Book info

• Title Anna Karenina
• Author Leo Tolstoy
• Year 1878
• Genre Romance

The heroine of Tolstoy's epic of love and self-destruction, Anna Karenina has beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son, but feels that her life is empty until she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike, and brings jealousy and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself. This award-winning translation has been acclaimed as the definitive English version of Tolstoy's masterpiece.

Thoughts

I approached this with some trepidation, knowing it to be another long Russian book. It was surprisingly good. I said of War and Peace that I enjoyed the peace plot far more than the military sections, and Anna Karenina is just like W&P but with all the war taken out. There are still political and philosophical sections, but it’s really about the characters and their trying to make their way in the world.

I thought it was odd that the Anna of the title doesn’t appear at the start of the book, and in fact doesn’t appear at the end either. Although the story does follow her life, it’s really an ensemble piece - the intertwined relationships of families, lovers, ex-wives and husbands, and potential matches.

I liked that none of the characters were portrayed as perfect - they have their own insecurities and personality traits that grate. And it wasn’t a happy ending, it was like real life - sadness and joy, depression with some uplifting moments too. All in all, a bit of an undertaking, but not too bad at all.

Rating: 4 / 5