Reviews

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

marlonaustin's review against another edition

5.0

a few parts dragged/felt a bit preachy (particularly the tolstoy self-insert character’s lengthy journey of political/religious awakening) BUT others are ridiculously beautiful and it does in fact deserve the hype.

anna remains annoying throughout - if u repeatedly cheat/abandon ur children don’t expect sympathy

debrabrinckley's review against another edition

2.0

As a philosophical look into life, morality, religion, politics and the difference between various positions in life and cultures of the world, I certainly can see the value of this book. If one were studying the history of Russia, this would be an indisputable must-read. However, I simply did not enjoy it-at all. The characters were incessantly whiny and seemed incapable of owning their lives for better or for worse. They wrestled and swayed at the slightest provocation on every issue imaginable. And while I see how the slight overlap in characters was meant to provide a landscape to view various lives and reactions to the same situations, I, for much of the novel, felt I was being tossed violently between numerous separate stories. I know so many people who love this book, and I so wanted to like it, but it was a laborious chore that I couldn't wait to finish.

torjus's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

hopeanvalkea's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

angeastrada's review against another edition

5.0

Estoy sin palabras. Sin duda ha sido de las mejores lecturas que he tenido. Tan ligero, aunque a veces se me hacia pesado algunas lecturas sobre las reflexiones de Lievin, no he dejado de gozarlas y tratar de entender porqué ese personaje se planteaba tanto la vida.
Sin dudas el autor logró reflejar parte de su alma en este pensonaje, luego de indagar sobre él lo comprendí, aprendí a amarlo.
Además, se puede considerar esta novela como un manifiesto de su época, los padecimientos de Anna, los conflictos sociales, las guerras, las relaciones tan particulares entre los personajes. Nunca me vincule tanto con una novela. Simplemente MAGNÍFICA.

rach_ark's review against another edition

5.0

I was really quite sad when I finished reading this book, it took me about 3 weeks to get through (not because it was a struggle to read but simply due to the length and level of detail involved) but by the end I just wanted to keep reading more. Tolstoy builds the characters up gradually and intersperses the main narrative with interesting insights into 19th century Russian life and politics. While the love affair between Vronsky and Anna is ultimately tragic, the story of Levin and Kitty balances the mood of the book nicely.

gregz_newdorkreviewofbooks's review against another edition

4.0

Incredibly translatable to today - loved it!

saashraf_'s review against another edition

4.0

تذكرني حياة آنا بلعبة الثعبان على هواتف نوكيا القديمة، مهما يدور وينمو ينتهي دائمًا آكلًا ذيله. لا أعرف أهو العمر أم التوقيت أم طبيعة النص الكامل، لكني هذه المرة أرى أبعد من قصة حب محفوفة بالمخاطر، وأبعد من آنا.
تفاجئني شخصية الزوج، قصة شبابه ومونولجاته الداخلية، وشروح تولستوي لما يعتمل في نفسه ولا يدريه. وهم النجاة والفوقية، وكل الأشياء الكريهة التي تعلم كيف يحمي ضعفه الطفولي بها.
ويملأ ليڨين قلبي، بارتباكه وحمرة خديه عند الخجل. لم أر في قصته نقيضًا لآنا، لكني رأيت تخفيفًا لحدة الحزن والأسى، لا أعرف كيف أقول wholesome بالعربية لكن هذا ما أجده في ليڨين وقصته.
طريقة الكتابة آسرة وتفصيلية، تتابع الشخص من الخارج والداخل، ما يبدو عليه وما يفكر فيه وما تعنيه أفكاره ولم يدركه بعد. يظهر الراوي ويختفي ولا تكاد تشعر به.
أقرأ التفاصيل الكثيرة عن الحرب وطبيعة الفلاح الروسي وطرق الحرث والبذر المختلفة وأفكر في زمن بعيد خالٍ من كل وسائل المتعة وإمضاء الوقت كما أعرفها، باستثناء الكتب. زمن تجلب فيه البطلة صناديق من الكتب تؤنسها لئلا تفقد عقلها، فتقرأ في السياسة والأدب وطرق تربية الخيول وكل شيء تطاله يداها. فتهون علي صعوبتها وطولها وابتسم.

lavakirk's review against another edition

4.0

i found this to be a hard read as I had to look up a lot of the references bc i was not familiar iwth the culture/politics. with that being said, it was a great love story that i read on and off over a couple years while reading other books. my only complaint was that they jumped around too much to different characters so there was a lot of storyline, hence 1000 plus pages. at least i think thats how many there were. i cant remember.

nina_0159's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5