Why Tolstoy's Anna Karenina Is My Favourite Novel

[@gekkenhuisje]

Finished Anna Karenina yesterday. It took me 8 days and I was blown away by the quality of this work, as it was far more enthralling and deep than I had expected. I will be processing this book for a long time, no doubt. I find it interesting what scenes have stuck with me-the hotel clerk trying to shake Vronsky from his cold superiority because he hates it; the visit to Mihailov in Italy with Golenistchev; the immense spirituality of the near-deathbed experience of Anna when giving birth to Annie; Levin’s conversations with Sviazhsky or his half-brother, Sergey Ivanovich, on the agricultural question; the way Darya (Dolly) Alexandrovna experienced her visit to Anna and Vronsky’s countryside estate, and how she falsely remembered it afterwards; the buildup and event of Anna’s suicide; the poignant, spiritual revelation Konstantin Levin has at the end of the book, along with the acknowledgment that change is not immediate, but the peace remains. Anna Karenina is without doubt a truly remarkable, fascinating book. At the end of everything, though, I can’t help but feel badly for the way Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin’s plotline petered out towards the end. I think that Tolstoy’s use of the French mystic (Landau) poisoned the truly fascinating, sorrowful, pitiful position Karenin was in after he was rejected by society. I found his character to be the most sympathetic, and feel like Tolstoy could have wrapped up his character a little more nicely. Stephan Arkadyevich (Stiva), I likewise found lacking in the concluding parts of this book, but as I found his character very dishonorable, I didn’t mind as much the omission.

[@dfull31]

8 days… well done

[@kookiekommenter]

I wanted to see Alexey Karenin one more time in the concluding chapters too, because he must have had a strong emotional reaction to Anna's death. While I believe the Landau thing was deliberately written to make us view Karenin in a more negative light (misguided faith, pursuing mysticism in desperation), maybe see him as ridiculous, it was an unsatisfying ending to his arc. Even if it's to show that he's still lost after Anna's death, I think the character deserved one more appearance. I didn't care that Stiva had little presence in the conclusion either. He's a static character with no character arc, who doesn't improve himself but gets away with everything, existing in the book as a comparison point to other characters.

[@Maria-do1vd]

@@kookiekommenter I also find Karenin to be a very sympathetic character. However, I also believe that there might be a reason why Tolstoy wants the reader to see Karenin broken and depicts him as associating with the French mystic (the French as a marker of lack of authenticity in Tolstoy's works). In 1859, Tolstoy published a short novel, Family Happiness, in which he depicted a man who became a father figure and mentor for his much younger wife. It's a much simpler work than AK; the story ends 'happily' with the husband helping to educate the wife about true values in life... Karenin might be 'punished' by Tolstoy for failing to raise up to this role of a true head of the family, more emotionally involved, more passionate.

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

Did it have any boring parts ?

[@Michael-nt5rp]

Great that you mentioned the visit to the artist’s studio in Italy. It shows the artist’s commitment to his family and his work, in contrast to Vronsky’s dilettantism in these two aspects, or in his life.

[@pinkopat]

I watched the Keira Knightley movie and it felt so shallow that I had to pick up the novel because I knew there had to be something deeper about it, now that I've read it I see that it has so much to tell and so many ways to look at it. It's such a big story and there are no easy ways to understand it

[@annetteholman2999]

Keira Knightley has a gift for trivializing and cheapening the great roles she has landed. She did the same with Lara in Dr. Zhivago. I'm glad the book stays in my heart with its exquisite characterizations. ANNA KARENINA is one of my top ten favorites.

[@ryokan9120]

@@annetteholman2999 And yet Keira Knightly is such a lauded actress. The mind boggles. I'm not saying she's a bad actress, but she's not great either. (at least in my humble opinion)

[@dharmakaurkhalsa3923]

Just finished reading Anna Karenina (audiobook) and have been fascinated by it from the start. Right away it was like stepping into "real life" and never leaving it... even during the "boring" passages, because, yes, sometimes life could be perceived as boring... and the ending, both parts, her suicide and Levin's "awakening" were just such and artful and meaningful for connecting Life and Death and our choices on this journey. Amazingly written. True Talent. Wonderful experience that will stay with me.

[@celesteluciani7420]

I fell down the ‘you tube’ rabbit hole and come across your page and I just love how you dissect the literature. Your passion and intellect is warming. Thank you, made my way to your podcast.

[@larryreilly7]

Just finished Anna! Excellent! Levin is laugh-out-loud funny, and I love your insight about him. One warning to all new readers bears repeating: Do NOT even glance at the introduction. The Intro to my Constance Merritt translation spoils the end in the first paragraph. My wife and I really enjoy your videos - keep them coming!

[@leila4509]

Great review! Tolstoy put pieces of him in every character that made them vividly come to life. How else could he have described such deep painful emotions of someone going through a mental breakdown to the feeling of pure joy and fear of seeing their newborn baby? Gosh, what a book! Though tedious at times, it will stick with me. As someone who has experienced severe depression at some points in my life, his description of Anna’s mindset towards the end of the book painful rang true. What a novel!

[@ac1646]

Yes! But one of the most painful and chilling parts was when she reaches the point of no return during that final act and her mind screams 'NO'. (I am paraphrasing as I can't remember the words). 😭😭

[@damiblade1349]

Anna Karenina is absolute masterpiece. I love Levin. He's so well written character. And change in Kitty from very infantile girl to actually good and responsible woman is incredible. Every character is so charismatic and interesting in its own way. Anna Karenina will stay with me for long time.

[@roses6564]

Kitty is overrated.

[@NechaMD]

I JUST finished A.K. and I just sat there and went "wow....wow....wow..." I read the last paragraph twice, and then it all just clicked....the entire book passed before my eyes again, and I "got it." Levin and Anna are a yin and yang of each other. Levin summarizes the entire book in the last paragraph. They both had life come at them in the same way, but they approached it differently. They reacted differently. I never placed them together in the book in this way until the last lines and then.....WHAM! It just all hit me. Maybe I'm slow, but that was incredible. Does everyone experience the book this way??

[@avinashrao458]

I felt exactly the same. Levin and Anna were soul mates, such contrasting characters,yet supplying each others demand when we look at their intrinsic characters...

[@roses6564]

Tolstoy is not shying away from subtle moralizing. I disagree Anna and Levin had life come at them in the same way. Give some time to Levin ...we don't know how he ends up in old age, do we? Wanna bet he pulls off an end-of-life Tolstoy? Kitty is hardly the woman who could satisfy his contemplative, passionate side. She is a conformist with limited abilities. It works at first, with good intentions, until it doesn't anymore. The Levins of this world are on their own. It takes insane luck for them to find peace and fulfillment with acounterpart. Kitty is not it.

[@louisjones2653]

@@roses6564 I read Levin and Kitty's relationship quite differently. While Levin's spiritual transformation is by no means settled by the end of the novel, and he could very well fall into the same pitfalls as Tolstoy did himself later in life, he remains very constant throughout his arc in regards to both his opinions regarding marriage and his feelings toward Kitty. Contemplative, cerebral, and passionate people like Levin are often tortured by themselves- tortured by their own reasoning that they seek out a more stable, conformist partner. Just like how Anna's garments expressed their opulence in their simplicity, I think to Levin, Kitty's great allure is her ability to drown out the complexities of his soul with her simplicity. While there are undoubtedly tumultuous times ahead for them, as in any marriage, I hold out hope that they will continue to grow together and deepen their fascination and admiration for each other and their goodness.

[@roses6564]

@@louisjones2653 Science and common sense are confirming every day that compatibility and symbiosis are what make a marriage fulfilling over the long haul. Note I didn’t say “make a marriage work”. Levin is not one who’d be happy with a marriage that is “made to work. “ I said fulfilling bc he’s an idealist and transcendentalist. Levin and Kitty are not compatible at the core. This eventually catches up with people no matter how complementary they seem at first. If people don’t on think at the same depth and get on the same wavelength, differences turn ugly over the long term. Levin needed someone of his ilk with some symbiotic differences for complementarity, but not radical. Kitty is radically different from him. Very unmemorable character. I’ve seen the levin-kitty type associations too many types to not know it doesn’t bode well.

[@esmamesihovic5764]

Thank you for such a great review!! I agree that Anna Karenina is an enduring book -- the characters are really poignant and Tolstoy breathed so much life into them. And I love how you called the "boring parts" as something that conveyed a sense of passing time.

[@hardcoreliterature9696]

Thank you, Esma! Breathing life into the characters is a really apt metaphor. I think I can actually feel Tolstoy's breath as I'm reading... The breath of God.

[@SandrineDamfino]

I've just finished reading Anna Karenina and I'm so glad I overcame my dislike of the 2012 film adaptation and gave the book a chance because it's so good ! I totally relate to what you say about Tolstoy's talent at building realistic characters, to the point I tend to forget they are fictional because they feel so real. I definitely felt that about Anna Karenina. My favourite characters are Levin and Karenin. Definitely a brilliant and beautiful novel, although my absolute favorite Tolstoy book remains War and Peace which I found to be even more powerful.

[@paulmaritz1723]

I sincerely agree with you. To think that the suicide closes the book misses Levin's transcendence and the whole point of his character growth. So well done, agree with that. The omniscient writing analysis was also interersting, thanks!

[@fyodor371]

Great piece, extremely insightful and concise. I only just discovered your channel and hope to see you discuss more classic literature. To your question I'd love to see you review the various adaptations of the novel. Notwithstanding the premature ending of the Nicola Pagett BBC adaptation it has the best version of Levin for mine. I think part of the problem with short-changing his story arc in any adaptation is that it's hard to do it justice in a feature length movie, and that TV version has the space to come closest, I think.

[@hardcoreliterature9696]

Thank you! I'm currently doing some long reading in the form of a book club, which will soon cover Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Turgenev, and more :) I can certainly do a review/ranking of the different adaptations of Anna Karenina. That's really interesting that you liked the BBC version's Levin - fair play! I totally agree with your thoughts on film vs TV adaptations - unfortunately both mediums miss out on the interior aspect of the characters, which I think is huge in AK.

[@ERichWGMT]

The final few paragraphs in Anna Karenina are full of sublime perplexities about the meaning of the spiritual life, and the reason why most of us - in one form or another - pray. The writing here, and the mind behind it, is why Tolstoy endures.

[@krosero]

Mate, I cannot agree more about the ending. Adaptations almost always are incapable of depicting spiritual transformation such as Levin has.

[@smalltown2223]

When I decide to read something like Anna Karenina, i try hard to imagine them as Stanley Kubrick films. His films are all beautifully shot and take their time in getting there. So in the beginning I spend a fair chunk of time in imagining what the book I’m reading looks like. It really helps in these long slow reads. In the so called ‘boring bits’ it helps to imagine how well the scene would look, and the great language on the page is the camera, or your eye, if that makes sense? Doesn’t have to be Kubrick, but it works for me.

[@MsMarivo]

Thank you for the review. I’m reading it now. It is magnificent. Thank you for pronouncing the characters’ names in a Russian manner.

[@AnnaSouleBlues]

I love your channel. I’ve been reading Anna K for the past month and I already feel this is one of my fav books. Maybe at the same level of Les Mises but not sure yet- I’m on page 543, out of ~800 (starting part 6). Did not watch this video until the end fearing spoilers though, will get back here soon

[@ashoks4559]

I finished it yesterday i wanted to write a detailed impression of the novel.

[@hardcoreliterature9696]

I would like to read that!

[@JCloyd-ys1fm]

I just started reading AK. Actually, I’m listening to the Constance Garnett translation. I’m about an hour into it. I got a cliffsnotes guide, and my wife has read it 3 times and always has thoughts on the book. So I’m lucky in that respect...

[@djwarrior1421]

Anna kills herself for the very reason that Levin wanted to. I see Anna and Levin as two sides of the same coin. Levin found the key to his struggles (pleasing one's God over one's logic or reasoning). Anna would never find happiness because of her choices in sin. I just loved AK. Just loved this book.

[@silkegehtyoutubegarnichtsa892]

I agree with the first half, not with Countess Vronskaya's verdict though, and I for one am more than dubious Tolstoy did. The way I read it, what Anna actually lacks is faith! Same as Levin, who's constantly pondering suicide, not ceasing when from our pov happily married with child! Eventually though, faith finds Levin, rather than the other way round, imo. While Anna doesn't even have faith in Vronsky, on and off convinced he doesn't love her anymore/is about to leave her/courts/loves another woman/ect. pp.). She addresses her final words ("she said") to the deity, and while that is somewhat open for interpretation, I can't see Ak as misogynist, and/or morally overbearing at all.

[@roses6564]

What do you mean one's logic? Well..God equipped us with the self-preservation instinct. You just go along with life as it is, logic or not, fulfilled or not. How did it work out for Levin in the end? Do we know? I mean , the end we do not see in the book? How about taking a cue from Tolstoy's own end of life? A-ha...

[@overlandkltolondon]

The first version of Anna Karenina that I read was an abridged version that ended with her death under the wheels of the train. I immediately wanted to read it again with the hope that the ending would be different. I instinctively felt that this was an abrupt and false ending. I did not know that there was much more to the book until I got an unabridged version many years later. It is my favourite novel too and has been since I first read the cut-off version.

[@khadimndiaye7730]

I didn’t think this book was boring, the writing is just phenomenal; Tolstoy‘s style is tremendously good.

[@caioxavier8561]

Just stumbled upon your channels and really appreciated your remarks and thoughts! I read Tolstoi in a cautious mood after reading some Dostoievski and finding him quite overrated. Fortunately, Tolstoi was a whole different style for me, not as messy as Dostoievski and much more relatable. Greetings from Brazil and keep up the good work!

[@khadimndiaye7730]

I also prefer Tolstoy‘s style, but Dostojewski‘s brothers Karamosov was the most touching reading experience I’ve ever had in my life.

[@krishhkhataniar]

I agree with you. I think about the characters even today. Like they are always alive in my mind. I read this book back in 2015. I don't want to forget anything about the story. I empathize with characters.

[@karelvorster7414]

If Tolstoy's novel bore its true title, hardly anyone would care to read it. Since it is only a literary work, I will not call it a fraud. Anna Karenina should be called "Constantin Levin", with the subtitle "The Inner Struggles of a Neurotic Russian Gentleman Farmer". Anna Karenina is a marketing ploy, a literary teaser, a clever appetizer for an age that cannot get enough of tales involving tragic females slipping into adultery. In retrospect, this deceptive title is an important, if unintended clue to the true status of Anna Karenina: that of a secondary character, one that Tolstoy manipulates mercilessly----and does not even bother to describe fully! While we are told of Constantin's every thought, emotion and action in excruciating detail, we know almost nothing about Anna's past; why she falls in love with a man who is like hundreds of other handsome but frivolous Russian officers remains a mystery; her sudden transformation from a compassionate woman who helps reconcile her sister-in-law with her unfaithful husband into a vindictive adulteress is equally puzzling and quite unbelievable; her subsequent life and romance with count Vronsky, her lover, surfaces throughout the book only in disconnected fragments. Anna is not even an interesting character. Leaving aside the fact that her key moves and decisions are presented by Tolstoy not as personal choices, but as the result of an evil external influence (the Devil?),which by itself should raise a huge red flag for any reader, how can one deny that she is a very common type? Anna is a pathologically selfish, jealous and vengeful creature constantly preoccupied with her power over men. She confuses love with her capacity to attract the other sex exclusively through her feminine charms. Hence her refusal to have children or to get married. In either case, she would no longer be loved for herself (meaning her physical beauty). Anna is a foil for the relatively happy love affair and married life of Levin, a young dour Russian aristocrat who lives in the countryside---and the real hero of the book. Apparently, Constantin Levin is just a literary reflection of Tolstoy himself. Tolstoy uses him to describe his own moral struggles, struggles we don't care about because Levin, who is clearly a reincarnation of the bumbling Pierre Bezukhov, is such an infuriating fool, such an unlikable character to begin with.Tolstoy also uses this eternal adolescent to drag us not only into hunting parties that stretch through several chapters (Tolstoy hated war but loved hunting!) but also endless conversations about such riveting topics as farm management and administrative decentralization in late nineteenth-century Russia. Tolstoy cannot refrain from mixing genres: he wants to be a novelist, but also a philosopher and a polemicist. And he doesn't use symbolism or the plot to convey his ideas, which is what good writers such as Thomas Hardy do.When it comes to his pet ideas, Tolstoy has no use for subtlety. He just has his puppet characters utter his ideas or those of his opponents directly:welcome to humorless and charmless Platonic dialogues on Russian politics and agriculture! One cannot escape the feeling that Tolstoy writes not so much for others, as for himself, to convince himself of the truth of his latest mystic creed or political fancy, duly conveyed to him by a guileless Russian peasant. So forget the hype peddled by self-proclaimed specialists. Above all, don't even dream that the book is a kind of feminist manifesto, which, I guess, must be the reason why people are so enthusiastic about the book. Anna Karenina is quite the opposite: it is an unapologetic plea for family and traditional morality that condemns women like Anna, not in so many words(that would be very bad policy in a liberal age) but by depicting their horrible thoughts and demonic minds. So horrible and so demonic you are more than relieved when Anna is finally got rid of (while the male accomplice in this adultery case remains alive!). Do you, you Anna Karenina groupies, realize that the old bearded bigot does not even grant her an atom of motherly love for the child she had with her lover? Frankly, if you want to read a fine novel written in beautiful prose (Tolstoy's writes the dullest prose in the world) about an unhappy woman and the social injustice to women, forget Anna and make the acquaintance of Tess d'Urberville. If you want to read a delightful novel on Russia, grab A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Thin on content, but what a relief after the preachy Tolstoy!

[@carmenl163]

You're pretending to state facts, but in reality, it is just your opinion.

[@hrabanus]

Still on my list! I have read D.'s "Crime and Punishment" a good 23 years ago and it still haunts me. Bought A. K. right after that, but being a 17 year-old I had to pause to let C&P sink in. It still hasn't sunken in completely I guess. 😅

[@asymptoticspatula]

I finished reading two days ago. I loved it. I think War and Peace will always be my favorite, but Anna Karenina is right behind it. I read the Bartlett translation which I would highly recommend to anybody.

[@robertfranklin8704]

You are correct in assigning the role of protagonist to Levin rather than the flawed Anna. Tolstoy's foremost trio includes War and Peace and Resuerection. If you have missed tgw latter, to understand Tolstoy thoroughly. It is imperative reading, even if not actually enjoyable. There he attacks, and lays bare, the enrire machinery of an evil System.

[@VeronicaSanchez-nn4de]

Finished the book yesterday and so far best book of 2024, it’ll be in my top 🔝 ten 🔟 books of all times 😊.

[@whitneypencina6524]

You captured exactly, to a tee, how I felt after reading this- it has me so much “in its clutches” (in a good way) that I want to reread it- and watch all the movies to see if there is one that does justice to it! Amen!

[@christijanrobert1627]

Tolstoy had that rather rare, reverent gift of taking the mundane and making it sacred. He could craft a moment and it felt holy (Levin working the fields; Sergei thinking about his mother; the death of Levin's brother; Dolly visiting her sister-in-law). The trouble is, in Anna Karenina, the rare moments of beautiful, mundane moments are washed along amongst the debris of daily banality and endless padding. It doesn't happen at once. The novel builds from the grand opening moments (Levin being rejected by Kitty; Vronsky meeting Anna) and leads into some explorative territory (Levin and his land, Anna and Vronsky delving into the adulterous relationship) but the novel at a certain point, like a Jenga tower teeters and crashes into the tedious. Kitty giving birth, Anna's plunge into darkness then become the final, loose treasures to proffer in a book that is gratuitous in detail and self-indulgent in execution. This 'greatest novel', I feel robs the reader of any true reward. The book is all seduction, no pay off. Beautiful moments do not make a novel the way beautiful, superficial sentiments do not make a relationship. The same could be said of beautiful writing. However, the lack of cohesion here is glaring even if we consider the wobbly, predictable structure of "Anna then Levin then Anna then Levin and so on". Though there is no moralizing here, the sermon is apparent. Otherwise, the segments that create the contrasting parts, I would argue do not connect to a greater whole, only a clunky finished product that is a chore to wade through and eventually, with a groaning sigh, complete. War and Peace is a better novel in through line; Tolstoy's short novels are mainly perfect. This.... this... For me, in the end, this book is a beautiful and majestic trainwreck, it appeals and seduces but promises little and delivers such a whimper in the end. It is not my cup of tea but whatever floats one's boat.

[@randallbokma2619]

Couldn't agree with this more. Such a letdown for me after the absolutely electric War and Peace, though I guess that would be a hard one to top.

[@kalosja]

Read AK 5 times. For me best novel ever written. In your introduction you lack the condition of censorship T was writing under. Ts ideas of emancipation of state, peasant, women was radical and forbidden.

[@jordancarroll9397]

Why did Anna kill herself? My biggest epiphany on this topic is quite topical amid these covid lockdowns. Look at the increase in suicides during lockdown. We are social beings, and Anna is basically quarantined from society; Vronsky has been vaccinated, and is out and about whilst Anna is locked down with her jealous thoughts. Another thought I've had is she doesn't necessarily want to die, she wants to punish Vronsky in the most extreme way possible, and she is merely collateral damage of Vronsky's ultimate punishment. Just discovered your page and it's great, especially as I've been reading mainly russian literature for the past year or so.

[@kgilliagorilla2761]

The drugs made her way more paranoid. She drove herself into a delusional madness. She chose isolation the moment she saw Vronsky.

[@aet5807]

YES. That’s what I thought.

[@BanjoBumbleBee]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that considered getting all the different translations. 😅 I watched the Kiera Knightley movie just to get some context on time period, clothing, characters etc. struggled to keep up with whats going on. Currently reading the Rosamund Barlett translation. Think I'll get a new translation every new year 😊

[@leewhite8355]

Mine too ,it’s wonderful & gets better after every re read ❤️

[@judan1998]

I find that almost every filmed version of the novel trivializes (or at least marginalizes) the relationship of Levin and Kitty, practically making them secondary characters, but without them as a parallel, the relationship of Anna and Vronsky and their "descent" loses poignancy.

[@noname2day394]

My first novel read after a long time since I finished highschool was Anna Karenina. Since then no other novel seems to impress me as Anna Karenina. And while I am against cheating big time I remember how I went on Anna and Vronsky s side without even realising, forgetting about my moral values while reading it. It's quite fascinating how Tolstoi managed to almost hypnotise my subconscious. I also cried for Anna... When in real life I would have condemned her.😁

[@Rokas-fh9tv]

I was stunned how 1100 pages can have not a single boring page (except the last 80 pages of Levin’s inner thoughts, which i could not care about anymore). Even simple things with agricultural process, or bird hunting, to me were almost breathtaking. The book really makes things, that generally are boring, interesting. This is why the book is a master piece. Anna lost her mind in the end (constant taking of morpheus did not help) and she always needed to win a power struggle, no matter what. That’s why she chose her fate. She saw it as the only way to win it. As the channel owner says, a great book haunts you for a long time. There are very few books that haunt you for a long time. To me, the main question that haunts me, is why Anna and Vronsky could not be more open to each other about their inner fears, and make things work, it was like they absolutely distrusted each other and kept each other of their soul altogether, although caring a lot about each other. How love can be so irresponsible after going such a difficult path and having sacrificed so much, career, reputation, social status. After making it work despite huge external obstacles, why could not they do anything to cope with inner ones?

[@minh8313]

Wow! What a lovely review! I reading it right now and I'm very excited after hearing your take on the work! I just found your channel and subscribed! also you have such a pretty eye color, look forward to more reviews

[@melindahuntley9873]

I've read Anna Karenina three times from different translations, and yeah it haunts me a bit too, more than any novel the characters are so real to me, Tolstoy is a genius me thinks!

[@villagechillershorror228]

Funny how your thoughts match mine. Especially, the suicide. It baffles me greatly. And hey, Great vid!!!

[@sonitagovan]

I remember my parents sending me to bed when they watched Anna karenina as a child and I used to sneak watch it just to know why I had been sent to bed.... and the bits and bobs I watched of it weren't memorable at all to me in fact I was totally underwhelmed by it so when I picked up the book as an adult I wasn't expecting very much from it but I can honestly say that reading that book was an ah ha moment in my life ....a light bulb moment. It changed so much of my perspectives on life, love, happiness,sacrifice and belief in God and its a book that stayed in my head for weeks after I had read it. Unfortunately for me I really needed to talk about all those thoughts in my head after I read it and I had no one else to talk to about it who had actually read the book so I bored my mom and sister with all these random thoughts which they could barely make sense of. Like you at the time I watched every U tube review and video on it went through all the series and mini series available just to burn it out of my system. I am intoxicated by this book which is why a year later I am still watching u tube videos on it and how I stumbled upon yours. Great video... I feel your passion and energy for this book down to my toes!

[@RaylanGivens123]

I know the book has been out for over a hundred years, but can you label this as having spoilers please!

[@aaa_1727]

Haha, yes, I felt the same in a few places!

[@patriciapendlbury2603]

Is the translation abridged or unabridged by Bartlett

[@stephenvizinczey438]

A good review and explanation, enjoyed watching

[@premalabonisiddiqui3256]

Which BBC adaptation are you referring to? 1961, 1977, or 2000?

[@djwarrior1421]

I imagine Tolstoy would find Shakespeare about entertainment. Love to hear you analysis.

[@ipshitajee]

Can you please suggest the best translation for this book??

[@csm92459]

Love AK--definitely my favorite novel. And I've never met anyone voice disappointment in the lead up and reasoning for her suicide. I couldn't wrap my head around why. It seemed to me that leaving her son was a more traumatic experience than her current situation/thoughts of Vronsky. Subscribed.

[@karelvorster7414]

Why Benjamin McEvoy never uses a comb and does his videos wearing pyjamas.

[@djwarrior1421]

Enduring is a great way to say it. So crazy how it could be such a snoozer while also wrecking your heart.

[@VidyaNesarikar]

❤❤

[@andysoul295]

Love your work. Thank you.

[@larryreilly7]

I cannot read this book with the depth of understanding that you have, so I wonder if you have any insight on this. When I read about Vronsky's steeplechase horse race, and he breaks the horse's back, I was filled with foreboding that he was going to destroy Anna. That he would "break her back" somehow in some vain, selfish pursuit, but I didn't feel that this happened in the end. I'm puzzled. The horserace felt like foreshadowing..... What do you think?

[@tinyrick2921]

Anna Karenina is also my favorite novel of all, so seeing this video really excited me. It would take an hour of video at least to analyze the book with justice. War and Peace changed my life when I first read it, but ambitious as it was, it didn't have the charm, simplicity and wisdom of Anna Karenina. I always thought that War and Peace was Tolstoy at his peak, flexing his capabilities (and succeeding of course), but in Anna Karenina, Tolstoy was wiser and had nothing to prove, and dealt with the heart of the matter in writing, which is, a story. This simple book (plotwise) about an adulteress (who I never really cared as much as its secondary character Levin), ironically, is the best book I have ever read, and I've read hundreds of them. It's just the best. (Among my top 5-7 books are from Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Cervantes, Sade and Xeqin. I recommend everyone to read the Story of the Stone (or Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xeqin, which is like the national Chinese novel (or series). If Anna Karenina is the pinnacle of Western prose, this one is of the East for me 🙂)

[@kentcozad7275]

I love The Tom Stoppard film with Keira. Captures Tolstoy’s characters beautifully.

[@ramenlover_x]

I AGREE SO MUCH.. i really like the interpretation from Gary Saul Morson.

[@Abuamina001]

"Hadji Murat" is a Tolstoy gem.

[@arijayari1076]

I loved the video (as always)! And i just got Anna karenina today, started it and already loving it. I think though that it would be good if you add a spoiler alert to the title or description since you've mentioned some events like Anna's suicide and all

[@ReligionOfSacrifice]

My favorite author is Ivan Turgenev who said "one day all writers will sit under the shade of Leo Tolstoy. Now Ivan on his death bed told Leo Tolstoy to write again. So he did and wrote "Resurrection" which is my favorite story of all time after "The Holy Bible" and "Verbal Behavior." So Ivan Turgenev (my favorite author) gained for me my favorite literary story which was written in 1899. Ivan Turgenev is still better than him in the sense he wrote so many great stories. TOP 10 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) "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy 8) "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 9) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev 10) "Roots" by Alex Haley 13) "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin 14) "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 16) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev 21) "Cancer Ward" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 27) "Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev 30) "In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 47) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy 49) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev 52) "An Island Hell" by S.A. Malsagoff 58) "The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: an Experiment in Literary Investigation" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 70) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy 80) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev 84) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev 91) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 99) "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin 106) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev 115) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev 116) "Volodya" by Anton Chekhov 117) "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov 120) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky 122) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev 139) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev 144) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev Nearly ten percent of all books I love are from Ivan Turgenev.

[@zacharyloftin8559]

Hi Ben! I just joined the book club on Patreon and I’m super excited for the coming years books. Any ideas about what the club will be starting the new year with? Also what is the ideal translation or version of Anna Karenina to read? Thanks and I love your videos.

[@monalux9754]

I just finished this book, and it was absolutely superb. Wonderful, the characters were incredible. It’s definitely my new fav. If I had to critique one small thing, it would be how nearer to the end (but before Kitty gives birth), when Levin goes to Anna and Vronsky’s house, he finds himself enraptured with her. It just seemed very uncharacteristic of him, who is very devoted to Kitty and would not usually even consider a woman like Anna in any way.

[@GH-fb9dh]

It was a moment thing, it happens even to people who are deeply in love and happily married, believe me. It’s not like he was numb just because he loved Kitty, life and people are not like that 😂. The point was showing Anna’s power of seduction. He soon forgets it.

[@pinksalamanders]

Amazing book, I just finished it for the first time. Tolstoy's lack of judgment is fascinating because I think a reader's character is revealed by what they took away from the book. I don't want to hang out with or date anyone who came away thinking Anna was a helpless tragic victim. I saw her as a villain and was absolutely shocked to see people sympathize with and even idolize her.

[@avalonhester]

I think that's a bit far. I think what's so brilliant about her character is the complexity of her. Tolstoy was motivated to write the book in part after witnessing the body of a young woman who had committed suicide in a similar manner to Anna Karenina and for similar reasons. In initial drafts of Anna Karenina, Tolsoty portrayed Anna as much more obviously villainous, crude, and unlikeable. I think what makes her, and all Tolstoy characters, so interesting is that, while I certainly wouldn't call them morally grey, part of their feeling of realness is the fact that they act as people act. Motivated by things they might not realize are problematic until later. I think either idolizing of hating Anna is not really the point.

[@BeatrizOliveira-ti5kl]

I felt sorry for her. She was no victim or villain. She as a person, just like anyone of us, with bad and good qualities. And, just like the most us, all she wanted was to be loved. That's the most magical thing about this book, wich i can say its my favorite.

[@SirThomasJames]

@@BeatrizOliveira-ti5kl Same. I always believed people who see her as a villain lack a certain kind of empathy. I even read reviews in which people said they "hate her" or "watned her to die". Wow. Then you really didn't get anything. I guess it might be a matter of age, when you're younger and have a limited perspective, you might dislike/hate her. When you get older, you start to understand more

[@tommy7880]

we would definitely not get along. you clearly misunderstood anna as a character

[@penssuck6453]

@@tommy7880 What a shallow response. Do tell us the correct understanding.

[@Michael-hw5wk]

I am actually surprised by this as I found Anna Karenina fairly straight forward whereas I prefer the complexity of Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. However, I will say that Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich is in my top three favorite novels.

[@Anna-mc3ll]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this novel, Ben! Have you ever read Tolstoy’s “Resurrection”? If so, what do you think about it? And if not, why? I’d appreciate your comments on this! Many thanks 😊 Anna

[@virginiarussell8383]

Just read AK again after numerous years. I don’t think it matters about the spoilers, I still thought it was terrific (and easy to read) even though I knew the plot. The Beautiful Lie (2015 Australia) might still be on Netflix and is a great modern adaption, probably best to watch after reading the book. Anna, of course, is a real pain, selfish and self obsessed. Maybe she kills herself to punish everybody else. Tolstoy compares life in society circles with the slow turning of the seasons of pastoral life, and masterfully contrasts Anna’s downfall with Levin and Kitty’s inner transformations. So many great side characters too.

[@ТатьянаГубина-и1и]

I have always been so sorry for Karenin and for he kids. They were not to blame for their wife and mother being a wonton.

[@mlr4524]

Wow. Tolstoy was a student of human nature and that elusive human : 'god' consciousness mesh, for lack of a better way to put it. I'm sure he would be pleased with your equally philosophical assessment. I confess I haven't read the novel since high school (many, many years ago), but have also been catching up on various adaptations. Last night I watched the 2012 Italian/Lithuanian production (released in English in 2013) which was presented as a tv mini series (although not sure in which countries), featuring Vittoria Puccini (Anna) and Santiago Cabrera (Vronsky). What struck me from a modernist perspective and the way the script was rendered was that Anna was exhibiting traits of borderline personality disorder and post-partum depression, unknown and untreatable at the time of course. Vronsky has his own issues of course (and reminds me of an ex-boyfriend lol). Tolstoy didn't have a copy of the DSM, but was brilliantly observant. It wasn't a cold and calculated production though. It was beautifully filmed and heartbreaking. Available on youtube.

[@shahriaaribneyeasin485]

It's one of my favourites too but I would prefer to read the drafts, variants, excised chapters and passages too. It covers 2 full volumes of Leo Tolstoy's works in Russian but I don't know Russian unfortunately

[@enrico1976]

Lovely review! In your opinion, which is the best English translation? Thank you and keep up the great work!!

[@grellis6483]

I read Anna Karenina in my teens 50 years ago). I told a literary adult in his 40s about my disappointment with the novel, compared to War and Peace which I enjoyed greatly. He immediately said I should read it again when I turned 25. I never have but am finally inspired again to do so by your enthusiasm! P.S. Tolstoy's objections to Shakespeare are really quite absurd and demonstrate him at his very weakest. It is hard not to conclude they arise from a quite juvenile jealousy.

[@carmenl163]

I find Anna Karenina, in many ways, similar to Princess Diana. They both married older men with a higher status, were not really in love with them, and ended up being adulterous. They both had abandonment issues, were beautiful, and had children they could not raise themselves. They both were rich, part of society, and scorned by society. Princess Diana had invented a new role for herself. But I wonder how desperate she would have been 10 years later, with numerous failed relationships and possibly being cast out. Would she have ended up like Anna? I wouldn't be surprised.

[@rchlboyd]

I came here after watching The Beautiful Lie 2015. I have of course heard of Anna Kerenina but have never read but will. I would like to hear any thoughts about this adaptation from people have read the book and seen this film. Is it a worthy adaptation? I thought the movie was brilliant.

[@RossMcgowanMaths]

Just finished the last 200 pages of Anna Karenina over the last few days. I actually took your advice and never read any introductions and never listened to any spoiler reviews. The book actually turned in the last 150 or so pages. At 2.27 you asked why she killed herself ? Tolstoy had finished with her , you can't find real happyness externally , you gotta look inside first. No one can really love you until you learn first to love yourself. Anyway that's my take on Anna and Veronsky. Finally in the last book we get the meat on the bones of the novel. Yes Levin was Tolstoy , being God. Giving us his take on the human condition and the place of faith , religion ,science , reason in answering human condition questions. One of the main premises he holds , 'reason doesn't explain why humans err towards goodness'. But reason does explain this , anyone who has played a team sport will know that each individual player has to be sometimes greedy but most of the time selfless in order for a team to win. Human survival is much easier in tribes and goodness one to another is essential for the tribes survival therfore the survival of the individual. Anyway lots to think about. I will go write a short essay today while it's still fresh. Yes I am really glad to have read it and I have enjoyed it and found it a worthwhile and enlightening experience. I need to read more in order to place this book in context with others.

[@roses6564]

"No one can really love you until you learn first to love yourself." This trope needs to go. People don't just "learn to love themselves." It makes no sense. They simply accept themselves as they are and let go of social static, social expectations and neuroticism, if they can. This is realism as opposed to Sloganism. Otherwise, it takes two to love: if one finds his/her match, a best friend, that's a start. Anna didn't have a match neither in Karenin, nor in Vronsky. She looked for fulfillment but could not find it anywhere as this is not easy to come by. She overreacted when she realized fulfillment won't come because Vronsky didn't have hold the key to that for her. Another may have but she never found him. Levin thinks he found his match but only time will tell. What did Time tell us about Tolstoy and his outlook on life? How did it work out with his wife and fam? Aah.

[@jaknafein]

put SPOILERS in the description if you're gonna say Vronsky tried to kill himself. Really mate

[@ryannoronha4427]

Vronsky and Anna Karenina - I've just started reading the novel and this really spoilt it for me. :(

[@VioletEmerald]

I know it's been ages since you two late these comments but if it makes people feel better, spoilers can kinda help people enjoy a story more because what's really interesting to our minds more than what happens is how it happens exactly. And it's just one plot point in a sea of events. And research on spoilers is just so fascinating.

[@hiranyagupta6954]

Thank you for acknowledging the spiritual transformation Levin went through. It's such a missed out part for all the wrong reasons.

[@Anicius_]

What about the brothers Karamazov

[@Jiji_watching]

Haha you’re the first one who pointed out the very reason I return to Anna Karenina in every one or two years. I can’t understand the characters’ decisions, and they don’t get out of my head.. ridiculosuly, shakespeare also made this effect on me. Why? Why? Why? And as you read more and more, you realize that Tolstoy is a true mechanic. The boring tik-toks of intricate intallation that preordains the destiny(ending) of the characters. About video art based on this book, I prefered the Russian musical or the unpopular Russian movie. All the other things produced outside, especially in America, are in my eyes nonsense, couldn’t catch a single mood of the Moscow train’s wind. Ah wish to discuss about this book with you in person, garnishing Antony and Cleopatra..so many words to say. Thank you for the video.

[@GuitarCoast]

Great video😊

[@therealignotus7549]

Wait? Is this the main chanel? Cause you had many more recent videos?

[@overlandkltolondon]

For me, Tolstoy is Number 1. Dostoevsky is Number 2. Shakespeare is Number 3.

[@brianbonilla7720]

Damn it, i just started reading it and now i know major spoilers. I knew watching this was a bad idea..

[@juanfragueiroaramburu]

Loved the Russian and French pronunciations. Well spotted! Have you studied those languages?

[@sarahcarter2650]

Let me say first that I treasure your lectures and videos. There is so little intelligent discussion of literature in the world available to those of us who cannot take University courses. I myself I'm 70 years old, nearly bed banned from arthritis, and constantly seek sustenance for my hungry mind. You ask why Anna kills herself. You seem baffled almost. I, on the other hand, feel that I quite understand why Anna kills herself: Shame and loss, and feeling that she can never be redeemed by the society that's so harshly judges her for her choices as she harshly judges herself. The choices she has made have left her with a loss of her son, her place in society. She is shunned by society for her relationship with Vronsky and even if she could obtain a divorce from her husband it is uncertain in her mind that Vronksy would marry her. She feels as though she has ruined her life and there is no way to recover any of her losses especially her reputation. She cannot face the life she finds herself in, the shame, the damage she has done to people. She does not want to face it and so she runs away into an oncoming train.

[@christianduran7138]

Why do you think that Tolstoy named the book Anna Karenina rather than Konstantin Levin?

[@roses6564]

Great question. Bad title. I have a feeling it was because of his moralistic yearnings even as he was trying to suppress them. We know better.

[@frankmorlock1403]

It's at least 50 years since I read Anna Karenina and more than 20 since I translated an excellent stage adaptation of the novel. I'm not sure, but I think I read it after learning about Tolstoi's bizarre relationship with his wife. While Levin may be a Tolstoi stand -in in much the way Pierre was in War and Peace knowing what a mess Tolstoi's private life was make it hard to adopt his views on marriage and happiness .Tolstoi the writer is capable of going shoulder to shoulder with the greatest writers the human race has produced thus far But Tolstoi the man with eccentric religious and social ideas made a mess of his marriage and his own life. At first I sided with Tolstoi against his wife, but eventually realized he would drive almost any woman crazy. In the end he ran away from her. It's a difficult problem when you realize that your heroes have feet of clay. To his credit as a writer he's not very judgmental towards his characters. Anna is not a bad person, and she's married to a much older man. Up to the point where the novel opens, she's reasonably happy in her marriage and with her life. She's been lucky or perhaps unlucky in that she has never known real passion. She's calm. In steps the dashing Vronsky and that calm is gone forever. Vronsky is a decent fellow but falls for Anna, and Anna is lost. Back when I was young, I was an attorney and did a lot of divorce work. It's a very common situation that endlessly repeats itself with slight variations. Vronsky eventually realizes that he's ruined her life and his own, but being decent he can't simply walk out on Anna. Anna realizes that Vronsky no longer loves her, or at least he wishes that he didn't. She's a burden to him. So she's trapped and he's trapped in a false situation (to use Tolstoi's terminology.) It was not a situation you could live down. At the time, divorce was not an available option without the husband's consent. Karenin could have divorced her but didn't wish to. Anna didn't want to go back but couldn't marry Vronsky. And Vronksy 's honor is rooted in dishonour, to echo Tennyson. Now for those who think modern divorce would solve this problem, let me tell you it wouldn't. A more cynical couple would simply have had a quiet affair and, said goodbye once their passions cooled. Today, it's true, Anna could divorce and marry Vronsky. But marrying a man who's grown tired of you isn't a formula for happiness. The marriage will last a year or two and end in divorce again. Less scandal, but no happy ending.

[@MoscowO]

Why did Anna kill herself? The way I see it is that Tolstoy shows love as an element (tsunami, earthquake, avalanche...). A human being is nothing against it, just a speck of dust. If you find yourself in the middle of tsunami, you know there's no way out. The same is love, if you're struck by it, nothing can save you, nor kids, nor husband's privileged position, nor rules of the society, no sense, no logic. What happens after a tsunami? Destruction, emptiness, death and complete ruin. The same with love after it ended, I think Tolstoy being such a powerful writer made it so dramatic to emphasise this idea. Love is an element and it's a tragedy.

[@jeffsmith3221]

I thought Don Quixote was your favorite!?! Maybe I misunderstood. Love your vid's!

[@Fern635]

I guess I shouldn't have watched this while I'm just starting the book 🤣

[@ryokan9120]

What about that age-old question? Tolstoy or Dostoevsky? In my opinion, Tolstoy never wrote a book that could match The Brothers Karamazov, though I suspect most critics would disagree with my assessment.

[@carmenl163]

I loved that book, too-it had great humour in it. But for me, as a woman, Anna Karenina has more characters I can identify with.

[@cjripley32]

I just finished reading it and I don't know how to recover from it, it was horrible and glorious. The first hundred or so pages in, I realized that nobody could ever adapt this book successfully into a movie, the characters' experiences of the world were too complex and everything was really happening in their heads. I tried watching some clips from the Kiera Knightly movie and it was so cringey.

[@kangakid5984]

I enjoyed your review even though I honestly did not enjoy the book. Actually if you look at the footnotes and comments in War and Peace it gives you insight into his ideas about phenomena. Suicide being the topic here. I really enjoyed War and Peace and also Katia. I know my comments will be condemned but for me, it is not such a great read. I respect that others love it though.

[@TarotTrismagistus]

WOAHHH. I had not read it yet… Spoiler alert would have been great

[@aet5807]

I think she killed herself to punish Vronksky. She was getting very jealous and losing her grip on reality. That she thought it would hurt him the way she felt hurt.

[@veronikavart9651]

красивые глаза. спасибо за видео.

[@roses6564]

Anna Karenina is a work of art and great thought but it should have never been titled this way. Anna is essentially an unremarkable woman. She is somewhat shallow and there is little evidence of her depth. The relationship that draws her into that existential mess is testimony to that. One would think an outcome this dramatic would be the result of an epic romance with depth, layers and certainties. Vronsky is only capable of so much. Levin is the only one demonstrating aspiration to something transcendental, yet he still manages to end up with a woman who essentially spells "boring." I am not at all convinced Levin and Kitty = HEA. With a woman like that, Levin will dead-end into end-of-life Tolstoy. It's how it goes...

[@luly2323]

Sorry but you missed most of the book ….which was about Levin. Anna was only 1 tenth of this book!

[@ethanhutchison3180]

Maybe throw in a spoiler alert?

[@alyalies2702]

Es un buen libro .

[@peenweinerstein9968]

Me too

[@NeonRadarMusic]

The only flaw I found with the book was the recurrence of contemporary Russian politics in the story which, unless you're that knowledgeable, can be quite testing. Aside from that it's one of the best things I've ever read.