anna becomes a victim of her own passions...

That isn't the entire story, actually -- Tolstoy weaves in other plots, about disintegrating families, new marriages, and the melancholy Levin's constant search for God, truth, and goodness. Despite the grim storyline about adultery, and the social commentary, there's an almost transcendent quality to some of Tolstoy's writing. It's the most optimistic tragic book I've ever read.

For some reason, Tolstoy called this his "first novel," even though he had already written some before that. Perhaps it's because "Anna Karenina" tackles so many questions and themes, and does so without ever dropping the ball. No wonder it's so long and imposing -- Tolstoy covered a lot of ground in here.

And while "Anna Karenina" was not the first book he wrote, it is probably the deepest and most moving. Tolstoy steeps the book in social commentary, and his personal philosophies. It's also one of those books that takes a very long time to move itself forward -- Tolstoy's writing is slow and ponderous, with a lot of serious discussion about religion and relationships. But his intense, slightly rough writing is worth it.

In some tragic books, you get the feeling that the author really despises his characters, and doesn't really care what happens to them. Tolstoy never gives you that feeling -- no matter how annoying his characters are, they always have something interesting or endearing. No caricatures at all -- even Anna's irritating, arrogant brother is given some quirks to make him seem real.

Oddly enough, the most moving character here is not Anna, but Konstantin Levin -- the tortured, passionate landowner is so earnest that it's difficult not to care about him. Apparently he was Tolstoy's alter ego, which explains his depth. But Anna and Vronsky are strong leads, a passionate pair who are both selfish and seductive, but never boring.

A beautiful look at living right vs. living wrong, "Anna Karenina" is a truly magnificent book. This book is undoubtedly Tolstoy's opus, and a stunning look at human nature.

This is a rather daunting undertaking, but so worth it in the end. The book is incredibly long and detailed. But it is also engaging, heart-wrenching and realistic. The emotions, motivations, private heartache, and public reactions of his characters ring true to the reader. Anna Karenina broke my heart. I sobbed as I read it. The broken relationship between Anna and her son was more than I could bear at times. I had to take breaks while reading to quell the oppressing sadness with which this book filled me.

Going through the particulars in pertinance to Anna Karenina (the story that is) would be somewhat redundant. That is, anything I could possibly say about such story would be tautology at this point. However, I can praise this Signet Edition of Anna Karenina for its more-than-adaquate hoisting of Tolstoy's masterful work. The language used is kept relatively bare as Tolstoy himself wrote, e.g. the traditional Russian patricarchal titles are simplified and an English system of address is used. This leaves the gipping tale of love, deception, etc. (really, its universality is quite surprising; on many the occasion does an event within my own life coinside with that of the world of Anna Karenina), to come through, free of technicality, in true romantic form.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A great love story
This remarkable story by one of the few mega-novelists of all times is an ageless story that is more real than fiction. Read more

Published on April 6 2005 by Mikhail

5.0 out of 5 stars Ayn Rand's opinion
Why does Ayn Rand say that "this is the most evil book in all of serious liturature"?

Published on Jun 20 2004 by Suenote

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enlightening Immersion into Everyday Life
Anna Karenina provides well a window into the rich diversity and complexity within human nature. Tolstoy, relentlessly rich in details, paints characters so deep and natural, that... Read more

Published on Aug 16 2001 by khettrich

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing window into the 19th century
Tolstoy had talent most of us can only dream about. In Anna Karenina he examines the central problem of life through two distinct lenses - Anna, whose discontent is acknowledged... Read more

Published on July 26 2001 by LackOfDiscipline

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece
Before the Russians were allow to read the Bible, they had the authors Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. This book by Tolstoy has all the elements of sin, redemption, sanctification, and... Read more

Published on Jun 21 2001 by Raji

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful soap opera
This is a delightful soap opera which is as current now as it was when it was written. There's lots of history and lots of description and its fascinating to think that it was... Read more

Published on April 21 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad tolstoy isn't my next door neighbor.
This 80000000000000000000 page "book" isn't just boring and depressing, it's frighteningly so. Read more

Published on April 11 2001 by B. M. White

5.0 out of 5 stars "what can you name that's superior?"
For the longest time I have been reticent to write a review of Anna for fear of not being able to do the book justice. Read more

Published on Feb 28 2001 by Cipriano

5.0 out of 5 stars Two stories for the price of one!
There are two stories in this novel, which are connected at the beginning but become pretty much completely separate in the end. Read more

Published on Jan 28 2001 by Keith Fraser

1.0 out of 5 stars Tabloid Romance nothing more
We must ask the question is this a novel of greatness or is it just a long Mills and Boon piece of flummery. The answer is in the book is a tabloid love story. Read more

Published on Dec 30 2000 by the_battlers_prince

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