Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Anna Karenina

I will not say that I’m not smart enough to understand this book, merely not educated enough. I’m uneducated in politics, Russian history, and general philosophy so that this book is a bit hard to read. However, the moments that I was able to grasp and truly understand were wonderful. It is well written and the characters feel so real— they think and talk and love and fight like real people do. If you are up for the challenge and the length, it is worth the read (or listen).

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mirrorofneptune's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

Parts with Anna: 4/5
Parts with Levin: 1.5/5

This is an objectively well-written, thoughtful, and complex novel and I do understand both the timelessness and the hype. I also know that there’s something to be said for the literary merit of books with large casts where each character plays a role in communicating the themes of the story. That being said: I cannot stand Levin. He’s a shameless self-insert and I resent that he contributed to the plot. On a less biased note I didn’t find the storyline with him as compelling as the storyline with Anna– I know from a literary analysis perspective his relationship is meant to parallel Anna’s, but that doesn’t mean I liked reading about it. For a book titled Anna Karenina it felt like the Levin show a lot of the time…

All that aside, this book was a genuinely poignant sketch of complicated emotions, societal hypocrisy, and moral shades of gray. I am glad I read it, even though it was challenging at times. Some interesting pacing decisions were made but there’s a plethora of haunting quotes and scenes to make up for that.

In conclusion: God bless Sophia Tolstoy, I’m so sorry your husband probably plagiarized your diaries to write this, but the parts it looked like he lifted verbatim were some of the best 🙏🏻

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annasorr's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

There are so many passages of this novel that I will remember for a long time—

Anna’s death, Levin’s philosophy, Karenin’s love of the baby.

The novel took more time to finish than I had thought, but the pace really forced me to get to know these characters in a slow, methodical way, which caused the ending to strike me far more than if I had burned through it.

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sayacanread's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Justice for anna. I hate men

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lachiemorris's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My favourite Tolstoy work so far. Insightful in its reflective nature on life and love, while also giving a pretty decent plot to get invested in. Characters were well fleshed out, even the small side characters. I particularly enjoyed the last two parts, in comparison to the rest.

A small gripe I had was that I found it odd that the title was Anna Karenina, when the book was much more than that. Often times it would divulge into a 100-page chunk where the titular character wasn't mentioned or seen. But again it's a minute gripe.

For my dislikes, I found it rather annoying when Tolstoy decides to spend 8 chapters on a character mowing with a scythe, or when he finds it imperative to the plot to explain things that in no way shape or form should be mentioned. Along with this, I find at times he halts the plot to explain his own views on things through his characters. When its intriguing I don't mind, but when its not its painstakingly obvious and at times a slog. And for this reason I found the first half to be often times slow, as characters are being shown to the reader through their views. For these reasons it isn't a 5 star.

With Anna's death, I found this part to be the strongest part of the novel. Throughout the book her emotions are palpable and honest for someone with her clear mental illnesses. Her depression is written insanely well, and her 'insanity' is done rather strikingly. I must commend Tolstoy for this in particular.

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hjb_128's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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tommy_g's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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klingcooper's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A story rich in texture and beautiful writing especially when detailing the countryside and the mundane aspects of day to day life. I admit that I got lost a bit in the political turmoils and cared very little about the political plots that the men dealt with in their careers, but there was much humor in it as well. I often felt so repulsed and frustrated with the actions and thoughts and hypocrisies of various characters but I suppose it really is a fantastic portrait of the human condition; to love and to suffer and to hope and to dream and to fear. I appreciate much of the richness in inner dialogue that I find to be consistent in late 19th century Russian lit (I personally loved Dostoevsky’s The Idiot). I cared very little for Vronsky and Anna’s storyline to be honest but could not help feeling much pity for the titular character, even at times when I felt like she (and Vronsky and Karenin) acted as a coward lacking insight. Perhaps I am being harsh. I definitely resonated with the complex feelings of jealousy and insecurity as was dealt with by so many of the characters.

Having just finished this book a mere five minutes ago, I do look back at the journey with fondness, and I especially appreciated the final chapters of Levin’s internal reckoning with spiritual mysticism.

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