Anna Karenina (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author), Louise Maude (Translator), Aylmer Maude (Translator), W. Gareth Jones (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2008 | Series: Oxford World's Classics

One of the greatest novels ever written, Anna Karenina sets the impossible and destructive triangle of Anna, her husband Karenin, and her lover Vronsky against the marriage of Levin and Kitty, thus illuminating the most important questions that face humanity. The second edition uses the acclaimed Louise and Alymer Maude translation, and offers a new introduction and notes which provide completely up-to-date perspectives on Tolstoy's classic work.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Some people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"One of the greatest love stories in world literature."
--Vladimir Nabokov --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 872 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Reissue edition (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199536066
• ISBN-13: 978-0199536061
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.5 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote two of the great novels of the nineteenth century, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

#42 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#45 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics

#42 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical

#45 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

148 of 164 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware, wrong translation! January 11, 2006

By Michael J. Keyes

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Everyman's Library edition of Anna Karenina is the Maude translation, not the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation praised by so many readers. That translation is available in a Penguin paperback and an out-of-print Viking hardcover edition. Amazon erred in displaying the readers' reviews of the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation under the description of the Everyman's Library book.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime reading December 30, 2000

By doc peterson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina is a masterpiece. If I were stranded on a desert isle, this is one of the books I would want with me. The story is essentially about a woman who leaves her husband for another man, only to come to a tragic end. Yet the main character is not really Anna, but Kostya Levin, almost the antithesis of Anna. And it is this polarization of characters that is one of the sublime features of this novel.

The characters themselves are especially an element that engrossed me. While there are a dizzying number of personalities, each lives "outside" of the story as well as within it - that is to say, even the most minor of characters seems to have a life of their own, only dropping in the story to play a small part before going on about their business. Each character has depth - they are much more than characitures of "good" and "evi", showing their humanity in their follies and in their decisions - for both good and evil.

Tolstoy has an alternative motive in Anna Karenina, though. The story has a barely perceptable religious tone to it, Tolstoy makes a moral statement about how life should be lived, and what a person's role in life should be in order to be "truly happy". This is the result of an epiphany that Tolstoy experienced while writing the novel - an event that changed his life and eventually estranged him from many of his children.

The only problem I foresee readers having is keeping characters straight (as this translation uses names as well as patronymics - meaning "the son / daughter of" as in Stepan Arkadyvitch: Stepan, son of Arkady). Individuals are referred to by name, patronymic or sometimes nickname (Kostya for Konstantin for example.) My recommendation is to write the characters down in order to keep track of them. With this said, I highly recommend this book - the language is beautiful, the plot is riviting, the story line although a bit moralistic is superb, and the characters are vivid and real.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Vanished world, eternal emotions March 23, 2000

By "sukiyaki02"

Format:Paperback

'Anna Karenina' is not just a window on a vanished time, place, and society - it is a lucid reflection on our own times and a spellbinding work of art. By taking us so intimately into the passions of Anna and the internal musings of Levin (just two out of a huge, colorful cast), Tolstoy creates an unforgettable exploration of happiness and sadness, conflict and peace, morals and emotions, mind and heart. Read this book for its wonderful story, Tolstoy's magically down-to-earth language, the subtly sketched characters - and the thoughts it is sure to provoke long after the last page.