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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
rowenalovegood's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
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
karenclare'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
3.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child death and War
tatjanasbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, and War
o_cox25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
meg_reads83's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide
cinzia_2509'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
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Abandonment
theloosepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Suicide
conor625'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
4.25
Minor: Suicide