Anna Karenina

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Summary: My introduction to Tolstoy
Review: I'm not sure what moved me to take on this book as my introduction to Tolstoy, but I'm glad I did. I found the writing (partial credit to the translator) to be rich without being presumptuous. The story development was magnificent, so much more than just plot development; I loved the "background" stories that had little to do with the main plot but which added dimension to the characters. Still, about 2/3 of the way through I became bored, at which point I almost gave up the book. I'm glad I persevered, though - the ending was magnificent. (Side note: as a feminist, it was gratifying to see that the adulterous MAN paid a price for his indiscretion too, in some ways even a dearer price than Anna.)

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Summary: Absolutely the best book I ever read!
Review: I'm not too thrilled with books that were written in some other language and translated into English, but "Anna Karenina" is one of the great reading experiences of a lifetime, in any language. I expected it to be dull and exhausting to read because of its length, but it's not. It flows like silk and is enthralling and touching from the first page to the last.

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Summary: A true classic!
Review: Tolstoy spins an incredibly passionate tale about living life to the fullest, for better or worse and achieves in not only touching the reader but creating an exciting story. The parallel plots of two loves, one triumphant the other tragic, expose a real understanding character as well as the human need for love. A truly amazing piece!

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Summary: A fascinating interplay of characters and circumstances
Review: Anna Karina is a phenomenal book. To me the most fascinating parts have to do with fate, and the way different fates affect different characters For example, most people say that Kitty was moral, while Anna was immoral, and thus they had different fates. I see it very differently. To my eyes, Kitty was almost forced to be moral because of her fate. Given her choice, she would not have stayed faithful to Levin, and when you read about how downtrodden she looked at her wedding to Levin, you realize that it is only because of her fate that she is going through with the supposed act of faithfulness. In fact, if she had any way to control the situation, she would not have been faithful to Levin, and would have instead gone off with Vronsky. Anna on the other hand, has been morale all of her life. However, because of her fate, she is forced into a situation which brings to reality her darkest wishes. To me, this is the type of complex interweaving of characters and circumstances that make Tolstoy's writing fascinating and meaningful. The only weak character for me in the novel is Vronsky. To be honest, I can never undertstand why any of the female characters find him attractive. I suppose that Tolstoy as a man could not fully portray the nuances of a man's character that make him attractive to a woman.

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Summary: i wouldnt buy it.
Review: War and peace was brilliant. Anna Karenina isn't. Her character may be complex but it's nothing extraordinary. This book is not a tragedy -- anyone as confused as anna should die asap. Her son's slow and forced forgetting of her is a lot more interesting than her but only occupies a page or two out of 600. There's only one passage here worth looking at for language's sake -- the description of what she sees when she kills herself.

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Summary: Relatively satisfying, if not Tolstoy's best
Review: (actually wish for 4 and one half stars... or four and one quarter... the gap between four and five stars is too great!) I actually read Tolstoy's well-known novels, War & Peace and Anna Karenina, in backwards order than they were written, and I must say I enjoyed W&P much more than Anna K. Although Anna K is considered to be a might tighter novel, with less of Tolstoy's famous digression, I didn't find the characters as enjoyable, and slightly less believable. The twin themes regarding Levin and Anna are brilliant, and Tolstoy's language (probably the most prominent reason to why I like him so much) is descriptive and appropriate: harsh when discussing drunken men and bars, yet very gentle when depicting children and mothers. The story overall is complex and works well, carrying similar characteristics as in W&P, with Tolstoy's fantastic description and interesting themes. But as Fyodor Dostoyevsky (the king of Russian literature) said of Anna K, "I found it tedious." --although it's a great tedious...

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Summary: I would recommend it, if you have plenty of spare time...
Review: I had to read this book for my english class and I have to say that it was much better than I expected. Seeing how thick the book was, I expected a boring book. It turned out to be very good, definitely one of my favorites. It was very descriptive and even enjoyable.

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Summary: Anna is wonderful
Review: I have to reply to some of the other reviews calling Anna a weak character. Anna, as Tolstoy portrays her, is one of the most attractive characters in the whole of literature that I've read. If I'd been Vronsky, or indeed any other man in the novel, I'd have been in love with her (as most indeed were). "Playing hard to get" was simply not an option for a woman who had left her husband in 19th-century Russia. All her decisions are totally justified as genuine responses to her terrible situation. It is society that is shown to be weak, not Anna

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Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is the classic masterpiece which tells of the contrasting fates of those who live for their souls and goodness, and those who live for their passions and emotions; of rebirth and love; of destruction and hate. The cast of multidimensional characters is rich and true; every one has imperfections, but almost all have merits. A wonderful story that you, long after have finished, will take and keep with you.. One the best books I've ever read.

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Summary: Too much politics, not enough romance
Review: When reading this book, you should realize that Tolstoy is setting his heroine's life against the political backdrop of Russia. Therefore, there are long boring sections on Russian politics which the modern reader doesn't care anything about. The political sections really bogged down the story for me.