Tolstoy's tumultuous tale of passion and self-discovery marks a turning point in the author's career. His compelling, emotional saga recounts the effects of nonconformist behavior -- a society woman's adulterous affair and a landowner's unconventional quest for a meaningful existence -- against a backdrop of late 19th-century Russia.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Sense of Self:
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" - Leo Tolstoy from Anna Karenina Anna Karenina is a beautifully written novel about three families: the Oblonskys, the Levins, and the Karenins. The first line (one of the most famous in literature) hints at Tolstoy's own views about happy and unhappy marriages having these same three families also represent three very different societal and physical locations in Russia in addition to distinctly different views on love,... more info
Anna, sweet Anna:
"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... more info
