Plus, Anna Karenina’s characters are stuck between opposing ideologies, social norms, and moral codes. From the first line, Tolstoy tells us that his epic novel is about family relationships and all the ways they can go wrong. Like all classics, Anna Karenina tackles timeless themes that are as relevant now as when they were written. Throw in twenty-odd characters with confusing Russian names, and it can be tempting to give up on Tolstoy before you start.īut let me ask you this: have you ever struggled with family problems? Or felt the spark fade in your relationship and wonder if it’s possible to keep the romance alive? This edition compiles into a single volume the 1901 English translation by Constance Garnett.At over 800 pages and packed with interconnected storylines, I won’t lie: Anna Karenina is intimidating. Tolstoy drew on his aristocratic upbringing to set the scene for the novel, and it’s widely believed that he wrote his own experiences and struggles with religion (documented in A Confession) into the central character of Konstantin Levin. It was Leo Tolstoy’s second novel, coming after War and Peace and further cementing his role as the primary Russian author of his age.

Initially serialized over five years in The Russian Messenger, Anna Karenina was first published as a two-volume novel in 1878.

Unfortunately, the very visit designed to help her brother introduces her to Count Alexei Vronsky and sets in motion a chain of events that will ripple through families and the unforgiving society of wealthy Moscow and St. Anna Karenina is certainly somewhat unhappy in her life, but presents a strong and vivacious character when called in to smooth over a major crack that’s appeared in her brother’s marriage.

Anna Karenina for mac instal