Product Description

Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness. While previous versions have softened the robust, and sometimes shocking, quality of Tolstoy's writing, Pevear and Volokhonsky have produced a translation true to his powerful voice. This award-winning team's authoritative edition also includes an illuminating introduction and explanatory notes. Beautiful, vigorous, and eminently readable, this Anna Karenina will be the definitive text for generations to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #922 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05
• Released on: 2004-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 864 pages

Amazon.com
Some people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.

About the Author
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote two of Russia's greatest novels, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), as well as many short stories and essays.

Customer Reviews

Indifference? NOT HERE!
I haven't had/made time to read other translations of this Great work, but IMHO, Anna Karenina 'Must Be' in the top five list of all-time Greatest Romances...
(trying NOT to be selfish): Reading Anna Karenina has enriched my life; It has INCREASED my love, devotion, & respect for-to my wife, my respect & care for my children & grand-children.
I hope it does the same for you & your family...

Masterful
Leo Tolstoy's immortal novel about love and morality is an intricate, flawlessly conceived work of literary realism. Tolstoy's magnificent application of temporality imbues this epic with an almost unparalleled sense of verisimilitude. Using a dialectic between Anna and Vronsky, and Levin and Kitty, Tolstoy unfolds one of the most remarkable novels about human relationships in the canon. Anna is a beautiful but doomed woman, whose love affair with Count Vronsky sets her life into a chain of inevitable disasters. Tolstoy's blend of politics, social satire, and quiet meditations on country life in 19th century Russia mark this novel as one of the richest and most eternal of works of art. Tolstoy sought to use art as a vessel for his moral opinions about life, death, and Christianity, but fortunately his art triumphed over his message in this incomparable masterpiece.

Ehhhh..
I just finished this book, in a weeks time. The first, maybe 300 pages, were extremely intriguing and I couldn't put the book down. But this was mainly because I loved the story between Anna and Vronosky. I must admit, the main reason I purchased this book was because it was said to be one of the greatest love stories of all time, and I highly enjoy reading love stories. After awhile, I realized that this book didn't revolve around Anna, like I had thought. And one of the greatest love stories of all times? Absolutely not. Actually, I barely saw any kind of "love story" in this entire novel. There was Anna and Vronosky, but could you even consider what they had to be a love story? Maybe for about 50 pages, but after that, it was annoying. To be honest, I don't think love even existed between the two of them, more like infatuation turned into obsession. Anna constantly complaining about how she felt unloved. She convinced herself that he no longer loved her, which drove her to insanity. And the way she left her son, completely unforgivable.
Then we had Levin and Kitty's love story. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel the love between them when Levin wasn't even her first choice. It seemed to me that she settled for Levin because she was unwanted. However, I felt she did come to love him eventually, after they had married, which made their story enjoyable.
As many others have stated, I think Stiva was the most enjoyable character in this entire book, and yet he wasn't any better than the rest.
I enjoyed Alexia Karenina, and I feel as if he was actually a good man that was unable to express his emotions. Notice the pattern; Anna was "repulsed" by him, felt as if he didn't care about her and no longer loved her. After a little while with Vronosky, she felt the same exact way towards him. The problem wasn't with these two men, it was Anna's own insecurities. Which is ironic, because such a "beauty" as she was, being envied by all, she was so strangely insecure.
Should I mention Levin and the hundreds of pages wasted on his thoughts about farming, hunting, and philosophy? I admit, some of it was interesting. But after awhile, it became repetitive and I struggled to get through it.

But even despite my negative opinions, I still gave the book 3 stars. Why? Because there were parts of the book that were entertaining, that did keep me turning the page, and for the most part, it was an easy read. I'd recommend it, but definitely not to someone whose looking for a love story or a fun read.