Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) | Leo Tolstoy | took me 8 months, but I'm slow

Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) | Leo Tolstoy | Majestic...in size and in content

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Anna Karenina (Opr...

	Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) Leo Tolstoy Penguin Classics, 2004 - 864 pages average customer review:based on 171 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

took me 8 months, but I'm slow

The sort of book that could change your life. Maybe you'll renew your love for your brother. Or maybe tell that jackass at the party to stop hitting on your girlfriend. Or maybe realize that your wife does love you best.
Anyways, no matter what kind of reader you are, and no matter how your tastes run, you can't go wrong here. If you have half a brain, you'll be stimulated. It begins with a guy sleeping on his couch because his wife caught him cheating. Friends with everybody, he appears throughout the book as a charming oaf. Then there's his hot, milf sister, her lame husband, her new boyfriend, and their descent into hell. Then there's the lovably self-conscious oddball hero who has to take some serious time out after getting rejected in love, but who eventually not only gets the girl but discovers the meaning of life.
There are meditations on death, ambition, and marriage that are as accessible and illuminating as anything written today. Do not begrudge the book its chapter-long description of Levin mowing the grass, as it is one of my favorite passages. He's getting over the girl; you cannot help but feel new purpose pry through you too as he swings his scythe.
Don't read this because it is a classic. Read it because you want to be entertained, intrigued, provoked, moved.

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Majestic...in size and in content

Tolstoy is just powerful...with his words. He talks about everything, describes every aspect of the surrounding down to the very last intricate detail. The result? An extremely enthralling and moving book. Apart from the widely discussed infidelity and love themes, this book manages to transport the reader to Russia in the 19th century, and to blend into the background whilst Anna and Vronsky's sordid affair takes place. The translation was wonderful; it is hard to believe that this isn't the original. I did however, wish I knew Russian so I could experience Tolstoy's actual work.

I loved this book. I read it long before Oprah decided to add it to her book club, and so I have the Oxford Classics edition, which isn't as nice to look at and the translation is slightly different. This however, does not influence the book's distinction as one of greatest novels ever written.

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A great piece of work.

There is absolutely no doubt that this is an amazing piece of literature. It is thought-provoking and tragic; definitely must-read. The only complaint I have is the chapters and chapters of characters discussing 19th century Russian politics. Not a big fan of that topic. ;) But all in all, I greatly enjoyed this book.

3 Stars for Literature, 5 Stars for History

Tolstoy is an excellent writer. However, suicidal romance is simply not his forte. Despite his wonderfully detailed descriptions of places, people, and pre-Communist Russian life in general, this was just not a great romance.

However, if you are interested in the history of Russia during Tolstoy's lifetime, you will definitely want to buy this book. Leo Tolstoy was himself a member of the old Russian aristocracy, and in Anna Karenina (pronounced Ah-na Ka-ren-en-ah, not Kareneena, as I had mistakenly thought when I first read it), he provides an excellent depiction (and often, critiques) of his class, their lifestyles, problems, attitudes, and failures. For that reason, this book is worth reading.

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