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Anna Karenina

a Novel in Eight Parts
Jul 17, 2018gomiami1972 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Wow. Anna Karenina is very well written, the characters are true to themselves, you get keen insight into what Russian upper class society was like in the 1870s, an interesting and essentially believable plot and (everybody's favorite Tolstoy habit) 800+ pages of it to digest. All of the above are compliments. Tolstoy was a genius and it was is in full force in this book. The main criticism I would bring to light is that, while beautifully written, the book never compelled me to finish it. I would read a section and then would sometimes let it lie for a week untouched. Every great book pulls you into the story and you must know how it ends. With Anna Karenina, I came and went as I pleased. For the second straight Tolstoy book (War and Peace being the other,) I found myself liking the main characters the least. In W&P, I couldn't stand Pierre. Here, I found both Levin and Anna unpleasant. That I wanted to finish the book is a testament to its quality. While I don't favor the idea that Anna Karenina is the best novel ever written, it is well worth the time investment