Reader discussion: Anna Karenina

Public reader discussion about Anna Karenina in the WeRead Catalog by graf Leo Tolstoy.

About Anna Karenina's translations

By ThunderCanyon1978

I’ve gone through the first page of *Anna Karenina* in five different translations now (Bartlett, Garnett, Garnett revised, Maude, and P&V), and the original Garnett one is the only version that actually feels like it was written in English, not translated. I really want to keep reading it, but I’ve also heard she cuts out/tones down a lot and that some parts don’t match what’s on the page. Is there any truth to that? I started with Bartlett since everyone recommends it, but I just don’t like the way it’s written.

I just finished Anna Karenina and although it was fantastic I’m a little disappointed.

By crownnovel

Okay, if I’m being straight up, Anna was the kind of character that kept pulling me in—quietly interesting, lots of layers, and honestly pretty rewarding to read. Levin, though, was basically the opposite for me. With Anna, it felt like she was handed her life with very little say in it at the beginning. Like, she didn’t really get a real choice about where things were headed. And the second she tries to go after what she actually wants—being with the man she loves and trying to get away from her husband—everything just spirals downhill for her. That’s what makes her so intense and “good” as a character for me: all the feelings and thoughts and that slow burn of how she’s trying to figure herself out. She feels real. Levin? I know that sounds harsh, but I can’t help it. He keeps getting to want things he can’t have, then he kind of sulks, and somehow he lands the woman anyway without it feeling like he had to fight for anything. He deals with his brother’s death, which is sad, but then he finds this religious comfort from watching his wife and suddenly he’s better. He’s scared about having a kid, but he’s relieved almost immediately because of his wife and the people around him. And then the part that honestly hit me the most—his whole existential dread, like suicidal thoughts—where it feels like he can’t handle life anymore… and right when it starts to get unbearable, some random person basically says one thing and he’s suddenly saved and even “happy,” at least enough to not go through with it. To me it felt like he loses something and then gets it back, or gets it fixed right away. Anna and Levin just seem like they live in completely different worlds. Anna has to struggle and be stuck reacting to things that happen to her, and when she finally chooses something she thinks she wants, it ends up wrecking her. Levin doesn’t really get pushed into horrible situations—he’s wealthy, his life doesn’t depend on who he marries in the same way, and he gets to pick, basically. And somehow the person he chooses lines up with the person he truly loves. So yeah, I don’t know—maybe Tolstoy doesn’t spell out a message, but it does feel like Levin is the “righteous” track and Anna is more like a warning. And I keep thinking, if Levin had to go through even a fraction of what Anna goes through, I don’t think he’d have handled it. I feel like he’d end up like her. Anyway, I’m curious what other people think about Levin. Did you feel the same way, or were you more sympathetic? Because I felt bad for Anna, even knowing she messed up. With Levin I just kept feeling like, idk, he was a whiny kid who never really experienced true loss the way Anna did. That’s my rant.

Anna Karenina - first introduction to classics

By Mirror_Late

I used to read a ton growing up, but once I got into university I kinda dropped off and my reading got a little rusty. I wanted to push myself again and also pick something a lot of people actually seem to love, so I started Anna Karenina (also yeah, Kindles are goated). I began it like two months ago and only made it about a third of the way before it started feeling kind of rough to get through. After that I put it down and read other stuff, then came back to it only about two weeks ago. This time it clicked way more. I could fly through it, and it felt way more natural. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking about how much I relate to Levin. Every time Tolstoy gets into those internal religious/philosophical conflicts, it somehow just makes him feel more real and honestly more relatable. For me this book was *super* philosophical—I don’t think I’ve ever had a book make me stop and think that hard about a bunch of different stuff. Also I’m still kinda shocked at how many themes are going on without it feeling forced at all. I also felt like I understood basically every character. It didn’t feel like there were clear “good guys” or “bad guys,” just people, and that made it feel really “real” (hope that makes sense). I do kind of regret starting with Anna Karenina though, because I genuinely don’t think anything else will compare, which is annoying. Anyway, just wanted to say I’m really grateful for this book—especially Levin. He’s been on my mind a lot (not in a weird way), and it feels like this story just scratched all the itches for me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anna Karenina ends up being my whole personality for a while lol :/ Quick question though—who’s everyone’s favorite character? Did any of you have the same Levin situation with a different character instead? PS: The way childbirth is described from Levin’s perspective was actually horrifying. Probably the scariest thing I’ve read (besides that one scene in The Stand).

Is it worth it to read Anna Karenina if it has been spoiled for me?

By KettleKeeps

I really wanted to get into this book, but then I accidentally saw a spoiler and my interest basically disappeared right away. Later I stumbled on a post about the greatest book ever, and so many people were saying Anna Karenina. From what I’ve heard, the only thing spoiled for me is that she ends up throwing herself in front of a train. Is it still worth reading if you already know that one key thing, especially since it’s such a big book?

For those of you who actually finished Anna Karinina, how did you do it?

By paleThread74

I’m usually the type that can’t stop until I finish a book, but I’m only like a third of the way in and it’s been two months since I last picked it up. I also feel like nobody tells you it’s basically about farming in 19th-century Russia. And honestly, the whole time it feels like everyone just drags out the same thoughts—Levin and Anna especially—just waffle and whine. Sorry if people really love it and love Tolstoy, I’m sure there’s some kind of real beauty in the realism, but I just don’t get it and I can’t appreciate it. For anyone who managed to push through anyway, how did you make yourself keep going with this (or any) book you weren’t feeling?

Is it worth reading Anna Karenina?

By tidebeacon1973

I’ve been wanting to pick this up for ages, but I’m not sure it’s actually worth the time. Before I start, I’ve got a few questions to see if I’ll enjoy it: 1) Does Anna Karenina get super detailed about random, kind of pointless stuff? I just finished Les Misérables and I loved it overall, but I really struggled with the long parts where Hugo goes off on unrelated topics (like sewer stuff and nuns). I’ve heard War and Peace does that a lot—does Anna Karenina too? 2) Is it engaging? I mostly just want to know how much it drags. Like, how often does it get slow, and is it hard to push through at any point? 3) Is the writing language pretty difficult to read, or is it manageable?

I've just started reading Anna Karenina, and it's not as daunting or difficult to get through as I'd thought it would be...

By DavidInTucson1993

I picked this up a few years ago because I really wanted it to be the first full Russian novel I could actually get through. I’ve only read one other Russian thing so far—“The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” which is pretty short—so this one always felt super intimidating to start. I kept thinking it might be kind of dry and hard to get through, especially with the length, but now that I finally started, I’m really glad I did. Has anyone else had that same “ugh, I don’t know if I can do this” feeling about a book, and then ended up enjoying starting it? Or is there something you’re still putting off like that right now?

What translation of Anna Karenina would you recommend?

By folioorbit1979

I’m pretty much down to either Pevear/Volokhonsky or Aylmer/Louise Maude. I didn’t even look at Garnett after all the negative stuff people seem to say about her translations. Which one would you recommend, and what’s your reasoning?

Can’t stop thinking about Anna Karenina

By KeepsPorch7954

I had to read *Anna Karenina* for a class last fall, and I swear I can’t stop thinking about it. I already knew I liked a bunch of other stuff—Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Didion, Joyce, Camus, Dazai—but Tolstoy is on a whole other level. It’s kind of unreal how intense and “how is this even real?” it feels. All the characters seem so believable, even the smaller ones. Like, I actually enjoyed Princess Myakaha, and it didn’t feel flat or tacked on—she still had real depth. I keep coming back to Levin and Kitty’s life out in the country, Dolly’s visit to Anna, and especially Anna’s thoughts in Book 7. Anna’s inner monologue really wrecked me. I’ve read other writers who do suicide—Dazai, Didion, Dostoevsky, Chekhov—but nothing hit me as hard as the way Anna thinks leading up to it and while it’s happening. I feel like this book is probably going to stick with me for a long time just because of how beautiful it is.

One moment that absolutely floored me in Anna Karenina

By MellowHeron

I swear I could keep talking about this book forever, but that little country house bit with Dolly and her kids was just insanely good. The whole thing felt so real—she’s all proud about making them look nice and getting them together, but at the same time she can’t stop worrying if she’s actually doing right by them. Like she gets this little spark of happiness when two of them share pudding and seem so sweet, and then later those same kids are having this nasty fight, and suddenly she’s right back to doubting everything. It ends up being kind of mixed, but in the best way, because it really captures parenthood. And honestly I don’t think I’ve ever read something that nails the parent/child relationship like that—full of the good parts and the awful parts, the joy and the pain, all messy and still somehow beautiful. I don’t even have kids, but Tolstoy made me understand what that kind of mother feeling might be like. Also the whole book is basically just these sharp little moments piling up (spotting your crush in public, parties, that self-destructive denial when you realize someone isn’t who you thought, dealing with annoying people you know, trips and holidays, etc.). It’s about stuff that’s always been human, so it still hits just as hard now as it did back in the 1800s. Quick side question though—does anyone here have opinions on the translations? I’m reading the Maude one, but I’ve heard the P&V version might be better. I kinda like Maude’s old-timey vibe because it feels classic, but I’m not sure if switching would actually make a big difference in how much you enjoy it.

what should I be reading?

By night-roast85

I grabbed a few books this week—Anna Karenina, Dracula, and The White Album. Not sure which one I should start with if I’m in the mood for that whole “wanting someone (or something) you can’t have” thing, or feeling way too ambitious/perfectionist. If you’ve got a better suggestion than those, I’m all ears. Also, quick question: has anyone here read Osamu Dazai? I read Schoolgirl and No Longer Human this year and I really liked the style, like it’s super easy for me to connect with it. Is that kind of vibe pretty common in Japanese lit, or is it more of a Dazai thing? If you can recommend other authors/books with a similar feel, I’d really appreciate it.

I enjoyed Anna Karenina despite it being a romance

By turtleDistant

I started re-reading *War and Peace* again a while back, and after some folks mentioned *Anna Karenina*, I finally picked it up too. I had been avoiding it before because I just don’t really like fiction that’s mainly built around romantic love. To be clear, I’m not against relationships or romance in general. Like, *Marthe, the Story of a Whore* is one of my favorite books and the whole thing is basically relationship drama and how society messes with people. And *War and Peace* has tons of love stuff too. What I can’t stand is the whole “oh no I saw you and now I can’t breathe, my skin is on fire, my heart is doing cartwheels” kind of romantic feelings. It feels like the same ancient Greek nonsense, just reworded forever. If the central question is “will these two get together or not,” I’m honestly not interested, and *Anna Karenina* has a lot of that. Right away I could tell there would be parts I’d dislike. If I didn’t already love *War and Peace* this much, I’d have probably bailed when Levin sees Kitty skiing. That scene was just… too much. What kept me reading was hoping there’d be some twist or pushback. One thing I noticed from *War and Peace* is Tolstoy basically treating going after idealized love/patriotism as a fast track to misery. So I went in thinking, “okay, cheating is the main plot,” and Levin gets shut down at the start—sure, this is how it’ll go. But for a good chunk of the book Tolstoy just plays Levin and Kitty’s romance straight, and that’s where I started groaning. And honestly, the rich-people-larping-as-poor stuff really got to me. Like Levin doing the peasant-work fantasy for a day and then having the idea that he should just become a peasant and marry someone peasants-y to be happy. All I could think was: dude, sell the property and actually go suffer properly. And then right as he’s caught in that spiral—bam, Kitty appears and it’s all mystical fireflies and destiny and he can’t be happy without her. I was not buying it. The marriage ceremony also tested my patience hard. The only part I kinda enjoyed was the audience heckling. Everything about the shirt being missing was just boring to me. The Anna/Vronsky storyline worked better for me because of the social pressure and the fallout—how people react, how her husband has to deal with it, how Tolstoy makes that hardship feel real. But when it turns into them talking about their feelings and Anna’s jealousy, I mostly hated those sections. It only got a little fun when the jealousy went way over the top and I started laughing at it, especially near the end when she takes her own life. By then it was starting to feel like overdramatic teenage suffering-porn internal monologue, and I don’t say that lightly. Also the tonal whiplash of a political discussion right after the suicide and Vronsky’s breakdown was… something else. And then the ending threw me off too. Levin finally hits a kind of peace, but instead of actually ending on that, Tolstoy jumps to “life keeps going, by the way, here’s some news.” It made me feel dizzy, like the book just refused to land. Still, I didn’t hate it completely, otherwise I wouldn’t have finished a 1000+ page novel. I genuinely liked the political discussions. There aren’t as many as in *War and Peace*, but when they show up they’re good, and I liked seeing the worries/opinions of a Russia that’s so far from mine—different country, plus I’m living like a century and a half after Tolstoy wrote it. My favorite part was Levin’s fight with the peasants. I like old-school economy and financial stuff, and that chapter was right up my alley. I also liked the part with the regional parliament and all the political maneuvering. I also liked some of the family dynamics, especially between Levin and his brothers—the “don’t think evil of me” moment actually made me tear up. Before reading, I kept hearing Anna was supposed to be a kind of anti-hero you’re not meant to like. I didn’t really start disliking her until later, when her neurotic tendencies started getting too annoying for me. I did enjoy reading her reasoning and how she explains/defends her choices, even if I didn’t agree with them. Aside from not doing the divorce immediately, a lot of what she does doesn’t feel totally irrational. But yeah—overall this book fought against me constantly. I don’t just dislike romance as a theme; I also don’t really agree with Tolstoy’s whole morality/spirituality angle, and Levin’s arc toward giving up on understanding things in a rational way just so he can “connect with God” made me dislike him more and more. And after he marries and stops pushing his economic goals, my enjoyment of him dropped a lot. There were also a few random things that stood out to me, like the foreshadowing in the horse race (which I guess is subtle enough that maybe most people didn’t notice), and some awkward/possibly-hinted stuff with Vronsky and an older friend that made me think “am I reading too much into this?”—but it’s hard not to. Anyway, I ended up thinking about romance stories in general the same way I always have. As a teenager I always hated this kind of narrative (I even remember how much I bounced off it in games like *Dragon Age: Origins* and *Mass Effect*), and if Tolstoy couldn’t make me enjoy it here, I doubt anyone else will. I’ll keep avoiding books where the love story is the main selling point. Final score for me: 7.5/10.

[SPOILERS] I finished Anna Karenina

By Orbit-Mountain

I’m curious what everyone thinks. I was pretty shocked by how it ended, but once I sat with it for a bit, it clicked. I guess that’s the best kind of ending—catches you off guard but still feels like it fits. I don’t really buy the argument that it turns into some kind of “women are just ideas” type story. Even though it’s a 19th century novel, I kept being surprised by how blunt it is about women being people. It calls out the double standards as hypocritical and just plain unfair, no soft-pedaling for how society treats men versus women. I also hated Part 8. If Levin were someone I actually knew, like a friend or my brother, I can see myself liking him, but since he isn’t, I just found him boring more than anything. That said, the character work was seriously great. Like top-tier. Overall it’s an amazing book, though I do wish we got a little more for some of the characters once they started to really hook me. Still, everyone felt believable and the writing for them was solid.

Just started Anna Karenina(its amazing)

By muddyCorner65

Honestly I don’t know what it is, but this book sucked me in right away. I’m about 60 pages in and I really wish I had more time to read it. The characters feel so vivid and real, but it doesn’t get bogged down with a bunch of extra details. The writing style is really pretty too. Also, who’s your favorite character and why? And what kind of meaning have you pulled from it so far? Just figured I’d ask and see if anyone wants to chat about the book in a PM convo.

I just finished Anna Karenina! It was beyond beautiful. I don't know what to do with myself.

By StarSteady98

Okay hi! I have to say—I’m totally obsessed with *Anna Karenina* right now. It’s kind of crazy that I somehow managed to avoid it for all these years, and I’m also weirdly happy I “saved” it for later, because I finally read it recently and wow. It doesn’t feel like Tolstoy is doing a “normal” novel. The whole thing feels enormous, like he somehow covers basically every kind of relationship and human mess—people from different backgrounds, all the jealousies and grudges, the stuff people want, the suffering they drag around, the way thoughts and actions connect. There are lonely wives, men who are lost, kids who get neglected, peasants, nobility, mistresses, all the joys and heartbreak and hope, and somehow it all gets woven together into this big shifting picture. It doesn’t just feel like Russia—it feels like people everywhere, honestly. I cried more than once while reading, sometimes because it was just sad, but a lot of the time it was almost… pure joy? Like the characters felt real enough that I was emotional for them, and also I kept thinking, “These are fictional, but somehow also… not really?” Some of the depictions of human beings feel way too accurate to be random. Also, I’m still sort of torn up about Anna. I was fascinated and also really troubled from early on, and then by the end it’s like she turned into someone completely different—shrill, bitter, selfish, and just grasping for everything at once. During the story after her affair, I honestly couldn’t sympathize with her at all, because a lot of what she does starts to feel more deliberate and cruel than “I’m trapped, I can’t help it,” especially with Alexei Alexandrovich. But once the book ends (and honestly a bit before that, when things start speeding toward disaster and reconciliation basically doesn’t feel possible anymore), I suddenly felt this real sadness for her. Like I couldn’t help worrying about her even though I didn’t like her through most of it. It’s messing with my head. I saw someone mention that maybe that’s the point—like everyone ends up loving Anna no matter how much pain she causes, and you still feel sorry for her at the end. So now I’m just curious what other people think. Also, Levin and Kitty have my whole heart :’)

Reading Anna Karenina - how do Russian naming conventions work?

By Jade-Yard

I’m around 200 pages in and I keep getting tripped up by how the book switches between formal and casual names. Like Anna will sometimes be called Anna Arkadievna—what is that exactly? Her maiden name? A middle name? Her married name? And it’s similar with Levin: when he’s at his brother’s place he’s called Konstantin Dmitrievich, but elsewhere people mostly call him Levin (and sometimes Konstantin), and I don’t really see anyone using Dmitrievich. I’m not super familiar with Russian naming customs from this time period. Does anyone know what the rules are here?

I just finished Anna Karenina

By LibraryCricket

I started Anna Karenina before Christmas. I zoomed through the beginning, then kind of stalled and bounced around reading other stuff in the middle. I’ve also got tickets for a theatre version in June, and I began the book the same day I booked, so I was pretty determined to get it finished. When I finally got stuck, I just made myself a little plan—like 10 pages a day—and somehow that worked. After that I picked it back up and couldn’t stop. I was totally into it, and honestly 10 pages felt way too small. I already knew how Anna’s story ends, just from knowing the book existed for ages, but it still hit me hard. I didn’t expect it to feel that shocking and emotional anyway. I also liked that Vronsky still seemed aware of how badly things had gone between them, even while he was in this deep grief. And Levin—his whole path toward some kind of peace—was interesting too, even if it felt more like he was finding God again rather than actually losing him. It’s like both of them were basically following their own choices, and then one ends up destroyed while the other lands somewhere calmer. And yeah, Levin can still be all about “the meaning of life” and also be grumpy at people. I grabbed War & Peace this weekend because I thought I’d be done with Anna this week… Tolstoy has other ideas though.

[Discussion 12/12] Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - 7.xxvi to end

By Lazy_Velvet39362

So this is it—the final Anna Karenina discussion with Tolstoy, covering from 7.xxvi to the end. I’ve really enjoyed going through this Russian classic with everyone here, so thanks to all of you who jumped into the discussions. A few links are below (Schedule, Marginalia, and a Chapter Summary on litcharts). The discussion questions are in the comments, but please feel free to bring up anything else too.

Anna Karenina Part 1 Discussion Thread

By solarDrift

Just a heads up that I’ve got February 14, the halfway point, set as a possible skip week. Let me know if you’re getting behind at all. If we start losing too many people, I can push everything back by a week so everyone has some time to catch up / breathe. ------------------------------------------------------------ All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Anna Karenina Part 1 Discussion So far we’ve met the Oblonskys in Moscow, with Stiva and Dolly in the middle of things after Stiva’s affair with the nanny. We’ve also met the Kareninas, with Anna coming from Petersburg to try to fix things between Dolly and Stiva before heading back to her older husband and little son. Then there’s the Scherbatsky family, with Dolly’s younger sister Kitty, who’s in love with the kind of oblivious but handsome Vronsky (except Vronsky is in love with Anna). And we’ve seen the Levin family too. Konstantin Levin comes to Moscow to ask Kitty to marry him, but she’s in love with Vronsky who’s in love with Anna. He ends up going back to the country disappointed, though he can at least find some comfort in the birth of a new calf. We also meet his brothers Serge and Nikolai, who are basically estranged and at odds, with Levin stuck in the middle. ------------------------------------------------------------ If you’ve read ahead or read this before, please keep comments to part 1 and use spoiler tags if you’re not sure. A few things to talk about... We start this part with the news of an affair in the Oblonsky family and all the mess that causes, and then by the end it really seems like another affair is just about to happen in the Karenina family. This section is mostly about setting the stage and getting everyone in position, but there were also a lot of quieter inner moments that gave the characters more depth. Was there one that really stood out to you as sharp, revealing, or just kind of hit you? Anything you’re curious about and hope gets explored more later? Besides those more inward moments, there are also a bunch of scenes that quickly show how people relate to each other - Levin and Countess Nordston bickering, Masha trying to stop Nikolai from drinking vodka, Anna comforting Dolly, etc. Was there one interaction that especially stuck with you? We’ve got a pretty lively cast now - are you leaning toward anyone in particular yet? What do you make of the main characters and how do you think they’ll change as things get more dramatic? And as always, any quotes or passages you liked? Feel free to share them and say which translation you’re reading. For these big reads, I always imagine making it into some kind of multi-part project too, even if that usually doesn’t happen, lol. Right now I’m trying to make a Spotify playlist to go along with it. If you’re doing something like that too, share it, or tell us what you’d ideally do with it (watch the films, make stroganoff, read on a train, whatever). ------------------------------------------------------------ Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts. On January 24, I’ll put up the discussion thread for Part 2.

The Greatest Piece of Literature ever written? Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

By aquaSeal3633

I read Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” a few months back, and I was honestly surprised by how easily I could connect with what the characters were saying. That’s why I picked up “Anna Karenina,” expecting a similar kind of vibe. After finishing it, I can say I’m definitely not disappointed. The characters feel really layered, the whole setup comparing what’s going on with Anna and Vronsky versus Kitty and Levin worked well, and the big ideas I was hoping for showed up more clearly and in a more noticeable way than in Dostoevsky. A lot of it still feels like it could apply now, even though it’s all set back then. I could keep listing what I liked, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s missing. The realism is great, the themes are super relatable for a book about 19th-century Russian nobility, and Part 7 especially blew me away… but it still didn’t fully feel like it deserves the “greatest book ever” title. It’s absolutely one of the best, but is it *the* best? Maybe I’m missing something. I think I get why it’s so good, but I don’t get why it’s the top one—can someone explain what I’m not seeing?