How should we read Anna Karenina? [The Common Room]

[@mattakubodimasen10]

My favourite thing about the way Tolstoy writes is that all of his characters are so real. We relate to them, see their thought process and what pushed them into making this or that decision, we know who they are, who their parents and friends and families and acquaintances are, what they are dealing with and what they enjoy, etc. Every character is so fleshed out and fit into the bigger picture like a puzzle piece, always in the right place.

[@abdullahahmad1490]

Exactly , he understands the tribulations of BEING and rightfully pens them so but despite being such deeply rooted in realism with less flowery , dreamy words... it still makes your heart flutter at times and bring you at the edge of tears!!

[@jaliscodiss]

It's not a hard book to read, despite its length. Ulysses, on the other hand, is a beast.

[@andreware6492]

Hans Blix indeed Ulysses is a beast

[@timmycorbitt5870]

people have literally died trying to read finnegans wake..daddy beast

[@ΓεώργιοςΓαλανάκης-ν5ω]

It's neither easy nor hard. You just have to think if you want the juice

[@marymary5494]

Thank goodness for audiobook ​@@andreware6492

[@annestjohn4017]

Agree 100%!

[@greggoat6570]

The novel is honestly genius in its pacing and assembly. I don’t won’t to necessarily give too much credit to Tolstoy for this, but he did consider it a novel unlike War and Peace, so here I go. The beautiful thing about the work is that it can be enjoyed in 5-20 page chunks, and move along very elegantly and methodically, giving you something satisfying in that span, but also works wonderfully taken 50 or even a hundred pages at a time, as you take in the scope and majesty of the narrative. One of the many reasons why it is one of the very best novels ever written.

[@nicolezuno6541]

I read it 20 pages at a time every night for a month and it was the best way to unwind after a long day, definitely recommend reading it in chunks. It also makes it easy to understand what is happening, and really sleep on what is happening in each section.

[@brianacoman4011]

I was soooo expecting this to talk down to students and tell students to read it within the confines of the school system and instead I got a lovely discussion about the themes of Anna Karenina, how to read a book this big and stomach it, and a comparison of 2 of my favorite authors. Loved it!

[@michaelkelleypoetry]

I'm surprised anyone can stop reading Anna Karenina after only ten pages. There is a lot of insight in every 10 pages, but that's like only watching one episode of a TV show. I have to binge-read Anna Karenina, quickly getting back to the characters I like and seeing where their stories go.

[@tysonking6750]

I read just the first two chapters in a sample and felt compelled to buy the book to find out what happens!

[@iisaka_station]

Huge Spoiler at 6:40 if you haven't finished Anna Karenina don't watch. I was disappointed when I heard

[@anxietycelery1732]

@@gabrielkennethmarinas6244 No, that's bullshit. I hated it when they spoiled how Lievin comes out as a transgender gay genderfluid androgynous woman.

[@zippygundoo5852]

😱 that really was a spoiler. I had no idea. Damn.

[@TTaylor]

Me too. Should have read the comments first lol

[@jasmin5868]

@@anxietycelery1732 LMFAOOOOOOOO

[@ReligionOfSacrifice]

The books I read in 2022; I read 52 books in 52 weeks. 1) "The Way We Live Now" by Anthony Trollope 2) "Can You Forgive Her?" by Anthony Trollope 3) "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro 4) "Mark Twain: A Life" by Rom Powers 5) "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain 6) "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain 7) "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene 8) "Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady" by Samuel Richardson 9) "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark 10) "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote 11) "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver 12) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy 13) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy 14) "Master and Man" by Leo Tolstoy 15) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy 16) "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy 17) "The Raid" by Leo Tolstoy 18) "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs 19) “In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 20) "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Hugo 21) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev 22) "Mumu" by Ivan Turgenev 23) "Kassyan of Fair Springs" by Ivan Turgenev 24) "The Portrait Game" Ivan Turgenev 25) " Punin and Baburin" by Ivan Turgenev 26) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev 27) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev 28) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev 29) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev 30) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev 31) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev 32) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev 33) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev 34) "The Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev 35) "How Russians Meet Death" by Ivan Turgenev 36) "Sketches from a Hunter's Album" by Ivan Turgenev 37) "Volodya" by Anton Chekhov 38) "Ward No. 6" by Anton Chekhov 39) "The Lady with the Dog" by Anton Chekov 40) "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by Alexander Pushkin 41) "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin 42) “Le Grand Meaulnes, or the Lost Domain” by Alain-Fournier 43) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 44) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 45) "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen 46) "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov 47) "An Island Hell" by S. A. Malsagoff 48) "The Return of the Native" by Thomas Hardy 49) "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy 50) “Strait is the Gate” by André Gide 51) “And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer” by Fredrik Backman 52) “Middlemarch” by George Eliot

[@adolfosilva3883]

Which was your favourite?

[@ReligionOfSacrifice]

@@adolfosilva3883, that's easy. 2) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy That was the best for 2022 and another one was also very good. 10) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev And other one made the top 20. 18) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev The two Brontë in the top 20 are from this year, 2023. TOP TWENTY BOOKS 0) "The Holy Bible: King James Version" copyright 1967 1) "Verbal Behavior" by Dr. B. F. Skinner 2) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy 3) "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4) "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev 5) Myth Adventures - series by Robert Asprin 6) The Chronicles of Narnia - series by C. S. Lewis 7) "Vilette" by Charlotte Brontë 8) "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy 9) "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 10) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev 11) "Roots" by Alex Haley 12) The Silmarillion - The Hobbit, or there and back again - The Lord of the Rings - Middle Earth stories by J. R. R. Tolkien 13) Foundation Series - Isaac Asimov 14) "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin 15) "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 16) "Paris 1919: six months that changed the world" by Margaret MacMillian 17) "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Brontë 18) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev 19) "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen 20) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - by Mark Twain Here is where others fell from 2022. 29) "Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev 32) "In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 49) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy 51) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev 52) "Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady" by Samuel Richardson 55) "An Island Hell" by S.A. Malsagoff 66) "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy 69) "The Way We Live Now" by Anthony Trollope 70) "Middlemarch" by George Eliot 75) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy 84) "Can you forgive her?" by Anthony Trollope 85) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev 90) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev 94) "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark 97) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 105) "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen 106) "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin 107) "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs 111) "Mark Twain: A Life" by Ron Powers 113) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev 117) "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain 122) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev 123) "Volodya" by Anton Chekhov 124) "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov 127) "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo 129) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 131) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev 151) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev 156) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev 157) "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain 160) "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene 174) "Strait is the Gate" by André Gide 179) "And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer" by Fredrik Backman

[@ileanaaaaa]

Why this guy is trying to compare Jane Austen with Tolstoy? That is two whole different mediums! Is like comparing a comedy with a drama, in two different countries and realities. They both lived very different lives in very different circumstances so the only thing that they could have in common is that you can tell they were both observant of people and they both tried to put that on the page but on one side; Austen made satirical commentary on England’s provincial life whereas Tolstoy more of political and spiritual commentary in Russia.

[@crops874]

Exactly. I think Austen’s works are equally as beautiful as Anna Karenina, but they’re both wildly different genres. Anna Karenina is so Raw and dark at times and Austen’s works are more on the light and romantic side. It’s not fair to compare them both.

[@ileanaaaaa]

kanak sakhuja precisely! They were trying to achieve completely different things!

[@vodkatonyq]

They belong to the same genre, the same century. They can absolutely be compared in aesthetic and artistic terms.

[@dhihyakhalifah6138]

right?!! because even the tone is different. when i first heard that question, i thought “did you even read austen and tolstoy”

[@h-di4qd]

I suppose one similarity is the story of Kitty's coming-of-age, which is a huge theme for Austen. And Lady Susan and Anna Karenina both stepped outside the moral bounds of society and faced the consequences. Oddly, "Anna Karenina" was the first book to scratch the Austen itch for me, although I agree with you that overall they don't have too much in common.

[@alexya2321]

I cant believe this woman gave me the worst Spoiler possible. Great class.

[@vineethnarayan1811]

IFKR!

[@joshuacreboreads]

Yeah, I should’ve been more careful watching this video, but they hadn’t said any other spoilers at all before hand so she caught me off guard

[@LiliLili-us7pt]

Come on! Everyone, even if they haven't read the book, knows that Anna Karenina throws herself under the wheels of the train and that Madame Bovary drinks poison. I have read each of them several times. Not to read a book a second time because I know how it ends? Good books and good movies are not about how they end. Such books, like Anna Karenina, demand to be read several times, otherwise it's in vain

[@h-di4qd]

I was spoiled similarly by the freaking Editor's Note at the beginning of the book! But I encourage anyone who was spoiled to still read it. You'll forget. Other things happen. It's still worth it.

[@BarbaraBastron]

People who count the number of pages they read are not readers. They are doing chores.

[@odysseus1220]

Some books are chores. That’s not a bad thing

[@erigoasparago]

That I can remember it almost in its entirety, after 40 years, shows how miraculous this book is.

[@flutebasket4294]

That fact that you didn't know you were reading from the point of view of the dog leads me to believe you weren't paying attention

[@janethayes5941]

I'm listening to it on audiobooks and it's pretty darn good. When I don't fall asleep. And have to find where I dropped off. So there's that.

[@rudrakumardubey5069]

I read the 108 pages in one sitting...

[@MDkid1]

Looking forward to starting Anna Karenina in the new year!

[@annathieben8078]

DID YOU?

[@josipatokic329]

@@annathieben8078 I'm reading it now, and losing my shit

[@earthandwind820]

anna thieben There’s also a version on Audible by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. I’m listening to it first before I decide to sit down with the book! 😁🙈

[@annathieben8078]

@@earthandwind820 ahhh its amazing, i assure u. Reading it for a second time at the moment but taking it slower than last time when i rushed through it in 2 weeks for a school assignment

[@elainesorensen5803]

I’ve been listening to the audiobook. I cannot figure out how they went from being in debt to having all that money to build an estate and a hospital. Somehow I missed the part where they came into that money but I’m not all the way through the book yet.

[@InnaAllStar]

I have the Russian original and I will be reading 15 pages a day :)

[@AlinaAnastasiaMichael]

I want to read this book but unsure which translation is the best. Could anyone help? I’ve read the P&V translation of Crime and Punishment and really enjoyed that translation but unsure if the P&V translation of AK is any good?

[@hughmccusker1345]

Best translation of Anna Karenina that I have read is the Pevear & Volokhonsky.

[@AlinaAnastasiaMichael]

Hugh McCusker Thank you. I’ll try it out.

[@isaacdavid1468]

SPOILERS!

[@chiditasol]

thaaank youuuu!

[@seanlee4672]

I KNOW!! IM LIKE 40% INTO THE BOOK AND I HEAR WHAT ANNA K DOES AT THE END!! aGSDNKDFNKAJEFGBEFABVEFVAD!!!

[@indyo618]

this comment is also kind of a spoiler...

[@jonm.5880]

Pissed me off now that I know what happens to Anna

[@gabrielkennethmarinas6244]

Its okay. The real spoiler is that Vronsky died at the end.

[@halcyon_distilled]

you should put SPOILERS alert in the title of the video. The woman cant stop spoiling it UUUGGGHHH

[@flutebasket4294]

The final scene isn't Anna's suicide, it's Levin's epiphany at the farm. Did you guys even read the book?

[@sarahthompson138]

Jeez guys! How about a spoiler alert!?

[@joaquinserrano9614]

Would the english version be the best language to read this book ?

[@Monah-u9f]

Im reading it in my offline app. Few pages after i did some works.

[@Monah-u9f]

Im reading it in my offline app. Few pages after o did some works

[@kristinab881]

What are they talking about? These books are page turners, they are read by themselves. I read Anna Karenina for the first time in highschool and War and Peace took me 10 days. Couldn’t stop reading. If you have to make yourself sit down and read only 10 pages per day, you are probably not that bright.

[@timmycorbitt5870]

Anna K!?

[@frankensah]

They are friends

[@PS3FER0599]

You should warn us about the spoilers 🙄🙄🙄 I got spoiled ffs

[@tiko135135]

2:10 Crime and Punishment *Cough* *Cough*

[@tiko135135]

lol

[@droppenkiken]

Crime and Punishment is considerably better than Anna Karenina. Best read upside down while drinking vodka.

[@countbessy]

@ Lol. Nothing more intelligent than telling someone that they're "bad and ignorant" for having different taste in literature. What a scholar you must be.

[@countbessy]

@ You are hilarious, accusing anyone else of creating a strawman, after you've done nothing but put words in the mouth of anyone who dares to say anything that you don't like. It must be exhausting being so incredibly pompous and self-righteous. I recommend yoga, anger management, and critical thinking courses, in that order. You're going to die if you keep raging out like this.

[@russianfolktales3641]

Should we read it beyond the chapter where Anna died ?

Obviously

[@deusmate]

Lol . Spoilers , a comparison to Austen (completely different realm of literature) , and unknowing that they were reading from the dog's point of view . These people are a bit silly

[@deusmate]

Not to mention the idea of reading 10 pages of at a time. Did you even enjoy the book if you have to do that? Anna Karenina is far more satisfying in the sense of a long term pay off .

[@h-di4qd]

!! THERE IS A SPOILER IN THIS VIDEO !!

[@Theboss_-lj2pz]

Huge spoiler, no warning.. Really?

[@mykhailohohol8708]

Spoilers! GOD fucking damn it, warn for the spoilers!

[@tangomz7070]

I don't understand how you can read it 10 pages per day. It's such a compelling read to take that long to finish!

[@yutirwsna7715]

Ahh it's so long

[@leorose2680]

Spoiler alert!

[@miguelmadrigal2447]

Spoiled the novel telling an important art.

[@kaiftintoiwala6414]

War and Peace is better than Anna K

[@Vlatka211]

This is just sad.

[@YANKEE10018]

Vapid shallow reading of AK. If you’re seeing yourself and your people in these characters and using it to connect to spirituality you’re sick or evangelical.

[@gabrielkennethmarinas6244]

Can you elaborate what you mean?

[@YANKEE10018]

Jehe No sure! Today’s evangelical sees Christianity as some sort of personal contract between god and themself, and only those who have taken their side can have this relationship. Therefore the Bible can be read very personally, for example, Jesus is very clear on wealth accumulation, but his take is now considered ‘Marxist.’ This whole nation is built on an odd bougie reading of Calvinism. Similarly if your first take from a top-5 novel in history is personal and picking out friends as characters in the book you’ve missed the deeper reading of a story that includes fantastic commentary on life even today: socially, politically, sexually, economically, religiously, etc. The beginning of this discussion perfectly encapsulates the selfishness of today’s evangelical.

[@jakob4381]

I Think tolstoi refuses to judge. Unusual for churchgoers.