Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Book
by Leo Tolstoy

Book Comments & Discussion (2)

UnknownOPMay 2009

Considered one of Leo Tolstoy's classics, and in the style of his work, Anna Karenina is not the typical archetype story of good versus evil. It is about ordinary people living a fictional, but very realisitic, life in Russia in the late 1800's.

It took me awhile to finish it, as I read the paperback edition, which seemed like 800 pages of fine print, but every second was very well worth it. It really is one of those books that you don't want to end by the time you finish it.

The best part of this book is that Tolstoy writes very in depth characters. As you are reading, it almost seems like Tolstoy had somehow gotten into the mind of real people living in that region and time period! One good example of this book is that the character Levin's personality and thoughts are more or less mirrored from the author himself. It is a great way to get inside the head of Leo Tolstoy.

I recommend this book to anyone who is patient enough to read not only Tolstoy's style, but also to anyone who appreciates very well written/created characters, and who is interested in reading a world classic. I have not yet been able to read War & Peace, so I'm afraid that I can't really make any comparison to it.

Masterfully written!!!

madamebutterflyMay 29, 2009

In this book, Tolstoy manages to do what few male writers can: portray the inner life of a woman with both accuracy and sympathy. The love story between Anna and Vronksy rings true every time.His characters are well drawn and feel like they might be "real" people we all know. He also presents a Russia which is in the throws of social, moral and political change. A tour de force and one of my all-time favorites.

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Storyline

A magnificent drama of vengeance, infidelity, and retribution, Anna Karenina portrays the moving story of people whose emotions conflict with the dominant social mores of their time. Sensual, rebellious Anna falls deeply and passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky. When she refuses to conduct the discreet affair that her cold, ambitious husband (and Russian high society) would condone, she is doomed. Set against the tragic love of Anna and Vronsky, the plight of the melancholy nobleman Konstantine Levin unfolds. In doubt about the meaning of life, haunted by thoughts of suicide, Levin's struggles echo Tolstoy's own spiritual crisis. But Anna's inner turmoil mirrors the own emotional imprisonment and mental disintegration of a woman who dares to transgress the strictures of a patriarchal world. In Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy brought to perfection the novel of social realism and created a masterpiece that bared the Russian soul.