About this title: Tolstoy's great novel, one of his last works of fiction, tells the story of a harmless flirtation that gradually develops into a destructive passion: the love affair between Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky. Anna turns to Vronsky, a dashing military man, as a refuge from her passionless marriage to a pompous, chilly bureaucrat--a move that results ...
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Description: Fair. 0394309367 This book evidences typical use; prior owner has already marked some significant bits, a few accidental dog-ears; pages tanned with age. Its cover shows only minor shelf wear, one spine crease. Your book will be carefully protected for transit in sturdy, weather-resistant packaging. We are prompt, efficient, communicative. read more
Edition: Second Printing
Binding: Mass Market
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780553211719ISBN:0553211714
Description: Fair. 1981 Mass PB. Bantam Books. stated 2nd Printing, November 1981. 873 pgs. Prev owner name first page. Reader notes and just a touch of highlighting to about page 80 then unmarked. Binding solid. Covr with moderate shelf wear. Bottom front corener with several creases. Smudges on page edges. Tanning. Foxing inside covers. Very solid reader's copy. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Literary Guild of America
Description: Fair. B001EYETRQ An acceptable reading copy that has a broken binding. The binding is broken between the front end paper and title page. There is no dust jacket. The boards are light green. Light wear on cover edges. No marks or highlighting in text. Pages sharp and clean. No remainder mark from publisher. Accurate Descriptions with Fast Shipping and Robust Packaging. GRN105H. read more
Description: Acceptable. Minor wear along cover edges, corners and spine, tiny creases on inside front cover, minor wear/aging on covers, inside covers/pages tanned, otherwise, clean and tight. 0553114190. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780553213461ISBN:0553213466
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
"I was not able to read it since it was in the written in the Russian language. It is probably always best to read authors in their own language, but since I did not have time to learn Russian, I was not able to read it and placed it in the recycle bin."
"Per Michelle's request, a review! It has been a while since I've delved into any heavy literature, so when I saw AK on my branch library's shelves I thought, why not? I'd always intended to read it. And all the cold weather and snow and misery- a perfect book to read over the holidays! Unfortunately, for every passage that was one of those wonderful, wow, I'm right in the room with these characters, fascinating to have fictional characters from another land and time feel so real bits, there was a passage that felt like a lecture. And those passages went on and on and on. Now, thanks to this book, I know all about relations between the Russian aristocracy and the peasantry, agriculture advancements and concerns of the day, the "Slavic problem," various philosophies that are picked up and dropped by various characters. At times these parts could be enlightening, but often they were just dull. Watching Anna fall apart was interesting, but somehow not as devastating as I'd always heard it described. Maybe the plot suffers from being too well known? Anyway, I'm glad I read it! One of those things I can now cross off my list. But I'm not inspired to rush off and read War and Peace next week, that's for sure."
"I had only a small idea of what I would be reading when I picked up Anna - her death is famous and constantly referenced. However, I had no idea of what would lead her to that point, and I didn't know any of the other names of the characters. Though the lengthy volume looked daunting, as soon as I began to read I was enthralled by every page of this translation.
I loved Tolstoy's characters. For existing in the 1800s, I was fascinated by how entirely real they seemed. I think there's something to be said for Tolstoy's knowledge of the human mind. I figured Anna would be the ultimate sympathetic protagonist here, and she was to a certain extent. Her first appearance in the novel, to the eyes of Vronsky, was undoubtedly great. She enters fresh-faced and jubilant, and devolves through the book into a paranoid and depressed woman (and most of it foreshadowed in that first encounter between her and Vronsky on that train). I'd have to say my favourite character was Levin; I loved his constantly-working mind, and his utter adoration for Kitty. I was so excited during that scene when he proposes to her. And the other characters - Oblonsky, Alexei Alexandrovich, Kitty, Dolly, Vronksy, etc. - all well-developed.
Tolstoy had a way with scenes as well - the ballroom scene through Kitty's eyes when she sees Anna and Vronsky; the horse race; Levin side-by-side with the workers on his farm; Anna's sickness after giving birth; the death of Levin's brother; the birth of Kitty and Levin's son, etc. I remember each of them as vividly as if he painted them.
There was only one part that I felt dragged, and that was in the very last section. I read nearly 800 pages without tiring of the novel, and then struggled to get through the few pages of political and religious commentary. Of course, these few pages didn't ruin the book in the least, but perhaps my exhaustive reading caught up with me. I enjoyed Levin's ending thoughts, for sure.
I honestly never thought I would enjoy this book as much as I did; the volume is quite lengthy and my experience with Tolstoy was always with his shorter works (though I loved them as well). I have to add Anna to my favourite books, it left such an impression on me that now I stare at it over on the bed and wish there was more of it to read. It took a long time (since February 1st!), and the book and its characters were my constant companions in my travels. I can't wait to read it again -- when a few years have passed!"
"In picking a work of Tolstoy, I grabbed "Anna Karenina" because if I was going to spend that much time with Russian fiction, I'd rather read love stories than warfare.
Tolstoy seems to have a somewhat threatening reputation in the world of books. "War and Peace" was the book cartoon characters used as shorthand for an impenetrable volume of high brow fiction.
The main reasons for this appears to be a combination of the length of the work, the thoroughness of his exploration of all topics, and the names.
I'm not upset by length in books, probably because of all the fantasy books I read in elementary and middle school, so that's something I just shrug over in books, as I'm sure many regular readers do.
The names were something I know people get confused over. They're long, they're Russian, and everyone seems to have two dozen of them. I'm pretty good at remembering names, so the only times I was thrown involved minor characters who were thrown in. The best suggestion I can give if you're having issues with that is to check out the character lists available on many websites, or just write it down somewhere convenient. It's really a pretty minor issue.
What I do have issues with is some of the thoroughness. When people say that "Anna Karenina" is a story of life, it's a pretty accurate summation. It covers more topics and matters related to being a member of the Russian upper class in the 19th century than most people probably want to know.
For the most part it's well done, with the exception of a few chapters discussing the government and bureacracy. Reading about Alexei Alexandrovich do his boring desk job isn't page-turning material.
What held this book together for me was the characterizations. Tolstoy puts a lot of love and detail into the characters, and they almost all come off as very compelling, very flawed people. Reading about all these conflicted personalities bouncing off of each other as they move through society is what kept me going through all 750 pages of this behemoth.
Clearly there's tons of analysis on this book for those who are really into such things, and I understood the reasons why after I'd finished. There really is a lot to think about by the time the book is through. Questions on faith, fidelity, and the role people are supposed to play for their country are discussed through out.
Beyond the feeling that sections were padded out for serialization, my main complaint is in the aforementioned character of Alexei Alexandrovich. He's the character Tolstoy had the least sympathy for through most of the book. There's a brief chunk after his wife leaves him that we view him experiencing anything meaningful, and after the novel moves on to other characters, it never comes back to him. Events happen near the end of the book that should have had a major impact on his character, but no resolution for his situation is given, nor is his character revisited. In a novel with such a major amount of love shown to the characters, it really stuck out.
Otherwise, "Anna Karenina" was a worthwhile, if lengthy experience, and for those who like character driven work it's definitely worth giving a try."
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