Monday, July 28, 2008

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is the story of a woman's affair in the late 19th century. She is the wife of a government official and lives in the upper echelon of society. Upon arriving in Moscow to mediate between her brother and sister-in-law, she meets a military officer named Vronsky. Vronsky had led Kitty to believe he would be "making her an offer" but upon meeting Anna he forgot Kitty completely. And Kitty had just refused an offer from Lenin. Anna Karenina is a long book that tells the story of many people. And they are all well defined characters. It's hard to leave one character for a couple of pages, but then you get wrapped up in the next character.

Anna Karenina is a story of love gone bad and love gone right. Tolstoy uses his characters to explore Russian society, from the aristocrats to the peasants who work for them. Religion, agriculture, politics, society, culture, the list goes on.

Anna Karenina is a Great Book. One of the best I've ever read.FirstCrime and Punishment and now this. I can't believe I was ever scared of Russian literature. I'm ready to take on War and Peace.

1 comment:

Petunia said...

This is a book that everyone loves but that I disliked passionately. The only part I did like was the contrast between Karenina and Levin. Did you know that Levin is autobiographical? That made the story interesting for me.