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A review by richardrbecker
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Amy Mandelker
5.0
There is a reason that many authors consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever written. Tolstoy captures so much in this remarkably complex novel with more than a dozen major characters, one could fill volumes with what could be gleaned from it — gender, society, social change, family life, economics, death, literary technique, agriculture, adultery, forgiveness, marriage, nationalism, imperialism, and so on. And Tolstoy does so in such a way that every one of his characters are remarkably real, honest, and surprisingly modern despite taking place in the 1870s.
At the heart of the novel, Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin are at the heart of the novel. Anna struggles between her passion for a wealthy and dashing military officer, her desire for independence, and her marital duty tied to both social convention and maternal love. Levin, on the other hand, struggles with defining his own identity in an increasingly alien and confusing world as the novel takes place against the transformation of Russia during a period of liberal reforms.
Chiefly for me, I was mesmerized by the Tolstoy's attention to perception and perspective. His characters feel real because they continually see the world through a micro lens (personal observations), a marco lens (societal and worldly ideas), and many other lens in-between them — all the while trying to understand their place in various settings, one-to-one (marriage), one-to-some (family), and one-t0-many (society). This effort to understand purpose can arguably called the fuel that fires most of our lives as much as the pages of this 800-page book. You never really tire with it.
At the same time, it clearly paints why Russia was more receptive to communism as a means forward over other conventions that were embraced by Europe. The historical aspects of this novel are just as important as the intimate nature of the work. The changing of the guard during this time period — a changing of the guard from old patriarchal values to free-thinking Western values — set the stage for the Russian Revolution that would take place 50 years later. Tolstoy was right in seeing Western convention didn't fit as well with Russian tradition as it might have across the rest of Europe.
Of course, knowing what Tolstoy would never know, makes Konstantin Levin even more heroic as a figure. Rather than choose sides, Levin straddles the tug of war between liberals and traditionalists, recognizing the need for the utility of western technology and agricultural science but not the analytical and abstract approach that others attempt to subject the country too. His approach is different as he would rather roll up his sleeves and overcome the mistrust of peasants with tangible results. He is an ordinary man, one of the Russian people, despite his aristocratic lineage — a quality that liken to Tolstoy himself.
In contrast, Anna Karenina struggles in a very different world as a woman searching for autonomy and passion in a male-dominated society. While beautiful, passionate, and educated, she is also a feminist heroine who places love over everything. She insists on following her heart alone, rejecting the social conventions that others cling. She does this despite the pain of exile. And while Anna seems much more self-centered in her journey compared to Levin, it could be that she has no other recourse in the world she in which she was born.
At the heart of the novel, Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin are at the heart of the novel. Anna struggles between her passion for a wealthy and dashing military officer, her desire for independence, and her marital duty tied to both social convention and maternal love. Levin, on the other hand, struggles with defining his own identity in an increasingly alien and confusing world as the novel takes place against the transformation of Russia during a period of liberal reforms.
Chiefly for me, I was mesmerized by the Tolstoy's attention to perception and perspective. His characters feel real because they continually see the world through a micro lens (personal observations), a marco lens (societal and worldly ideas), and many other lens in-between them — all the while trying to understand their place in various settings, one-to-one (marriage), one-to-some (family), and one-t0-many (society). This effort to understand purpose can arguably called the fuel that fires most of our lives as much as the pages of this 800-page book. You never really tire with it.
At the same time, it clearly paints why Russia was more receptive to communism as a means forward over other conventions that were embraced by Europe. The historical aspects of this novel are just as important as the intimate nature of the work. The changing of the guard during this time period — a changing of the guard from old patriarchal values to free-thinking Western values — set the stage for the Russian Revolution that would take place 50 years later. Tolstoy was right in seeing Western convention didn't fit as well with Russian tradition as it might have across the rest of Europe.
Of course, knowing what Tolstoy would never know, makes Konstantin Levin even more heroic as a figure. Rather than choose sides, Levin straddles the tug of war between liberals and traditionalists, recognizing the need for the utility of western technology and agricultural science but not the analytical and abstract approach that others attempt to subject the country too. His approach is different as he would rather roll up his sleeves and overcome the mistrust of peasants with tangible results. He is an ordinary man, one of the Russian people, despite his aristocratic lineage — a quality that liken to Tolstoy himself.
In contrast, Anna Karenina struggles in a very different world as a woman searching for autonomy and passion in a male-dominated society. While beautiful, passionate, and educated, she is also a feminist heroine who places love over everything. She insists on following her heart alone, rejecting the social conventions that others cling. She does this despite the pain of exile. And while Anna seems much more self-centered in her journey compared to Levin, it could be that she has no other recourse in the world she in which she was born.