Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Vook Classics
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One of the greatest love stories in world literature --Vladimir Nabokov
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The Modern Library prides itself as ''The modern Library of the world s Best Books''. Since 1917 its paperback series has featured treasured classics, major translations of great works, and rediscoveries of keen literary and historical merit. Featuring introductions by leading writers, stunning translations, scholarly endnotes and reading group guides. Production values emphasize superior quality and readability. Competitive prices, coupled with exciting cover design make these an ideal gift to be cherished by the avid reader. Considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written, Anna Karenina is Tolstoy's classic tale of love and adultery set against the backdrop of high society in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A rich and complex masterpiece, the novel charts the disastrous course of a love affair between Anna, a beautiful married woman, and Count Vronsky, a wealthy army officer. Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together the lives of dozens of characters, and in doing so captures a breathtaking tapestry of late-nineteenth-century Russian society. As Matthew Arnold wrote in his celebrated essay on Tolstoy, "We are not to take Anna Karenina as a work of art; we are to take it as a piece of life
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Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect Novel?,
By M. Dowden (London, UK) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Anna Karenina (Kindle Edition)
It has to be mentioned that Anna Karenina is viewed by a lot of people as the perfect novel, and who am I to disagree? I have read it many times in numeorus traslations and so I feel that I should point out that this was translated by the late Constance Garnett. Because her translations are all out of copyright she is the world's most read English translator of Russian literature. It must be said that she did have a tendency to leave things out if she couldn't understand it and she did make alterations, mainly so that it would flow better in English. I know she has come in for a lot of criticism over the years but it should never be forgotten that she gave the reading public here and in the US translations of all the Russian greats and made them easily accessible for all.
Anna Karenina the novel, is absolutely brilliant, it holds you from the beginning, all the way throuh to the end. Taking us through such things as hypocrisy and jealousy, it takes us into a family and keeps us rooted in all the problems that it faces. If you have never read this before then now is definitely the time, if you have already read it, surely it is about time you read it again. So remember, although this isn't the most accurate translation on the market, this is free and is easily readable, plus it does keep to the story, also the biggest complaints about her accuracy usually fall on her translations of Dostoevsky more than any other author.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A novel of towering stature,
By
This review is from: Anna Karenina (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
Having read 'War and Peace', I bought this book with the expectation that it would be a worthwhile slog, full of wisdom but no page turner. I was wrong: it was very difficult to put down and I enjoyed it immensely. Happily though, I was right about the wisdom bit, and it has supplied plenty of material now fermenting in the brain. This is without doubt up there with the best books I've read.
The story is very large in scale, dealing with many characters (the main ones are listed in the front) over a period of some years. The main narrative drive comes from the relationships of two couples, one an extra-marital affair. As the novel progresses, these relationships follow divergent trajectories, one doomed, the other blessed. Tolstoy is therefore able to turn the illuminating spotlight of his compassionate insight on large areas of human experience. The story is a compelling one, well paced and absorbing, and with a natural, snapshot-of-life, feel as opposed to being contrived in a Dickensian way. The characters themselves are a bit larger than life, though very human. Tolstoy handles each one with understanding and compassion, and clearly has great love for them all. He frequently switches from one character's point of view to another's, and we are always able to understand and to sympathise with their motivation, noble or otherwise. The four main characters in particular are utterly convincing, and you feel for them very much. As in 'War and Peace', Tolstoy uses the novel to express some of his philosophical and political ideas. The central character, Levin, who you feel is closely related to the writer himself, is constantly battling with very large ideas, presumeably reflecting Tolstoy's own mental life at the time. The existence of God, the inevitability of death, and the value of reason are all dealt with in depth. Tolstoy clearly believes that logical argument is futile and unpersuasive, and seeks, through Levin, to hint at the truths he can see plainly. Some of this is very convincing, and it is partly, perhaps, this philosophical ability that sets Tolstoy apart as one of the truly great writers. As far as this edition in particular is concerned, I didn't bother with the introduction (I rarely do, as editors almost always miss the point of an +intro+duction, it seems to me, by assuming that you have read the book already - this was no exception), but the notes were in general quite pertinent and informative, particulalry about Russian history. The prose flowed quite nicely, and the language was modern but not to a gimmicky extent. The fact that it was a translation didn't seem to get in the way too much as it sometimes can, though I haven't read any other translations of 'AK' so I'm in no position to recommend this one over any others. Don't be afraid to take this wonderful book on, it really is a fantastic read. My advice is to take it on holiday with you as I did, or at least wait until you've got a lot of reading time, because I think it might get more difficult (e.g. with the very confusing plethora of interchangeable names) if you let the momentum drop. You will be rewarded with a life-enriching experience, and a whole new perspective on the enigma that is life.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Clunky translation,
By
This review is from: Anna Karenina (Kindle Edition)
The book is wonderful but the electronic version is awful. Why can't they use the wonderful new translation? This one is so clunky that it is almost painful. Made me want to read the book in the original Russian
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