Anna Karenina (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

(n.b This review refers to the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translation).
I'll keep this review quite short, as there are plenty of others detailing just why this is regarded as one of the all-time great novels.

As this was my first experience of reading Tolstoy, I had been slightly daunted by the literary (and literal!) weight of this novel. Happily, I found that "Anna Karenina" was instantly accessible, in terms of both narrative and style.

The story is a classic tale of a tragic love affair between the beautiful, highly-strung Anna - one of the most complex and authentic portrayals of female psychology in literature - and the passionate, ambitious Count Vronsky; two people whose intense, complicated loves are not enough to prevail over personal misunderstandings and setbacks from Russian high society. Their story is set into relief by the story of Levin, a landowner struggling with his meditations on life, love, work, religion...All of this Tolstoy deals with insightfully and with an engaging wit. The parallel stories were equally absorbing, and the tragedy of the eponymous heroine particularly moving. I believed absolutely in each of the main characters (perhaps with the exception of Kitty, the object of Levin's affection), whose virtues, vices and internal reflections are described with remarkable depth and empathy. My only criticism is that the last section is something of an anticlimax to an otherwise captivating read.

I can't comment on the comparative merits of this version, as it is the only one I have read, but I found it very fluid and bright, and I will certainly choose Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation of "War and Peace" when I get round to reading it.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." That line opens and sets the tone of "Anna Karenina," a tangled and tragic tale of nineteenth century Russia. Tolstoy's story of lovers and family is interlaced with razor-sharp social commentary and odd moments that are almost transcendent. In other words, this is a masterpiece.

When Stepan Oblonsky has an affair with the governess, his wife says that she's leaving him, and now the family is about to disintegrate. Stepan's sister Anna arrives to smooth over their marital problems, and consoles his wife Dolly until she agrees to stay. But on the train there, she met the outspoken Countess Vronsky, and the countess's dashing son, who is semi-engaged to Dolly's sister Kitty.

Anna and Vronsky start to fall in love -- despite the fact that Anna has been married for ten years, to a wealthy husband she doesn't care about, and has a young son. Even so, Anna rejects her loveless marriage and becomes the center of scandal and public hypocrisy, and even becomes pregnany by Vronsky. As she prepares to jump ship and get a divorce, Anna becomes a victim of her own passions...

That isn't the entire story, actually -- Tolstoy weaves in other plots, about disintegrating families, new marriages, and the melancholy Levin's constant search for God, truth, and goodness. Despite the grim storyline about adultery, and the social commentary, there's an almost transcendent quality to some of Tolstoy's writing. It's the most optimistic tragic book I've ever read.

For some reason, Tolstoy called this his "first novel," even though he had already written some before that. Perhaps it's because "Anna Karenina" tackles so many questions and themes, and does so without ever dropping the ball. No wonder it's so long and imposing -- Tolstoy covered a lot of ground in here.

And while "Anna Karenina" was not the first book he wrote, it is probably the deepest and most moving. Tolstoy steeps the book in social commentary, and his personal philosophies. It's also one of those books that takes a very long time to move itself forward -- Tolstoy's writing is slow and ponderous, with a lot of serious discussion about religion and relationships. But his intense, slightly rough writing is worth it.

In some tragic books, you get the feeling that the author really despises his characters, and doesn't really care what happens to them. Tolstoy never gives you that feeling -- no matter how annoying his characters are, they always have something interesting or endearing. No caricatures at all -- even Anna's irritating, arrogant brother is given some quirks to make him seem real.

Oddly enough, the most moving character here is not Anna, but Konstantin Levin -- the tortured, passionate landowner is so earnest that it's difficult not to care about him. Apparently he was Tolstoy's alter ego, which explains his depth. But Anna and Vronsky are strong leads, a passionate pair who are both selfish and seductive, but never boring.

A beautiful look at living right vs. living wrong, "Anna Karenina" is a truly magnificent book. This book is undoubtedly Tolstoy's opus, and a stunning look at human nature.

This famous novel is very interesting regarding the triangle relationship of the three characters in the main plot - Anna, her husband and her lover. But, the descriptions of activities and thought of Levin, a land-owing aristocratic farmer, in the sub-plot is detailed and long since it is Tolstoy himself in real life.

The translation was done by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, a prize-winning multi-lingual husband and wife team. The texts are excellent. Also, another major advantage of this version is that, on top of a good introduction by one of the translators, there are extensive notes on Russia's historical and political background, proverbs (Russian, French and Classical Roman), Orthodox religious rituals, people's customs, literary allusions, etc. I feel that, without these detailed notes, this novel may well partially remain a "closed book" to the reader who (like me) has no Russian cultural background.

The earlier Penguin Books version - called `Anna Karenin' - was issued in the 1950s. It contains the translator's introduction running to only three pages, and has no notes at all. The current, newer version (published in 2000) is highly recommendable.