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Anna Karenina (Signet Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy , David Magarshack , Priscilla Meyer
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 5, 2002
The sensual, rebellious Anna renounces a respectable yet stifling marriage for an affair that offers passion even as it ensnares her for destruction. Her story contrasts with that of Levin, a young, self- doubting agnostic who takes a different path to fulfillment.


@DoTheLocomotion Some gentleman danced with me the whole night. We got a little grinding on, but not too much. This is formal Russian society, mind you.

Apparently by dancing with Vronsky I pussy-blocked a girl called Kitty. I suppose that’s ironic. You’d think with a name like that…

From Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books in Twenty Tweets or Less


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Anna Karenina (Signet Classics) + Les Misérables (Signet Classics) + The Great Gatsby
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Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

About the Author

Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty in the army, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 1857. In 1862, Tolstoy married Sophie Behrs, a marriage that was to become, for him, bitterly unhappy. His diary, started in 1847, was used for self-study and self-criticism; it served as the source from which he drew much of the material that appeared not only in his great novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), but also in his shorter works. Seeking religious justification for his life, Tolstoy evolved a new Christianity based upon his own interpretation of the Gospels. Yasnaya Polyana became a mecca for his many converts At the age of eighty-two, while away from home, the writer suffered a break down in his health in Astapovo, Riazan, and he died there on November 20, 1910.

David Magarshack was known for his many translations from his native Russian, including works by Dostoyevsky.


Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 960 pages
  • Publisher: Signet Classics (November 5, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451528611
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451528612
  • Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1.5 x 6.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,721 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.

Customer Reviews

One of the best books ever written. Raji  |  14 reviewers made a similar statement
I think the book would speak to everyone that reads it. jim wang  |  12 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent on so many levels November 11, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Don't go through life without reading "Anna Karenina." This novel is excellent on so many levels that you can read it again and again, as I have, and still thoroughly enjoy it. Tolstoy skillfully tells two different stories simultaneously, based on the same theme: How does one find true happiness? Anna makes a choice and tries to bravely see it through, trying all the while to persuade herself that she's found happiness, but you can feel the strain build as the novel nears its climax. Levin nearly drives himself insane in his mental tug-of-war over where his place in life should be, but eventually comes full circle. In their journeys, Anna and Levin cross paths, with fascinating results. I can't stress enough that this book is a must-read. Be prepared to be thoughtful, depressed, elated and emotionally drained.
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply, The Novel June 16, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Anna Karenina" is why the novel was invented. It is a colossal achievement that fully exploits the possibilities inherent in the literary form. The purpose of the 19th-century novel was to explore character and to critique society, and Tolstoy here has achieved the quintessence of both aims. The thing about Tolstoy is that you can trust him -- he is utterly honest. He doesn't revise, or simplify, or sugar-coat. He presents the human mind, in its various guises, precisely as it is. Levin, to my mind, rivals Hamlet as the most vivid, fully living character in literature, and he is probably much more self-consistent than the Melancholy Dane. Anna's story, which is more melodramatic and plot-heavy, might strike some as a flaw in comparison to Levin's. And maybe it is a flaw. But one must talk about flaws in "Anna Karenina" as one talks about flaws in Beethoven's 9th Symphony -- blemishes on a masterpiece which, if it errs, errs only in striving further than the art form is supposed to go.

Tolstoy's genius at depicting character and psychology is matched by his ability to construct vivid, memorable setpieces. No one who has read "Anna Karenina" can ever forget the hay-mowing, or Vronksy's horse race, or the heartbreaking scenes of Levin's sickly brother.

Even Dickens, with all his glorious phantasmagoria, never achieved what Tolstoy has done here. Tolstoy caught lightning in a bottle: homo sapiens, captured in 800-odd pages. There are only a handful of comparable achievements in all of Western art.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars "what can you name that's superior?" February 28, 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
For the longest time I have been reticent to write a review of Anna for fear of not being able to do the book justice. I still have that fear, but the time has come to at least say that this is my favorite novel of all time. I refer to the Magarshack translation which I have read and now re-read. I can't imagine a more intriguing story... admittedly however, it would help if the reader had an interest in the world that Tolstoy inhabited. There are so many (often lengthy) asides into his thoughts on abstention from worldly riches / social reconstruction etc. Tolstoy gets his character Levin to do reams of his own preaching on these subjects but again, because I find Tolstoy himself to be one of the most interesting characters Russia has ever produced, I don't mind finding him so obviously entrenched in his own story here.

But "Anna" is first and foremost a LOVE story which depicts the fleeting and disastrous effects of tempestous/undisciplined love (Anna and Vronsky) over against the lasting and mutually beneficial results of patient/disciplined love (Levin and Kitty). This book is an important masterpiece without rival in literature. Reading such a book on one's death-bed would not be a waste of time.

When I think of Anna, I am reminded of something that Solzhenitsyn made one of his fictional characters say in his book The First Circle: "In the 17th century there was Rembrandt, and there is Rembrandt today. Just try to improve on him. And yet the technology of the 17th century now seems primitive to us. Or take the technological innovations of the 1870's. For us they're child's play. But that was when Anna Karenina was written. What can you name that's superior?"

Read Anna... and you will be as silent as I am on that one!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Gotta love those Russians
It's just typical. Long, and wordy, and oh, so dramatic, but if you love the Russians, you'll love Anna K. Read more
Published 2 months ago by JoAnne Potter
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book; A Must Read
Spoiler Alert!: In this summary/review I try to give a description of some of the characters in the novel and some topics you will find in it as well. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Blossoms
5.0 out of 5 stars Love and Death
This translation sucks! Just kidding! I just love when I read a classic and I look at negative reviews, it's always about the translation. Read more
Published 5 months ago by mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Uncontrolled and unforgiven
Anna Karinina makes a bad choice in marriage and tries to make up for it by abandoning her husband and child and running off with young cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Hinkle Goldfarb
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
I am enjoying reading Anna Karenina. I'm sure it will take me a while to complete it but I am taking my time and absorbing every word.
Published 14 months ago by Phyllis A. Houghton
5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Novel I've Read
I am not exaggerating when I say Anna Karenina is the greatest novel I have ever read. I have read quite a lot but still have a great deal to go to say I've tackled the world's... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Nerhtoc
5.0 out of 5 stars Embarrassment of riches
It's not necessary for me to repeat the high praise heaped upon ANNA KARENINA, which although slow-going in spots is nonetheless highly recommended by practically everyone, a world... Read more
Published on August 16, 2010 by Allen Smalling
4.0 out of 5 stars Something for Everyone
Like many people who begin reading Anna Karenina, I was intimidated by the size of the novel. As I'm a slow reader, I took it at my own pace. Read more
Published on June 8, 2010 by Lacey Losh
5.0 out of 5 stars Kicking over the traces
Dostoevsky hailed the novel as a great masterpiece. Of course I concur. Stiva and Dolly Oblonsky quarrelled. Stiva headed a government department. Read more
Published on February 13, 2010 by Mary E. Sibley
4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for mature readers
I loved the book I got here, Anna Karenina. This is a timeless classic by Leo Tolstoy about a woman torn by the decisions of her past and the confines of society and their affect... Read more
Published on January 26, 2010 by K. J. Walters
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Which Kindle version of Anna Karenina has the best translation?
Am also awaaiting the answer to your question
Jan 30, 2011 by RUTH LEWIS |  See all 2 posts
Who is the translator?
Everyman's Library started coming out with NEW editions and they are VERY nice. Is it the new one you're asking about or an older edition? (What's the copyright on the one you're looking at?) They may have changed which translation that they used (unlikely) -- but I can assure you of one fact: I... Read more
Nov 5, 2009 by Patrick W. Crabtree |  See all 4 posts
free books australia
thats the fee for the wireless roaming...only way to get rid of it is to have an address in the states as your billing address
Jan 23, 2010 by nuts about books |  See all 2 posts
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