ANNA KARENINA- book review and discussion!(CC)
Hi, its Catriona, and today Im here
to review Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I am so pleased to have those words come out
of my mouth finally - Ive been talking about reading this book for ages, I dont
even know how many TBRs its been on. And this year - the year of the big book in
Catriona Reads world, I just picked it up - I thought to myself Just pick it up,
because theres no point in just being intimidated by it forever and just never picking it up! This is your opportunity, when youre already
ahead of your reading goal. So I did, I picked it up, and it was great.
So this novel was first serialised between
1873 and 1877 and, it was first published as a full novel in 1878. My edition was translated by Louise and Aylmer
Maude and it is 963 pages. I really enjoyed this edition, which is the
Vintage Classics edition, because at the start it has like a dramatis personae kind of bit,
so we have all the list of characters at the start. It lists their nicknames, basically who they
all are and helps you keep track of them because there are a lot of characters - you sort of
forget who they are and they come back up again later on.
Also the Russian naming system really confuses
me, because everyone has three names, they have their given name, a patronymic which
is based off their fathers name. So for example, we have a character called
Princess Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya, but shes known as Dolly for most of the
book. And whenever people would say Oh, Darya
Alexandrovna I was like - who? But they were literally talking about one of the
main characters, but I had to flick to the front personally to work that one out because
I forgot because its so complex, and I. Really, really appreciated that list.
Quick non-spoilery thoughts: this follows
two main story lines, two or three. Anna Karenina and her affair/doomed love story
with Count Vronsky. Kostya Levin (whos probably our main character,
we spend most of our time with him, this book should really be called Kostya Levin, we spend
almost the whole book with him, in his mind) and his love for Kitty Shcherbatskaya who
is held up as sort of a model woman . Theres also the marriage of Oblonsky and
Dolly which is kind of an unhappy marriage thats just sort of ticking along.
This book has a very famous first line and
it completely sets up what this book is about. And it is: All happy families resemble
one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way this is about unhappy families. This book, at first I was like I dont
know if I even like this book! But I kept reading it and I kept wanting to read it,
and enjoying it and staying up until two in the morning to read more about it. And I think I couldnt quite make up my
mind because its so different from anything Ive ever read before.
I was talking to one of my friends Sarah about
it, I was saying I dont know - it was so strange and she said Is it because
of all the farming? - And I was like Yes!. And she said because I was reading it,
and I would think to myself Ive just read a hundred pages about Russian farming
and Im not even mad about it! That is exactly, she put it just completely
in a nut shell, I dont understand, theres a whole 50 page section where Levin is mowing
grass but youre like oh, and then what happened!? Did you manage to get your like swath of grass
to match up with the peasants grass!? Like I really cared about him mowing this
grass. This is a very complex novel in a lot of ways,
theres a lot of characters, there all intertwining and meeting one another and affective one
anothers lives. It goes over the space of a couple of years,
I feel I need to re-read it already.
So rich, I really, really enjoyed it. Tolstoys writing style is really, really
engaging, theres a few passages which I. Read just, you know, absolutely on the edge
of my seat - and then theres other ones which are just slow and luxurious and youre
just on the farm and things are happening and youre just loving it. So going into more spoilers and more the discussion
portion of this video.
I think you can tell that this novel was written
in a serialised format, Levin who I guess, everyone says is there to represent Tolstoy,
he is having a lot of the thought processed that Tolstoy himself is having, he sort of
projects them onto this character Levin. He thinks about a variety of different topics
in a variety of different settings, and I. Think that it's as things were occurring to Leo Tolstoy himself, as he was changing the things he was really interested in month to month that was then portrayed through Levin and I really appreciate that this novel was written over such a great amount of time because it spans such a great amount of time and I think that reflects well in the complexity of the issues that are addressed, in the way that
Levins thoughts and attitudes themselves develop This novel really is about three relationships. We have the perfect relationship, we
have Levin and Kitty who, yes she was led astray for a short while but they came together,
its pure love, she is the good girl, she is innocent, you know she was a virgin at
marriage and shes sort of lauded as this perfect woman.
We have Anna the fallen woman who we do have
a lot of sympathy for, and Tolstoy himself does have a lot of sympathy for, give her
her own voice, but its sort of doomed from the start. Because of the mistakes that are made this
is sort of a declining romance into this really unhappy situation. And then we also have Dolly and Oblonsky,
theyre sort of just stuttering along in a relationship where he keeps cheating on
her, she keeps being pissed off but then nothing really occurring from that. And its interesting to see how all three
of these intertwine.
A lot of it is very soap opera, theres
a lot of moments in ballrooms and at the opera. Sorry that the lighting is getting a bit weird,
the sun is moving. But then theres so much to the set thats
very Russian feeling, were in the countryside, were talking about the peasants, who are
newly liberated serfs at this time in Russias history. Levin thinks a lot about religion, about the
place of the Russian Orthodox Church in the world, within Christianity.
He talks about the relationship of the farmers
with the land and with Russia. And how the majority of Russia is this open
farmland with these poor people working it, its not Moscow, its not St. Petersburg,
but we spend a lot of time there as well, contrasting them and really thinking about
things. I mean, I love Jane Austen, I loove Jane Austen,
but her novels are very, you know theyre like a soap opera or something, I really love
them but they dont talk that much about the world around whats happening just to
these characters whereas this has those elements with the characters, their love-lives, their
family relationships with also this wider world view, what things are happening.
We talk about local government, we talk about
wars happening to the south in other countries, we talk about how things are developing and
differing opinions, theres debates and theres elections. And I loved that so much. There were a few passages in this which I
just read with a smile on my face. When Kitty and Levin are talking to one another
with the chalk and hes asking her to marry him - its so sweet and I loved that.
But then theres also passages in which
youre so engrossed, and I was on you know the edge of my seat, the horse race scene
where Vronsky is in the races and Annas in the crowd and youre just absolutely
heart in mouth. Tolstoy just slips between peoples perspectives,
between peoples minds so seamlessly, theres a section thats written in the perspective
of a dog when theyre hunting and I just loved that as well. And I mean, Annas death scene was just
absolutely heart breaking, especially her moment of regret at the end even though its
too late and it goes on for such a long time after as well, you see whats happening
to the other people around her. Ugh, I loved this book, I really did.
The longer its been since I read it and the
more I think about it, the more I enjoy it. Im glad Ive left this a couple of weeks
since finishing it to review it because Ive had time to think about it and I think I needed
that time to think about it. Ive since watched the Kiera Knightley movie
and I thought it was good, I think that you would probably have to have read the book
and know more of the plot to really enjoy it. It was very interesting, I think he was trying
to be a bit too Wes Anderson, or like more Wes Anderson that hes actually capable
of doing but I did enjoy it as a movie, I.
Think Ill watch it again. All in all, I just really recommend this book. Pick it up, its so readable. Its so much more readable than I thought
it would be, I would easily be able to sit there for hours and hours and read it and
I really enjoyed it.
And I cant wait to one day read War
and Peace because it just seems so much more achievable now that Ive enjoyed this
one so much. This year Im definitely excited to read
more Russian literature, Ive picked up a non-fiction book about Russia recently. Vintage Classics have just re-released six
Russian novels in these beautiful editions. I have War and Peace in this edition
which is just absolutely stunning, I cant get over it.
And I think Im going to have to but Anna
Karenina in the same edition, even though itd be my third copy, but I really liked
it so I think Im going to have to. I like having multiple copies of the same
book, Im a hoarder, Im a collector - not a hoarder. Dont judge me. So thanks for watching my review of Anna
Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
My previous video was an Own Voices and non-fiction
haul, my next video is going to be 25 bookish facts about me if youd like to subscribe
and see that. You can also follow me on Instagram and Goodreads
and Twitter. Thanks for watching, bye!.
to review Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I am so pleased to have those words come out
of my mouth finally - Ive been talking about reading this book for ages, I dont
even know how many TBRs its been on. And this year - the year of the big book in
Catriona Reads world, I just picked it up - I thought to myself Just pick it up,
because theres no point in just being intimidated by it forever and just never picking it up! This is your opportunity, when youre already
ahead of your reading goal. So I did, I picked it up, and it was great.
So this novel was first serialised between
1873 and 1877 and, it was first published as a full novel in 1878. My edition was translated by Louise and Aylmer
Maude and it is 963 pages. I really enjoyed this edition, which is the
Vintage Classics edition, because at the start it has like a dramatis personae kind of bit,
so we have all the list of characters at the start. It lists their nicknames, basically who they
all are and helps you keep track of them because there are a lot of characters - you sort of
forget who they are and they come back up again later on.
Also the Russian naming system really confuses
me, because everyone has three names, they have their given name, a patronymic which
is based off their fathers name. So for example, we have a character called
Princess Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya, but shes known as Dolly for most of the
book. And whenever people would say Oh, Darya
Alexandrovna I was like - who? But they were literally talking about one of the
main characters, but I had to flick to the front personally to work that one out because
I forgot because its so complex, and I. Really, really appreciated that list.
Quick non-spoilery thoughts: this follows
two main story lines, two or three. Anna Karenina and her affair/doomed love story
with Count Vronsky. Kostya Levin (whos probably our main character,
we spend most of our time with him, this book should really be called Kostya Levin, we spend
almost the whole book with him, in his mind) and his love for Kitty Shcherbatskaya who
is held up as sort of a model woman . Theres also the marriage of Oblonsky and
Dolly which is kind of an unhappy marriage thats just sort of ticking along.
This book has a very famous first line and
it completely sets up what this book is about. And it is: All happy families resemble
one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way this is about unhappy families. This book, at first I was like I dont
know if I even like this book! But I kept reading it and I kept wanting to read it,
and enjoying it and staying up until two in the morning to read more about it. And I think I couldnt quite make up my
mind because its so different from anything Ive ever read before.
I was talking to one of my friends Sarah about
it, I was saying I dont know - it was so strange and she said Is it because
of all the farming? - And I was like Yes!. And she said because I was reading it,
and I would think to myself Ive just read a hundred pages about Russian farming
and Im not even mad about it! That is exactly, she put it just completely
in a nut shell, I dont understand, theres a whole 50 page section where Levin is mowing
grass but youre like oh, and then what happened!? Did you manage to get your like swath of grass
to match up with the peasants grass!? Like I really cared about him mowing this
grass. This is a very complex novel in a lot of ways,
theres a lot of characters, there all intertwining and meeting one another and affective one
anothers lives. It goes over the space of a couple of years,
I feel I need to re-read it already.
So rich, I really, really enjoyed it. Tolstoys writing style is really, really
engaging, theres a few passages which I. Read just, you know, absolutely on the edge
of my seat - and then theres other ones which are just slow and luxurious and youre
just on the farm and things are happening and youre just loving it. So going into more spoilers and more the discussion
portion of this video.
I think you can tell that this novel was written
in a serialised format, Levin who I guess, everyone says is there to represent Tolstoy,
he is having a lot of the thought processed that Tolstoy himself is having, he sort of
projects them onto this character Levin. He thinks about a variety of different topics
in a variety of different settings, and I. Think that it's as things were occurring to Leo Tolstoy himself, as he was changing the things he was really interested in month to month that was then portrayed through Levin and I really appreciate that this novel was written over such a great amount of time because it spans such a great amount of time and I think that reflects well in the complexity of the issues that are addressed, in the way that
Levins thoughts and attitudes themselves develop This novel really is about three relationships. We have the perfect relationship, we
have Levin and Kitty who, yes she was led astray for a short while but they came together,
its pure love, she is the good girl, she is innocent, you know she was a virgin at
marriage and shes sort of lauded as this perfect woman.
We have Anna the fallen woman who we do have
a lot of sympathy for, and Tolstoy himself does have a lot of sympathy for, give her
her own voice, but its sort of doomed from the start. Because of the mistakes that are made this
is sort of a declining romance into this really unhappy situation. And then we also have Dolly and Oblonsky,
theyre sort of just stuttering along in a relationship where he keeps cheating on
her, she keeps being pissed off but then nothing really occurring from that. And its interesting to see how all three
of these intertwine.
A lot of it is very soap opera, theres
a lot of moments in ballrooms and at the opera. Sorry that the lighting is getting a bit weird,
the sun is moving. But then theres so much to the set thats
very Russian feeling, were in the countryside, were talking about the peasants, who are
newly liberated serfs at this time in Russias history. Levin thinks a lot about religion, about the
place of the Russian Orthodox Church in the world, within Christianity.
He talks about the relationship of the farmers
with the land and with Russia. And how the majority of Russia is this open
farmland with these poor people working it, its not Moscow, its not St. Petersburg,
but we spend a lot of time there as well, contrasting them and really thinking about
things. I mean, I love Jane Austen, I loove Jane Austen,
but her novels are very, you know theyre like a soap opera or something, I really love
them but they dont talk that much about the world around whats happening just to
these characters whereas this has those elements with the characters, their love-lives, their
family relationships with also this wider world view, what things are happening.
We talk about local government, we talk about
wars happening to the south in other countries, we talk about how things are developing and
differing opinions, theres debates and theres elections. And I loved that so much. There were a few passages in this which I
just read with a smile on my face. When Kitty and Levin are talking to one another
with the chalk and hes asking her to marry him - its so sweet and I loved that.
But then theres also passages in which
youre so engrossed, and I was on you know the edge of my seat, the horse race scene
where Vronsky is in the races and Annas in the crowd and youre just absolutely
heart in mouth. Tolstoy just slips between peoples perspectives,
between peoples minds so seamlessly, theres a section thats written in the perspective
of a dog when theyre hunting and I just loved that as well. And I mean, Annas death scene was just
absolutely heart breaking, especially her moment of regret at the end even though its
too late and it goes on for such a long time after as well, you see whats happening
to the other people around her. Ugh, I loved this book, I really did.
The longer its been since I read it and the
more I think about it, the more I enjoy it. Im glad Ive left this a couple of weeks
since finishing it to review it because Ive had time to think about it and I think I needed
that time to think about it. Ive since watched the Kiera Knightley movie
and I thought it was good, I think that you would probably have to have read the book
and know more of the plot to really enjoy it. It was very interesting, I think he was trying
to be a bit too Wes Anderson, or like more Wes Anderson that hes actually capable
of doing but I did enjoy it as a movie, I.
Think Ill watch it again. All in all, I just really recommend this book. Pick it up, its so readable. Its so much more readable than I thought
it would be, I would easily be able to sit there for hours and hours and read it and
I really enjoyed it.
And I cant wait to one day read War
and Peace because it just seems so much more achievable now that Ive enjoyed this
one so much. This year Im definitely excited to read
more Russian literature, Ive picked up a non-fiction book about Russia recently. Vintage Classics have just re-released six
Russian novels in these beautiful editions. I have War and Peace in this edition
which is just absolutely stunning, I cant get over it.
And I think Im going to have to but Anna
Karenina in the same edition, even though itd be my third copy, but I really liked
it so I think Im going to have to. I like having multiple copies of the same
book, Im a hoarder, Im a collector - not a hoarder. Dont judge me. So thanks for watching my review of Anna
Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
My previous video was an Own Voices and non-fiction
haul, my next video is going to be 25 bookish facts about me if youd like to subscribe
and see that. You can also follow me on Instagram and Goodreads
and Twitter. Thanks for watching, bye!.
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