Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club)

Who are the main characters?. Well, we might begin by telling something about Anna Karenina, the woman who gives this book its title. Anna is someone who has found some satisfaction in a marriage to a husband she doesn't love. Her life isn't exciting, but she is comfortable, and has a son that means everything to her. Her world will be shaken when a nobleman, Count Vronsky, falls in love with her. He pursuits Anna until he convinces her to become his lover, indulging in an adulterous affair. But... will he go on loving her, even after she risks all for him?. And did she do the right thing, by following her heart without thinking about the consequences of her actions?.

There are many more characters, but I would like to highlight one of them: Levin. Levin is a rather eccentric gentleman farmer, who worries about things like the meaning of life, and allows the reader to share with him the kind of doubts that many have had, but few voice. He ends up finding happiness, but his path is not easy, especially because he is prone to reflect on issues that cause him anguish. His story is linked at the beginning of the book to that of Anna and Vronsky because the woman he loves, Kitty Shcherbatskaya, thinks she loves Vronsky. However, as the story advances, you will probably end up comparing Anna and Vronsky's relationship to that of Kitty and Levin. One is all drama, and passion; the other, calm and contentment. Which one is better?. And according to whom?.

I want to point out how well Tolstoy depicted 19th century Russian society, especially the differences between social classes and how much hypocrisy permeated the moral codes of polite society. If you pay close attention you will notice that several themes also to be found in other classics are recurrent in "Anna Karenina". One of them is fate, and some of the others are the omnipresence of death, the meaning of life, and the power of faith. There are many more things I would like to say about this book, but I think you will do better if you start to read "Anna Karenina" right now, instead of spending more of your time reading a long review such as this one :)

On the whole, I highly recommend this book. It is one of those few books that don't allow you to remain indifferent. You might hate it or love it, but it will necessarily make you think about several important subjects, whilst reading a good story.

Belen Alcat


The greatest romance of them all   July 29, 2004
James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania)
61 out of 82 found this review helpful

Who would have thought this novel would soar to the top of the amazon charts? Certainly not the translators, Pevear and Volokhonsky, who were shocked to hear their edition had been selected for Oprah's Book Club. It is great boon for them and the novel as well, which might be regarded as the godmother of the modern romance novel. Tolstoy weaves a magic web, bringing together dysfunctional aristocratic families in perhaps the most memorable Russian novel.

This translation brings the story to life for the non-Russian speaker. Pevear and Volokhonsky have made a habit out of translating Russian novels, from Gogol to Dostoevsky, and now are even tackling Tolstoy's epic work, War and Peace. The language is modern yet true to the Russian original, thanks in large part to Ms. Volokhonsky who is a native Russian speaker.

The story itself has been told so many times before that it doesn't need repeating. But for those who would like a little more insight into the novel, I would suggest reading Nabokov's chapter on Anna Karenina in his Lectures on Russian Literature, as he provides many valuable references over and above those provided by Pevear and Volokhonsky.




Tragic, but truly unfortunate?   July 29, 2005
Charles Carpenter (Village Of Fowl Devotees)
58 out of 62 found this review helpful

Violet Baudelaire is the Anna Karenina of our day. Sad, very sad.


A tale of talesy   June 2, 2004
Frederick A. Babb (http://www.frederickbabb.com)
48 out of 55 found this review helpful

What we have here is a conglomeration of short stories sewn together into one wonderful tale. For the most part, the stories swirl around the life of Anna Karenina, a lady that has conformed with her life. She lives in a comfortable marriage and a boy that she loves to death. But that safe world would quickly be turned upside down when love, the one thing that she really is missing, comes calling in the name of Count Vronsky.

Anna is torn between what is right and what is desired. Her desires trump righteousness and she succumbs to the yearning arms of the nobleman. After they pursue their passion, the happily-ever-after ending seems to avoid them. Is the Count willing to continue their relationship? Is she truly happy with this adulterous affair or will she want more?

In the middle of the affair is another relationship begging to blossom. Levin, a calm and collective farmer that has deep thought about life itself is in love with Kitty. However, Kitty has a crush on the Count and that throws blinders on what is right in front of her. Eventually, the story will show two types of relationships with these four characters. Anna and Vronsky's sinfully passionate versus the path of logic of Levin and Kitty.

Overall, the story is one that cannot be ignored. For better or worse, you will have to opinionate on it. It forces you to like it or leave it. There is no room for indifference. I enjoyed the tale and recommend it.


Not your average Oprah's Book   June 1, 2004
Julie Paige Brown (New Zealand)
37 out of 45 found this review helpful

First of all, to anyone reading these reviews, I'd HIGHLY recommend also reading the reviews of the non-Oprah's Book Club edition. The reviewer pool of the regular edition should be, shall we say, slightly different from this one.

Despite its slightly lackluster plot and rather excessive length, Anna Karenina remains one of my favorite books of all time. So very often when reading passages in this book I would think to myself, "Yes, exactly! That's it exactly!" There seems to be no thought pattern, no emotional subtlety, no tumultuous inner conflict - in short, no condition of being human, however complex - that Tolstoy cannot perfectly elucidate in description and metaphor. It is these magnificent insights into the human experience, presented with a clarity that will take your breath away, which for me made this book well worth reading.

Anyone looking for a quick read or uplifting storyline should probably look elsewhere (so I'm not exactly sure how this book ended up in Oprah's Book Club), but for those wishing to try and disentangle some of the more complex threads of the human condition, I could not recommend it more highly!