Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I really wanted to enjoy this book more, but I can't say that I did. I appreciated certain aspects of it and Tolstoy can be a good author, however this was a perfect example of one of the classics that went on too long and bored me at several intervals.
Tolstoy starts the book with the famous line;
Happy Families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
And it's this line that truly makes the story in my eyes. Tolstoy does an amazing job of not only speaking of Anna Karenina's plight for happiness but also several other characters' story lines of happiness and unhappiness. Tolstoy touches on so many things that show the instability of happiness; as one can quickly become unhappy by a multitude of forces. There are lies, societal expectations, moral strictness, jealousy, shame, shameless cheating, love, courtship, friendship, pride, forgiveness, and betrayal. It is incredible that one novel can include all of these items and so perfectly explain each characters thoughts and feelings when dealing with these emotions and situations. Had the book been solely focused on the characters dealing with these situations, I may have loved the book. But sadly, it didn't end there.
I can appreciate that at the time this was published, Leo Tolstoy's commentary on Russian peasantry could have been compelling and relative to the readers. However, I found it a bit exhausting and out of place for the rest of the novel's plot lines. Since I was listening to an audiobook, I was unable to skim these areas, and I have to wonder if I was able to whether I'd have enjoyed the book a bit more. Instead, I was left confused, lost and bored during these many, many chapters. This was similar to how I felt about Les Miserables, there were so many tangents, rants and superfluous explanations that made the novel so long and really didn't add anything of value. But even with that, I enjoyed Tolstoy and Victor Hugo's writing when they solely focused on the characters and pushing the story forward.
Other reviews complain about the characters that they are all a bit unlikeable. I have to agree that I don't necessarily love any of the characters, or fully sympathize with them throughout the entire story, but I think that's what makes them such great characters. They are real in that they have flaws and make mistakes; they are learning through trial and error of how to be happy in a world that doesn't just allow them to do as they wish. A woman has to marry a man because her parents or guardians arrange it. If she finds true love later in life, she cannot leave her husband without ruin. And what of a woman whose family and friends all praise one suitor and scoff at another? How can she not take some of that into consideration when choosing who to marry? I think the only characteristic that was over-exaggerated was the jealousy these individuals felt when someone of the opposite sex even spoke to their significant other.
Overall, I didn't hate the book, and maybe if I reread it later in life and skip a lot of the extra I might find myself loving it. But for now, it's hard to separate the two and appreciate the novel as a whole.
Now, to also review the audiobook I listened to. It was read by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and she was terrible. She spoke in the exact same voice the entire time which is a slight issue itself, but especially with a book that has so many main characters. It was impossible to differentiate between two characters when they were in conversation unless the name was mentioned after a comment. She was also insanely breathy and often whispered that I had to put my volume on the loudest it would go and still didn't catch some of what she said. Stay away from this version as I think this made my experience of the book even worse.
Synopsis: Married to a powerful government minister, Anna Karenina is a beautiful woman who falls deeply in love with a wealthy army officer, the elegant Count Vronsky. Desperate to find truth and meaning in her life, she rashly defies the conventions of Russian society and leaves her husband and son to live with her lover. Condemned and ostracized by her peers and prone to fits of jealousy that alienate Vronsky, Anna finds herself unable to escape an increasingly hopeless situation.
Set against this tragic affair is the story of Konstantin Levin, a melancholy landowner whom Tolstoy based largely on himself. While Anna looks for happiness through love, Levin embarks on his own search for spiritual fulfillment through marriage, family, and hard work. Surrounding these two central plot threads are dozens of characters whom Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together, creating a breathtaking tapestry of nineteenth-century Russian society.