| | Anna Karenina (Everyman's Library classics) |  | Author: L.n. Tolstoy
Creators: John Bayley, Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude
Publisher: Everyman's Library
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £8.44
You Save: £4.55 (35%)
New (17) Collectible (1) from £7.78
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 68605
Media: Hardcover
Edition: New edition
Pages: 1008
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 1857150589
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781857150582
ASIN: 1857150589
Publication Date: April 23, 1992
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
A timeless treasure of classical literature October 16, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Tolstoy's power of translucent description has given a life uncpative of time and space to this classical novel. It exposes the pyramid of the pre-revolutionary Russian society through the story of a mesmerising love affair, stuck in ongoing questioning of the self either as a part of a whole or a selfish periah willing to break off the formalities and hollow principles of the time.
Anna's quest for a more vibrant life otherwise full of overly materialistc delights and bordome of lonliness, brings her across with her ultimate soulmate, her lover - an every bit of a gentleman character, a curageous, popular, much sought after bachelor. Her heart, though, remains equally captive to her son whom she tries to take with her when abandoning her husband - a man of reason and utter belief in common sense of his own societal hierarchy.
Reflecting on the lives of the very poor stuck in the bottom seemingly forever and the very rich and very few, the novel resonates questions and arguments on the future of the country, of humanity as a whole in such simple narratives that its logic seems to correspond with the readers' fears and beliefs and hopes... Tolstoy's own concerns for Russia's direcion in "Anna Krenina" are of contemporary value. If Anna were Russia, her choice and indecisiveness would bring her to a deadlock, leaving her to merely hope for a miracle. How would this beauty, gifted with so much grace and talents make a break of its dark past and how she'd step into a new life remains the main question throughout the novel. What values and principles she'd take with her and which she'd abandon.
A story of hope that refuses to end at the most tragic point of the novel. Alert by Anna's fate, all the other characters suddenly get consumed with much determination and belief for a better life.
It is a most captivating novel that I'd recommend not only for literary curiosity but for those trying to understand today's Russia at all levels of that beautiful country - roots, religion, politics, history and culture.
A great love story July 26, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This remarkable story by one of the few mega-novelists of all times is an ageless story that is more real than fiction. I decided to read a copy of this book on my way to vacation last the summer and ended up spending most of my first week being glued to the book. Though it is a Russian story of a century and a half ago, its essence still resonates today. Anna who is married to the wealthy and older Karenin lives a life of comfort without any excitement, a life that is full of routines and no zest. It is a life she had become used to until she meets the elegant Vronsky and falls in love. Now she must pay the price of adultery or seek marital stability and forgo the echoes of her heart, a soul searching trial that destabilizes the life of her family and that of her lover. In essence she abandons the meaning for her life and pursues the zest of life. On the other hand is Levine who is in search of the meaning of life and abandons the zest of life for a purposeful life that includes a family, ideas on the advancement of humanism, being at peace with ones world and hard work in is farm and being at peace with God. In a way, both Levine and Anna can not be blamed for opting considering one choice above the other. They all wanted happiness without having evil intentions and found a balance between the zest of life and the search of its meaning in their own different ways, hurting and find love in the process and in the end, enriching and destroying themselves in their different ways. A highly recommended read and the most insightful love story I have ever read.UNION MOUJIK,DR ZHIVAGO, EUGENE ONEGIN are some of the other books set in Russia that I enjoyed alongside ANNA KARENINA.
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