Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club)

How can anyone argue with Virginia Woolf, who believed that Tolstoy was one of the world's greatest novelists?

I agree with her in part. Anna K is a significant work of art. But, with all due respect to Tolstoy, it's too long to be a "novel". Anna K was actually written and published in small installments for a magazine, over a 4 year period. It is meant to be digested as small savory morels, over a long period of time. So, if you think that you are going to finish this in a few days or even weeks, don't be fooled! It took me a year. Most college courses that require this novel to be read, do so over a 12-16 week period.

I recommend this classic novel for those who want to know more about Russian culture during the life and times of Tolstoy. If you are not a seasoned reader, don't be convinced by the critics who hail this to be the "greatest novel ever written", or by the other reviewers who rave on and on about how they "can't put it down". Most people run out of patience when they approach the novel from that perspective. It mostly appeals to readers who have a vested interest in Russian culture, or who are reading classics for the sake of reading classics.

I appreciate Tolstoy's depiction of country life as far more wholesome and preferable to city life. The reason that this is a classic, is because of it's cultural significance. You will understand Tolstoy's point of view on some key political and philosophical issues during his lifetime, such as the societal roles of serfs versus Russian aristocrats, education reform, and women's rights.

At first, it was challenging to learn to read the names of the Russian characters...Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky,Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya, Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin, Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, Lydia Ivanovna, Countess Vronskaya , Sergei Alexeyitch Karenin, and the list goes on. But, there is a helpful audio guide online that can help you to learn the pronouciation.

the book is a great book even though it has fallen apart piece by piece during my read

This is a sophisticated story. Yes like many of the classic it may be corny by todays vinacular. After reading many classics is still not easy, not to snicker when the author uses the word gay. Much beyond that you have to read this story beyond the mere words, you need to imagine a different time and different society. In many ways it is ironic that many of the situations the characters in this story are in are situations that still challenge people today. If you allow yourself this story can cause you to question many of your values, espically social values. It is long, it is corny, and it can be good.

I haven't had/made time to read other translations of this Great work, but IMHO, Anna Karenina 'Must Be' in the top five list of all-time Greatest Romances...
(trying NOT to be selfish): Reading Anna Karenina has enriched my life; It has INCREASED my love, devotion, & respect for-to my wife, my respect & care for my children & grand-children.
I hope it does the same for you & your family...

Leo Tolstoy's immortal novel about love and morality is an intricate, flawlessly conceived work of literary realism. Tolstoy's magnificent application of temporality imbues this epic with an almost unparalleled sense of verisimilitude. Using a dialectic between Anna and Vronsky, and Levin and Kitty, Tolstoy unfolds one of the most remarkable novels about human relationships in the canon. Anna is a beautiful but doomed woman, whose love affair with Count Vronsky sets her life into a chain of inevitable disasters. Tolstoy's blend of politics, social satire, and quiet meditations on country life in 19th century Russia mark this novel as one of the richest and most eternal of works of art. Tolstoy sought to use art as a vessel for his moral opinions about life, death, and Christianity, but fortunately his art triumphed over his message in this incomparable masterpiece.