Rating: 4/5 stars

One of the quintessential classics of Russian Literature, Anna Karenina is a sweeping and tragic story of love, infidelity, religion, philosophy, and family set in 1870s Russia.

Overall, I really enjoyed the novel, but it definitely struggles from pacing issues in certain parts—while I generally dislike abridged works, there are entire sections here that could be trimmed or cut without impacting the overall story or enjoyability of the book. Fortunately, I read this one as a February buddy read with one of my best friends, who also has a true gift for scheduling reads—without that structure I’m not sure I would have made it through, and it certainly would have taken me much longer!

That said, the good parts of this book are GREAT, and there are plenty of them! Like any good classic, there is plenty of fodder for deep literary analysis (and it’s very worthy of that) but it is also quite readable and enjoyable just as a casual read, particularly in this translation (pro tip, if you read any Russian work that Pevear/Volokhonsky have translated, PLEASE read their translation—it is invariably unmatched). I’m very glad I took the time to read this one!

Recommended for anyone, but especially those who like: Russian literature; classic novels; long books.

CW: Suicide/suicidal thoughts

 I’m not sure I could’ve appreciated that ending the way I did a year or two ago. Anna Karenina is one of the most complex, provocative, reflective, moving and vibrant books that I have ever read. The characterization was spectacular- Dolly, Stiva, Levin, literally felt like they were buzzing off the page. It was a beautiful, insightful book, one that I am so glad I can now say I have read. I can’t believe the accuracy of my instinct that this would be one of my favorites, because it is, without a doubt, in my top three and already, it has shaped my vision of the book beginning in me, no matter how small the idea is right now.
 

One thing kept going through my head as I read those last remaining pages- how true this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/9hws4r/i_read_anna_karenina_in_5_days_and_now_i_think_my/) rang. This book is the peak for me- the writing, the story, the insights, the characterization, the personal significance of the story, the timelessness of its moral lessons even now- all of it enthralled me. It swept me up and took me with it and just like that Redditor, I will dearly miss the characters. 

The only two gripes I have with it is that I wish there had been more study of Vronsky and Kitty’s characters and how dissatisfied I was with the ending. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the ending with Levin. It was one of my favorite parts of the book but I didn’t like that it was literally the last page or how none of the characters’ reactions to

Anna’s death were explored. I wanted more closure, more insight into how Dolly, Levin, Kitty, Stiva, Alexei, etc. would’ve reacted. I wanted to know how the high society which so poorly treated her received the rocking news. I wanted to read about Vronsky being told, running to the station and dropping to his knees with heaving sobs. I wanted to hear that Alexei, wracked with guilt, ran to his son and grabbed him close, sobbing into Seyrhoza’s unsure chest. I wanted to read the various measures with which everyone who loved and didn’t love her responded to this horrifying news. But I didn’t get that. Instead, I got hardly a glimpse of Vronksy’s despair. It was dissatisfying and even more so, because her death didn’t feel justified enough. I needed a more concrete reason other than her sudden descent into paranoia-induced madness. The expectations I carried into this book and even up until the halfway mark was that this was simply a story of her trying to leave Alexandrovich and him refusing, forcing her only resort to become her death at the train station. To read how they dragged on for months, in resentment and restlessness, instead of the grand romance I had expected was extremely disappointing and anti-climactic. Especially that her suicide was over some fickle feeling she’d contrived in her head. Maybe if the expectations of society and the weight of what she would do after he left her were more prominent, it would have felt more justified.

Regardless, I cannot say enough good things about this book and think that everyone should, given the chance, immerse themselves in it.