Anna Karenina - contains spoilers
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Re: Anna Karenina
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-- 05 Jun 2014, 00:07 --
I read the book before the news of the movie came out, but I haven't finished it yet. Although I've been really been hooked-truly page turner. Though it looks normal, I liked how the way Anna and Vronsky lightly met the first time.
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AnaF wrote:I started reading this book last week and so far I'm really enjoying it. I wasn't expecting it to be so easy to get into and that its narrative would have this flow. However, I still don't know how I feel about Anna ... I'm not sure I like her, at least for now ...
I think your observation is very insightful...Anna is like Marmite ,either you love her or you hate her.She's self absorbed,attention seeking, and if you think about it quite pretentious .just another bored housewife with too much time on her hands...but she has to pay a heavy price for her grand passion...while Vronsky's being a man gets him off the hook every time.However what makes Anna such a great heroine is her capacity to provoke reactions from the readers and that surely was Tolstoy's purpose...
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But have to say Anna Karenina is an emotional story that truly tugs at you!
I remember reading another version where they had translated to english but had certain phrases and sentences still in Russian, with the translation at the bottom given in english (you know like footnotes)
That was a more intriguing read, I think it was a penguin edition but older edition.
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A_Velarde23 wrote:Anna Karenina is a book that I've always had on my shelf, but never read until the movie adaptation was announced. I think it is a great book and I really love how it gives us two different perspectives of both Russian society and love, as seen from Anna and Levin's point of view. Anna, even though she went against the rules of society by having an affair, was still very much affected by what society thought of her. She is seen to have always been influenced and controlled by it, unlike Levin. Levin, I think, lives more for himself than for other people. He is seen going out in the fields to work even though he's the master, he also refuses the French influences of that time. I think the movie did a great job depicting this particular subject. I love how in the movie everyone is an actor inside a theater and they are all being rushed around, it really shows you how everyone was really acting like somebody they are not.Overall I really enjoyed both the book and the movie, although there are a few places in the movie where I feel the story could have been better told.Levin, however, is the only one to leave the theater and go out into the fields, because he's the only one who is himself. He also has a more pure love in contrast with Anna's more obsessive one. In this manner, Levin and Anna's stories contrast each other well and give you a better understanding of the the overall subject of the book. Which is why I was very disappointed that in the movie, Levin is treated like a side character, so in the end most of his story was omitted.
Velarde23,I fully agree with you abou the unfair demotion of Levin's character as his story ,feelings and philosophy are a central trope of the novel.However check the BBC drama series of AK on YouTube and IMHO its a presentation that fully explores all the themes and tropes of the novel.Its and oldie but a goldie
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The book is full truly great characters and I particularly enjoyed Levin, who is said to be representative of Tolstoy himself and his lovely wife, Kitty.
However, it was Anna herself about whom I was most conflicted. Should I feel sorry for the degradation of a woman that was clearly losing her mind, or should I just be annoyed at how stupid and self-absorbed she was. Unfortunately, as I was reading the book, my opinion drifted more to the latter.
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald