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moonkissedmeli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity and Mental illness
estefizaga's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism
dylan_loves_classics's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As a general preface: I read Rosamund Bartlett's translation available exclusively through Oxford World's Classics. I plan to revisit this book with other translations so I can't compare yet, but I will say Bartlett's translation felt like a readable and thoughtful introduction. The numerous notes also elucidate many of the more arcane aspects of the Russian aristocracy.
Anna Karenina follows two major plotlines with a cast of interconnected characters who all weave in and out of different narrative and psychological threads.
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina is a woman as beautiful as she is brilliant (both in her intelligence and in her sparkling personality), until a chance meeting leads to an affair that sends her life spiraling out of control. Amidst the melodrama of her story, I was touched by Tolstoy's reserve in never judging Anna or telling the reader what they should think of her. It is ultimately up to the reader to draw their own conclusions as Anna's mind is laid bare in the masterful, climactic stream-of-consciousness section that leads up to Anna's fate.
Parallel to Anna is Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin, a young man with a lot of thoughts and no idea what to do with them. Through Levin, Tolstoy gives us a panoramic view of his contemporary society, philosophy, art, ice skating, and much more. Levin's own tortured love for Kitty Scherbatskaya, and the question of what to do with his life, haunts him as much as Anna is haunted by her own immorality.
A veritable sea of supporting players come and go throughout the book: Anna's brother Stiva is a delightful comic character, yet he is also repulsively glib and shallow; Anna's husband Karenin at first seems to be a bitter and jealous antagonist but displays great tenderness at other times; even Levin's dog Laska has a few moments of characterization.
I suppose, by page count at least, Levin's story is the actual central narrative, and it is a wonderful story. But I feel it is Anna's story, and the sheer verbal and psychological intensity Tolstoy uses to render it, that has instantly made this one of my favorite novels.
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: War
miky_recensioniburde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Infidelity and Mental illness
Minor: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
lizzye33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
skelleybean's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
mirrorofneptune's review against another edition
- 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 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 🙏🏻
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
Minor: Infidelity
annasorr's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Classism
tommy_g's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Abandonment
Minor: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
catleuumlivro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt