Anna Karenina illustration (Penguin Clothbound Classics) Hardcover – September 30, 2014

by Leo Tolstoy, Coralie Bickford-Smith (Illustrator), John Bayley (Preface)

Tolstoy's epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction, in a gorgeous new clothbound edition from Penguin Classics. Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself. This acclaimed modern translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky won the PEN/ Book of the Month Club Translation Prize in 2001. Their translation is accompanied in this edition by an introduction by Richard Pevear and a preface by John Bayley 'The new and brilliantly witty translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is a must' - Lisa Appignanesi, Independent, Books of the Year 'Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English, and their superb rendering allows us, as perhaps never before, to grasp the palpability of Tolstoy's "characters, acts, situations"' - James Wood, New Yorker

Genres: Classics

1363 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 16, 2023

About the author

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reviews

[Ralph Abeel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always say that my favorite book is the one I’m currently reading, otherwise I wouldn’t be reading it. I didn’t feel that was about this one for a long time. It took me several months to finish, and for a while I felt like I was just trying to race to the end. I didn’t understand why it was so highly regarded, especially after how much I loved War & Peace. I read other books along the way and took breaks. But I didn’t give up and am glad I didn’t. By the end of this book, I wished it would just keep going on. The sweeping romance of Anna and Vronksy felt flat to me for the first half, but the depth definitely hit hard in the second half. And contrasted against the story of Levin and Kitty, it was a beautiful examination of what it’s like to chase desire and the loneliness it can bring once you’ve found it, or chase meaning and the wholeness it can bring after many false starts. Desire and loneliness alone doesn’t do justice for the depth of Anna’s character, which can’t be simplified into a few words. Like War & Peace, Tolstoy does an incredible job of giving each of his characters a lifetime of human experience, which comes with many angles, complications, pains and pleasures. I’ll always remember the difference between life before and after reading Tolstoy.

[Alexandra Coughlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most complex and beautiful writing of human relationships I’ve ever read and the only 900 page book I look forward to re-reading

[Charlie Culley · Rating 5 out of 5]

More about farming than I had assumed - but I didn’t hate that. If Tolstoy was alive now he’d definitely be a high functioning empath. Very few authors can make you genuinely understand and sympathise with every single character’s POV. Life has no villains.

[Lkh]

As the book progresses, the themes morph from love and relationships into the interplay between love and mortality. The seemingly tangential moments (I mentioned in a progress update) involving mainly Levin's character, particularly his reflections on class relations, are reconciled under these broader themes as they are explored further—especially near the end of the book, where Levin's extensive internal dialogues occur. Levin's interactions with the muzhiks are also examined, highlighting his dilemma between his love for his child and his desire to provide a future for them, which clashes with his wish to be fair and just to his workers.

Two notable discussion points about the ending are:

- The continuation of the book after the conclusion of Anna's storyline.
- The pacing of the book from the rising action near the end of part seven through to the conclusion.

The interplay between the storylines broadens the scope of the novel significantly, evoking in me a feeling of sonder and deep contemplation on the human condition as it delves into the lives of various characters from different backgrounds.

The reasoning behind continuing the novel after Anna's suicide, and the value of this juxtaposition, become clear through Levin's meditations on mortality. Transitioning to Stepan's perspective-who is now estranged from his wife due to his own transgressions-where he meets Vronsky, who is leaving for war in Serbia seeking an excuse for self-destruction, and finally Levin, who, in wresling with his non-belief in god, contemplates suicide, all serves to illustrate the universality of suffering. This, in turn, leads the narrative to Levin's conclusion that the natural and divine impulse is towards compassion and forgiveness in light of shared suffering.

A perhaps jaded reconcilliation of Levin and Anna's storylines would be that: while Levin embraced his imperfections and resolved to a philosophy of universal love, Anna desperately and whole-heartedly seeks love from Vronsky and forgiveness from Karenin and Seryozha. She gives and requites love unevenly, fueled by spite and anger towards her own circumstances. The dramatic irony of her tipping point— Alexei Alexandrovich's refusal to grant a divorce—is that it was based on the whim of the medium Landau. This leaves the reader pondering: what if Karenin had shown sympathy towards Anna's plight? Her fate, it seems, was decided more by chance than by malice or rational deliberation.

The pacing near the end of part seven through to the conclusion accelerates and becomes more introspective, which I believe intentionally emphasizes the silent internal struggles of all people. It was also an effective emotionally evocative rhetorical device to conclude Anna's storyline making her depression, mania, and desperate fury seem all that more charged and real.

[Elizabeth Harper-Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolute ride. I feel like I have so much to say about this novel that cannot be contained within this little review space. But, I'm going to try.

I felt like I really had to force myself through so much of this novel. Where I found 'War and Peace' to be consistently elevating and truly transcending, so much of 'Anna Karenina' is morose and dolorous with little redemption. I found so many of the characters nigh on depressing to be with, especially the eponymous Anna, an ENFJ in distress who I very much recognised and who is basically on a death spiral from the beginning. Reading her story really broke my heart.

Then we have the real main character, Levin. Really this book should be named after him (I literally have no idea why Tolstoy named it after Anna when Levin is the belle of the ball). I found Levin frustrating and, at times, intolerable. Through him I learnt more about mowing fields, hunting and provincial Russian elections than I ever cared to know. Yet, after being dragged through tens of arduous pages on farming and Levin stewing in his feelings, Tolstoy offers crumbs of truly exquisite joy. This character who riled me no end, who was stubborn, grumpy, sensitive, jealous, difficult and dogmatic became a dear, dear protagonist. I loved to moan about him, and, by the end, I loved to love him. He is complicated, messy, endearingly multitudinous and very, very human. The scenes Tolstoy presents of his wedding to Kitty and the birth of their baby are truly astonishing, particularly the latter. I have rarely seen the depiction of childbirth so radically accurate to what happens when that realm is entered, and the fact that a man published them in the 19th century is astounding and leaves so much more to be desired from writers in our time.

It was by no means an easy read and a true project. But, by the end, I was with Levin, Kitty and Mitya and crying happy, happy tears for them.

[Bellamy Lohnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best farming guidebook I’ve ever read

[Ms Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantastic novel explores so many subjects but you never lose sight of the humanity of the characters. Love, religious belief and lack of belief, relationships, morality, fidelity, power over others and big topical questions of Slav liberation and women's rights all take their place in the story.

Tolstoy's writing can be dry and academic sometimes (especially showing the endless political discussions some of the characters have) but also sensual and dreamlike (Anna's internal monologues). The farming scenes are truly beautiful especially the hay making scenes. I enjoyed them so much. The short chapters also made it surprisingly easy to navigate the story as Tolstoy switches between Anna/Vronsky and Kitty/Levin.

There's a lot of philosophy. The humour mostly comes from Stepan and his attempts to get a comfortable position so he can both provide for his family and cheat on his wife. He and Anna are likeable characters despite their selfishness. I could have enjoyed more Stepan scenes. Maybe a spin off?

[whellys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me sorprende que en la película hayan quitado por completo el objetivo de Tolstoy al escribir este libro. Según yo, él trataba de demostrar el significado de la búsqueda de una meta en la vida.

Las reflexiones llegan a ser algo pesadas y largas, haciéndolo algo difícil de entender, incluso un poco aburrido.

Anna si llegó a desesperarme al final. Tipo, Vronsky estaba haciendo TODO por ti, todo lo que podía y aún así tú no hacías nada, solo desesperarte y hundirte más.

No gustó nada la parte de las infidelidades. Pero sí que mostró a sus personajes con todo y defectos.

Tuvo un buen final.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I really hate Tolstoy: his condescension, his fetishization of the poor, his rampant misogyny towards both his own characters and his own wife. But every now and then he will write something so cuttingly true I feel at one with every person who’s ever lived. Tolstoy may have intended Anna Karenina to be a meditation on the cascading effects of sin, but I love her more than he does. I see Karenina’s choice to die as a tragedy of respectability that rules the Russian elite; choosing the most extreme action to allow herself to be seen with pity rather than abhorrence. I didn’t find any other character nearly as interesting, but that’s probably realistic too.

[AJ Elvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really worthwhile and excellent read, with incredibly rich vibrant and diverse characters that evoke a wide range of emotions. Tolstoy does an amazing job of capturing the interests and desires of conflicting personalities, never seeming to side with any of them but giving each individual unique virtues and very human flaws.

[Gabriella van den Bergh]

I do love Tolstoy's repeated use of the word 'vexation', I too experience this state often...

[Belén · Rating 2 out of 5]

me hubiera encantado si hubiera ido sobre el motivo que me llevó a querer leerlo: anna karenina

[Lin Poy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess literature peaked in 1878

[Nuria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Espectacular lectura! Me ha llamado particularmente la atención la profundidad de los personajes y sus diálogos internos. Da pie a mucha reflexión y debate. Recomendadisimo!