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its_bananas97's review
3.0
Anna Karenina was overall an interesting story and I’m glad to have read it. However, due to the length and increasing redundancy as the story went on, I would rate this 3 out of 5 stars. I typically read for enjoyment rather than for analysis and to dive deeper into the authors meaning. The primary story of the main characters was what interested me, but the side stories, especially related to government, politics and philosophy of the time weren’t as interesting to me.
tifftenn's review
4.0
My dislike of Anna made me put this book down and not come back to it for such long times that I kept having to restart. This time I committed, and, though it took me a few months and I read a few books inbetween, Anna Karenina is definitely worth the read. I dislike Anna greatly, and I appreciate Tolstoy's slow burn craft immensely--there are scenes to enjoy and much to consider throughout.
toltzboy456's review
5.0
I'm not sure what I expected when I began this novel, but one thing I wasn't expected was to be entertained. But I genuinely think this is an entertaining tale, albeit one that is much more expansive, detailed, sprawling, and intellectual than the average story. This further defines my idea that love alone isn't always a good thing; it can be a destructive force if left unrestrained. But it can also be beautiful, but it requires work, compromise, letting go of oneself.
But there's also so much more here that I won't even bother covering. It's a commitment, but one I'm so happy to have done.
But there's also so much more here that I won't even bother covering. It's a commitment, but one I'm so happy to have done.
cathiedalziel's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
Great in some parts, not so much in others parts. (What's up with me and classics? The love-hate-meh struggle continues.)
Great in some parts, not so much in others parts. (What's up with me and classics? The love-hate-meh struggle continues.)
ehops's review
3.0
I’m incredibly on the fence with this novel. I felt it started off well, and I was intrigued by the character connections and layout of the writing (small sections, jumping between characters). However I kept waiting for something to happen... and it took so long ... and still didn’t hit the high note I was hoping for.
Tolstoy does a great job of characterisation however I couldn’t stand Levin (I think more time was spent on Levin than Anna which makes me ? the book’s title), especially the pages and pages of drawn out thoughts that didn’t quite result in much until perhaps the very end.
In my opinion, the book also does a good job of showing how the patriarchy ultimately plays a large role in Anna’s death. It seems as a woman she is cast out of society because of her and Vronsky’s choices and he is allowed to continue accessing and enjoying society while she is left trapped, alone and of course and understandably, then deteriorates. Tolstoy also shows this parallel to her brother’s affair, to which he again as a male has very little consequences and continues to do as he pleases; spending heaps of money, affairs, minimal responsibilities. He has freedom. After Anna’s death, Vronsky is obviously impacted, but he ultimately returns to what he was doing before her - fulfilling the role of a soldier. He wasn’t cast out of society.
This book really made me think, so I would recommend reading it, but it isn’t my favourite book.
Tolstoy does a great job of characterisation however I couldn’t stand Levin (I think more time was spent on Levin than Anna which makes me ? the book’s title), especially the pages and pages of drawn out thoughts that didn’t quite result in much until perhaps the very end.
In my opinion, the book also does a good job of showing how the patriarchy ultimately plays a large role in Anna’s death. It seems as a woman she is cast out of society because of her and Vronsky’s choices and he is allowed to continue accessing and enjoying society while she is left trapped, alone and of course and understandably, then deteriorates. Tolstoy also shows this parallel to her brother’s affair, to which he again as a male has very little consequences and continues to do as he pleases; spending heaps of money, affairs, minimal responsibilities. He has freedom. After Anna’s death, Vronsky is obviously impacted, but he ultimately returns to what he was doing before her - fulfilling the role of a soldier. He wasn’t cast out of society.
This book really made me think, so I would recommend reading it, but it isn’t my favourite book.
bluestjuice's review
3.0
Having read The Brothers Karamazov earlier in the year, I was expecting Tolstoy to be equally dense and prone to philosophical segues and meanderings. To my surprise, this was not the case, at least early on. The first 500-600 pages kept up a steady clip of society affairs and interpersonal drama, with hints of Big Questions but no lengthy chapters arguing different positions. Levin is the crux on which most of the philosophical questions hang, although Karenin touches on moral dilemmas as well as he tries to decide how to respond to Anna's adultery. In any case, I found this quite readable until the last few hundred pages, at which point things got more and more unenjoyable and unreadable, as Vronsky and Anna's relationship soured and began to circle the drain. The highlights of this later section were their actual quarrels (much more interesting than the pondering and second-guessing that filled the rest of the time), Anna's eventual suicide, and the birth of Levin and Kitty's son. I could have done without the details of the political system at the time. On the bright side, this less-than-exciting later portion of the book does a great job of making Anna's death seem like the relief she probably felt it was. I could have done without Levin's spiritual awakening in the final part, as it seemed anticlimactic, but I did appreciate the opportunity for follow up to see what happened to Karenin and Vronsky in the aftermath of Anna's suicide. I would recommend this.
bookishbarnowl's review
3.0
**3.5 stars**
There is no doubt that this is a masterpiece of a novel. I've rated 3.5 stars because at his very best, Tolstoy's writing is enthralling and worthy of 5 stars but there were parts that I found difficult to get through. As for the best parts, he captures the human condition so well in his characters, addressing pain, emotion, hardship and what we'd refer to now as depression/mental illness (probably would have been referred to as melancholy or something similar back then). There were parts of the text that made me gasp. For all that Tolstoy goes off on one sometimes, he is good at injecting moments of drama.
It was really interesting to read an account of Russian society prior the Russian Revolution. Whilst it was a number of years before the Bolsheviks rose up, there are mentions of communism. It clearly was something bubbling under the surface.
As to why I haven't rated it higher, there were big chunks that I found dry and hard going to read, parts related to agriculture and a political election, for example. The parts about sowing the land could actually be interesting but there were times where I drifted off. Whilst I'm sure each part has a purpose, Tolstoy has a tendency to go off on one when making a philosophical point and sometimes finer details are described that I had no inclination to read about.
I read the Constance Garrett translation and I do wonder if I had read a different translation, if I would have got more enjoyment from the text. I learnt half way through reading that the Pevear and Volokonsky translation supposedly the best.
The novel has made a great impression on me and was very memorable in parts and for that I'd definitely recommend reading it. 5 stars at its best and 2 stars at its worst. However, the parts I enjoyed outweighed the parts I didn't joy and hence I've settled on a 3.5 star rating.
There is no doubt that this is a masterpiece of a novel. I've rated 3.5 stars because at his very best, Tolstoy's writing is enthralling and worthy of 5 stars but there were parts that I found difficult to get through. As for the best parts, he captures the human condition so well in his characters, addressing pain, emotion, hardship and what we'd refer to now as depression/mental illness (probably would have been referred to as melancholy or something similar back then). There were parts of the text that made me gasp. For all that Tolstoy goes off on one sometimes, he is good at injecting moments of drama.
It was really interesting to read an account of Russian society prior the Russian Revolution. Whilst it was a number of years before the Bolsheviks rose up, there are mentions of communism. It clearly was something bubbling under the surface.
As to why I haven't rated it higher, there were big chunks that I found dry and hard going to read, parts related to agriculture and a political election, for example. The parts about sowing the land could actually be interesting but there were times where I drifted off. Whilst I'm sure each part has a purpose, Tolstoy has a tendency to go off on one when making a philosophical point and sometimes finer details are described that I had no inclination to read about.
I read the Constance Garrett translation and I do wonder if I had read a different translation, if I would have got more enjoyment from the text. I learnt half way through reading that the Pevear and Volokonsky translation supposedly the best.
The novel has made a great impression on me and was very memorable in parts and for that I'd definitely recommend reading it. 5 stars at its best and 2 stars at its worst. However, the parts I enjoyed outweighed the parts I didn't joy and hence I've settled on a 3.5 star rating.