Anna Karenina
Books | Fiction / Classics
3.9
(3.4K)
Leo Tolstoy
This edition, the famous Constance Garnett translation, has been revised throughout by Leonard J. Kent and Nina Berberova."Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." So begins Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy's great modern novel of an adulterous affair set against the backdrop of Moscow and St. Petersburg high society in the later half of the nineteenth century. A sophisticated woman who is respectably married to a government bureaucrat, Anna begins a passionate, all-consuming involvement with a rich army officer. Refusing to conduct a discreet affair, she scandalizes society by abandoning both her husband and her young son for Count Vronsky--with tragic consequences. Running parallel is the story of the courtship and marriage of Konstantin Levin (the melancholy nobleman who is Tolstoy's stand-in) and Princess Kitty Shcherbatsky. Levin's spiritual searching and growth reflect the religious ideals that at the time Tolstoy was evolving for himself. Taken together, the two plots embroider a vast canvas that ultimately encompasses all levels of Russian society. "Now and then Tolstoy's novel writes its own self, is produced by its matter, but its subject," noted Vladimir Nabokov. "Anna Karenina is one of the greatest love stories in world literature." As Matthew Arnold wrote in his celebrated essay on Tolstoy: "We are not to take Anna Karenina as a work of art; we are to take it as a piece of life."
Romance
Historical Fiction
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More Details:
Author
Leo Tolstoy
Pages
1008
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published Date
2012-03-28
ISBN
0553902296 9780553902297
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"Not heartwarming but a great book"
J
Joe
"I am not a fan. I really don't understand why this book is so beloved and a classic. The characters are mostly insufferable, the story drags, and it was just hard to care what happened to anyone. Oh, and that ending made me so sad, not for the characters, but for myself because I had wasted hours of my life reading the book. "
"an absolute masterpiece! I loved this book so much. 5/5 ✨✨✨✨✨ "
M
Marina
"I think I am suppose to love this book because it is a classic. But, I found much of the 900 page book dry. It was a slow read for me.<br/>I think if I discussed it with someone I might find more to like about it.<br/>Did anyone else read this?"
J w
Jfly winslow
"Interesting story.There are better Russian works but it's not the worst"
S
Samuel