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Loading... Anna Karenina (1877)by Leo Tolstoy
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I would consider War and Peace the greater novel, but gosh, isn't this a fantastic piece of work? What author so successfully places us inside the head of each of its characters, moving them forward with an unrelenting pace while also tying them so closely to the fortunes of their nation? Wondrous. ( ) More than any other writer, Tolstoy had this almost otherworldly ability to present people as they really are with a certain bird's eye perspective, and also with an X-ray lens, he could see inside people right down to the marrow of their souls. I think Faulkner pretty much says it all when he lists the three greatest novels as: "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina." This book is really the only one that matters, like the Clash (which I don't exactly get, I mean, they're a good band, but really, the only one that matters?). If ever there were a perfect novel, it would either be this one or War and Peace (which is coincidently also by Tolstoy), and it may in fact be my favourite novel. Though it isn't so much Anna's story which really captivates me, though it is outstanding and masterful, but rather Konstantin Lenin's. He is an exceedingly complex and emotive character, so personal and vivid, and so graphically sketched out of Tolstoy's own consciousness. His spiritual awakening and romance with Kitty are among the most discerning and heartfelt in literature, and it's so thorough, wellrounded and intricate that one is led to wonder why we really need any more romance novels after this one. (spoilers) Like all of Tolstoy's big books this has taken a chunk out of my life but many were the moments that I wanted to give-up on Anna Karenina because I found sections of it fairly tedious and plodding. Nevertheless, I ploughed on to the end, like one of the diligent peasants, and was rewarded by passages of great lyrical beauty, especially where the countryside entered the story. Although Anna's death ultimately has no meaning or significance and her 'tiny hands' and Vronsky's 'straight teeth' were a repetitious form of cultural (perhaps temporal) dissonance, I felt as though I'd only been given a tantalising glimpse of Anna. She seemed to have come from nowhere (unlike the other characters). Just as the power of her full womanhood came to assert itself, she began a descent onto a deranged path of delusional self-destruction. She could so easily have found happiness. But maybe that was the point: that happiness was a delusion. Certainly, Levin believes there is 'nothing for every man to look forward to except suffering, death, and everlasting oblivion'. However, right at the end of the book he manages to arrive at what could be a durable moment of realisation related to an unconditional and innate 'goodness'. Although accompanied by revelation and even lightning, he claims this comes quietly. He struggles a little to separate it from religion but manages to do so just as the novel enfolds its ending in a form of domestic bliss. What I missed in this book written with Tolstoy's author omniscience was the way he was able to stand aside from the action and comment as he did in 'War and Peace'. Nevertheless, almost a similar effect is achieved (with wry comment) when many of the characters appear to respond to some will of their own, almost beyond the author's control. A character would intend to say or do one thing but instead say or do another. For example,
De nieuwe vertaling van Anna Karenina leest als een trein, dankzij allerlei knappe vondsten van vertaler Hans Boland. Belongs to Publisher Series — 32 more Everyman's Library (612-613) Gallimard, Folio (38/39) Goldmanns gelbe Taschenbücher (692 / 693 / 694) I grandi della letteratura [Fabbri] (66-67-68) insel taschenbuch (0308) Oneworld Classics (39) Penguin Classics (L041) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2013) Perpetua reeks (73) Rainbow pocketboeken (205) A tot vent (231) Is contained inI capolavori (Anna Karenina - Guerra e pace - La morte di Ivan Il'ič- Resurrezione - La sonata a Kreutzer e altri racconti) (Italian Edition) by Lev Tolstoj ContainsResurrection by Leo Tolstoy (indirect) Has the adaptationIs abridged inIs parodied inInspiredHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
In nineteenth-century Russia, the wife of an important government official loses her family and social status when she chooses the love of Count Vronsky over a passionless marriage. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)891.733Literature Literature of other languages Literature of east Indo-European and Celtic languages Russian and East Slavic languages Russian fiction 1800–1917LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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