Anna Karenina
By Leo Tolstoy
Rating:6/10
Disclaimer: this was a really long read and took me months to finish.
Anna Karenina is centered around love, passion, morality, and societal constraint. Anna, is a woman who defies societal norms by engaging in an intense love affair with Count Vronsky, which ultimately leads to her downfall. The novel goes on to talk about her tragic fate with the life of Konstantin Levin, a landowner struggling to find meaning through work, marriage, and philosophical contemplation. Tolstoy writes on the inner conflicts of his characters, especially Anna, who is torn between her love for Vronsky and the expectations of Russian aristocracy. The novel delves into issues such as marriage, fidelity, gender roles, and the clash between personal desires and societal expectations. The book also explores philosophical and political debates of the time, making it not just a love story but also on human existence. It is definitely a patient read, as it is quite lengthy and slow-paced at times, but has psychological depth and intricate character development
Key Quotes
- All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
- If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.
- He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.