Anna Karenina = Disappointing?

I read Anna Karenina this summer not more than a month after finishing War and Peace, expecting something on par or even better than the latter. But this wasn't the case.

Keep in mind that I read Kate Chopin's dreadful, proto-sexnovel The Awakening right before Anna, so the theme of adultery had already begun to look like a literary cliche to me.

Anna Karenina presents two contrasting stories: One tells the story of Anna K. who cheats on her husband and eventually loses her mind, while the other tells of Konstantin Levin who represents the Tolstoyan ideals of family life and religion.

But this seems a bit familiar. Levin is almost a complete rehash of War and Peace's Bezukhov, minus Bezokhov's liberal leanings. Vronsky, Anna's lover, is merely a more sentimental and more honest version of Prince Anatol Kuragin. Kitty, Levin's wife, is basically the same character as Natasha.

Then there is the ambiguous treatment of Anna's character. Tolstoy neither condones nor condemns her behavior and never offers any explanations. I was left at the end of the book asking myself,"What's the point?"

Of course, this novel is also famous for discussing political issues of the time. This may be interesting to some, but in my opinion, they only date the novel.

Thankfully I read Middlemarch after to wash the bad taste out of my mouth.

I read Anna Karenina also this summer. I haven't read War and Peace yet, although i mean to eventually.

Anna Karenina started off ok, but when it got to the end, i also wondered what the point of the story is. Some of the feelings of the people seem unrealistic.

Overall, many people think its a good book, but basically i didn't really enjoy it.

:-?

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Originally Posted by starstruck786

I read Anna Karenina also this summer. I haven't read War and Peace yet, although i mean to eventually.

Anna Karenina started off ok, but when it got to the end, i also wondered what the point of the story is. Some of the feelings of the people seem unrealistic.

Overall, many people think its a good book, but basically i didn't really enjoy it.

:-?

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Yes! I'm not alone!

Yeah, the characters' feelings were often unrealistic and exaggerated. If you like nuanced characters and dialogue read Middlemarch, which is the best piece of literature I've read in at least a year.

lol. thanks for the suggestion. could you give me the name of the author?

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Originally Posted by starstruck786

lol. thanks for the suggestion. could you give me the name of the author?

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George Eliot.

Anna Karenina is one of the greatest pieces of literature in my opinion. I have also read War and Peace and I think that you will find that if you read two books by the same author in a row you will almost always find the second book to be similar to the first. If you were to read Middlemarch, (which I have also read) directly following The Mill on the Floss or Silar Marner, you would find similar plots and characters, just as you did when you read Anna Keriniina after War and Peace. This is no coincidince. They were after all written byt he same author, thus that author has the same ideas and experiences and is likley to incorporate these into all of their books.

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Originally Posted by Wilfred

Anna Karenina is one of the greatest pieces of literature in my opinion. I have also read War and Peace and I think that you will find that if you read two books by the same author in a row you will almost always find the second book to be similar to the first. If you were to read Middlemarch, (which I have also read) directly following The Mill on the Floss or Silar Marner, you would find similar plots and characters, just as you did when you read Anna Keriniina after War and Peace. This is no coincidince. They were after all written byt he same author, thus that author has the same ideas and experiences and is likley to incorporate these into all of their books.

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Good point. But then again, I also disliked it because it was repetitive and boring.

eh . . . eh . . . (gotta write something fast): Lee, you're a genius!

I finished it this morning, not having read War and Peace. I liked it, but I felt that there was a lot there which I was missing because I didn't have the necessary knowledge of the background (which I do find interesting), so I'm off to look it up . . .

There has already been a discussion about Anna Karenina on this forum...maybe more than one... Look for it if you want :)

Aaah 1 week to my exam...and after that, 20 days of freedom to accomplish my project: read War & Peace (or at least start... :rolleyes: not sure 20 days are enough, it also depends on how much i like it and if I'll be busy...)

I think that most Russian literature loses A LOT in translation. I've read War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov and Fathers and Children in Russian and in translation and there is definitely something missing. Russian novels in translation read like Dickens... boring.

I do agree with the other suggestion, however, read Middlemarch, it's along the same vain for English audiences.

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Originally Posted by Kaminaree

I think that most Russian literature loses A LOT in translation. I've read War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov and Fathers and Children in Russian and in translation and there is definitely something missing. Russian novels in translation read like Dickens... boring.

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Hey I don't find Dickens boring... Tho maybe I prefer it in original language...(been ages since I read some Dickens in translation anyway).

I wish I was able to read Russians in original...maybe in a few years...or centuries... I think the translations I've read weren't too bad, but we compared some pages during lessons, and it' so hard to translate all the nuances of Russian...(which can probably be said of every language anyway...)

I'm only 100 pages into War And Peace and I'm going so slow... Nothing has happened yet... Well there's plenty of pages for the book to get more appealing I guess...and I hope...

I wish someone would kill this topic already, put it out of its misery. Koa?

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Originally Posted by AbdoRinbo

I wish someone would kill this topic already, put it out of its misery. Koa?

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Err...what? How? Who? :oops: Me??? *turns head an sees noone else around*

What am I meant to do? *lost*

And I still can't read more than 2 pages of War And Peace every 3 days. I'm sure it will get interesting...but when? :-?