Aug 13, 2007 12:47
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
4.5 out of 5
The only reason this book is not a 5 is the difficulty I had at times plowing through the political conversations that I did not understand. Now, for what is right with this book: Tolstoy wrote this book in such a way that I not only believed what each character was going through, but felt what they were going through as well. The best example of this is the heaviness of the first 300 pages of the book, which prepare for a sudden burst of activity and lightness when something finally changes which allows the reader to feel the same feeling of freedom the characters feel. Though I doubted my connection to the characters and the story all along, the last 75 pages proved differently; I was moved by the ending. Each of the main characters was believable (as were most of the other characters, but I often got them confused with each other so I can't say much about them), and through Tolstoy's narrative I understood their actions, even as I disagreed with some of them. This book certainly was not easy, but it was worth the 40 days it took me to read it. The events and the characters have become a part of my world view and have changed me.
rating system:
5: this book rocked my world
4: very good
3: decent
2: not really worth the time
1: did I really just read that?
0: useful for fires.
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