A wonderful account by a wonderful teacher and human being.

I had finally read my 10 year old copy of Anna Karenina to death. Therefore I decided to buy a new one. I was a bit leery about trying a new translation, but this edition pleased me very much.

There are three main reasons that I recommend this book:

1. Great Story
2. Very good Translation
3. Durable Hard Cover

Great Story

In this novel Tolstoy presents marriage and human relationships in a realistic manner. Anna Karenina details a passionate love affair and it's doleful consequences. The reader experiences this tumultuous love from the point of view of the two paramours, as well as the friends and family members whom their lives touch.

Nevertheless, a tale about a cheating wife does not great literature make.

The existential struggle for meaning in life and the nature of God figures strongly as a theme in Anna Karenina. Overshadowing, in my opinion, even the experiences of the book's namesake. Any lover of philosophy will enjoy this book immensely.

The Translation

As I mentioned before, this is a good translation. By good, I mean the following:

1. Russian words are footnoted - Some words lose their meaning and cultural context when translated to English. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky did a wonderful job leaving these terms in tact. There are notes at the back of the book that fully explain each Russian word.

For example, who knew that the "roll" that Stiva eats in my previous translation was actually a "kalatch?"

2. Names of the Characters are Preserved - Princess Darya Alexandrovna Oblonsky is also known as Darya and sometimes as Dolly. The use of names and nicknames is very important in language. I appreciate that the translator preserved the use of the patronymic and various names of each character. Too bad there is not a way to translate the Russian forms of address. Sigh.

3. Foreign Language Passages are Footnoted - Many of the members of the social sphere in which the book is set spoke multiple languages. Thankfully, when Tolstoy wrote a passage in French or German, the translators let it alone and wrote a translation at the bottom of the text.

Hardback

I tend to manhandle my books, so I like hardback. I think I've had this book for about a year. It's held up pretty well.

Unless you're the kind of person who uses bookmarks and doesn't fold pages, I recommend this edition instead of a softback book.

In conclusion, Pevear and Volokhonsky's work stands out as a stellar translation of one of literature's greatest masterpieces. I highly recommend this book!

Anna Karenina Alex Latushkin Leo Tolstoy Entry #4, March 21,1998

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is a definite masterpiece. I had always thought of the book as a tragic love story in which Anna Karenina falls under a train at the end. After reading the novel I came to conclusion that this aspect is just the basic foundation for the book. Leo Tolstoy conveys philosophy in to life's broadest issues such as love, hate, determination, religion, sin, and most importantly related to the novel, revenge. The novel includes many characters but its nine leading ones are Anna Karenina, Prince Stephan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky, Dolly, Konstantin Levin, Sergey Ivanovitch, Alexey Alexandrovitch, Kitty and of course Count Vronsky. These nine characters lead the novel to its height and Leo Tolstoy tells the story through their beliefs in an overall limited 3rd person point of view based upon each of these characters. The novel includes many stories in it; one is of Anna Karenina's determined passion for Vronsky and her sin of betraying her husband, Alexey Alexandrovitch. The tale slowly grows to a final tragic conclusion with the help of the other six characters. Levin's tale possesses just as such significance towards the overall view of the story as Anna's though. The story involves Levin, a decent man who is madly in love with Kitty and almost loses her to Count Vronsky, who decides to go after Anna instead. Through Levin's worries he finally proposes to Kitty but one problem still aces him; Levin is unsure of God's existence and at the end he comprehends that he is a true believer even though he is unsure of somethings (He is sure that God exists though). Prince Oblonsky and his wife Dolly first introduce Anna to the reader when Anna makes a visit to their home to set things right between her brother and sister-in-law. Their problem is based upon the fact that the Prince had an affair with a French dame and Dolly threatens divorce. After some important advice from Anna, the couple reunites! and continues their relationship with less zest however. I am very glad that Leo Tolstoy (also known as " Count Leo Tolstoy ") kept the reader up with the feelings of all of the main characters, otherwise, the story would have not possessed such a strong value as it did with the limited 3rd person point of view. At first when the reader was introduced to the fact that Anna proposed to run off with Vronsky and demand a divorce from her husband Alexey, I was much disappointed by her unethical actions. However, later in the story Tolstoy explains that Anna first married him from an early-arranged marriage because of Alexey's strong position in the world. Later in the book Anna conveys herself to be a well-sophisticated woman who is deeply in love with Vronsky and is very ill inside from her partings with her son, Seroizha. At that moment I began to see her a more decent person. In the early introduction and biographical profile of Leo Tolstoy the following quote sets the mood and summarizes the main theme of Anna Karenina: " Vengeance is mine and I will repay" (Tolstoy, 1968, p.ii). I think that this quote summarizes the theme because it deals directly with Anna's sins and how she paid with her life for the peccadilloes that she committed. Her sins involve not staying faithful to her husband, desiring a divorce, and when not receiving one begetting another man's child as her own. Anna believes that Vronsky will stay true to her forever but after a few years Anna begins to question his faithfulness. Her jealousy looses Vronsky and the end of part seven Anna purposely jumps under a train believing that this will escape her tragedies. I knew that this was destined to happen because I had quite good background knowledge of the plot before actually reading the book but I found one part of her death to be the saddest; I had not known of this part. After Anna jumps under the train she realizes that she is once again committing another sin and that she more than anything else desire! s to live. In the seconds that she spends before she death under the train, Anna changes her mind. When she decides to live though, her vengeance is repaid. Upon leaping from the train tracks " something huge and merciless struck her..." (Tolstoy, 1968, p.1248). I found this to be a very sad and scary moment; Anna had the chance to live but her decisions of living came too late. In conclusion, I would like to say that there is really original no way to characterize the book, or to make a great analysis of it; Leo Tolstoy already did so. Overall, I really enjoyed the book even though it was well over 1,000 pages and took me all quarter to read. Anna Karenina is well worth the pages that it takes up because every page conveys a new thought and idea while also staying to its main theme. The complexity of the book is not just of the main theme however. It is of the themes and lessons that each of the nine main aristocratic characters learn throughout the book.

This Edition, Pevear and Volokhonsky (Viking 2001), supposedly renders Tolstoy's Russian more faithfully than earlier ones, which attempted to "soften" him a bit for Western sensibilities. I actually bought this for a class, and my teacher, who reads it in the Russian, simply couldn't praise the translation enough, so if you're determined to read Anna Karenina already, you should probably get this edition.

As for the story, I found that the 800 pages just melted away. Long doesn't mean hard, after all, and I was sorry to see it end, to tell the truth.

The story revolves around seven different people in 1870s Russia. Superficially, it tells how Anna Karenina left her husband for another man, destroying her family, how Stiva Oblonsky ruined his family without leaving it, and how Konstantin Levin courted Kitty Shcherbatsky and they built a new family together.

Although it's enjoyable even on the superficial level, Anna Karenina rewards careful study, revealing intricate structure and interlocking symbolism throughout. Tolstoy thought it was his best work; critics have called it one of the best novels ever written; don't miss it.

One of the first things I read by Gogol was "Dead Souls" - and I was enchanted. These stories pale by comparison. (The translation may have something to do with that). Vol.II is better than Vol.I: it contains the true classics, like the "Overcoat". Still, I would recommend reading "Dead Souls" if you want to get a vivid impression of Gogol's genius.

the language of the stories is a little stilted, but it is tough to tell if that is gogol's fault or that of his translator (it is definitely time for a new translation). the stories range in all types and quality, though gogol is at his best when leaning towards the fantastique (kafkaesque comes mind). there are some good stories in the collection: diary of a madman (the only story that is genious), the portrait (gogol ruins what would have been his greatest story with a poorly written, unneccesary second half), the nose, the overcoat, and taras bulba (though a bit wordy and does carry on a little too long). vol 2 is by superior volume (if the editor's introduction and diary of a madman had been in it, there would be no point to volume one).

This publisher has collected in two volumes all of Gogol's short stories. Volume 1 contains Gogol's early work, including his first two books of stories. Several of the stories are good, but there are only two real gems here: "Ivan Schponka and His Aunt" and "Diary of a Madman." Volume 2 contains the real classics: "The Nose", "The Overcoat", etc.