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Why
we chose this book
Don't
be intimidated by this surprisingly readable book. Filled with very flawed
characters, some will earn your heart and others your sympathy. This is an
amazing epic story.
~Beth
From Oprah's Book Club
An extremely sexy and engrossing read, this book tells the tale
of one of the most enthralling love affairs in the history of
literature—it truly was the "Harlequin Romance" of its day.
Penned while Tolstoy was wrestling with a religious crisis that nearly
destroyed him, the book is filled with passion and soul-searching.
Serialized in the Russian Herald from 1875–1877 and published in its
entirety in 1878, Anna Karenina was wildly popular and
controversial.
Yet Anna Karenina is a book that covers much more than one woman's
misguided love affair. Tolstoy's broad canvas is big enough to include
insight into happy marriages, adultery, sexuality, country life,
politics, masculinity and femininity, individuality, conformity,
altruism, love, death, longing and success. On nearly every one of its
more than 800 pages is a sliver of Tolstoy's philosophy of life. Again
and again, these small philosophical interludes resound with meaning
that is as applicable today as it was more than a century ago. In all of
literature, there are few novels that cover as much territory, or have
stood the test of time so well.
From
the Publisher
Anna
Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and
rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds
as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies
of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of
nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a
dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life
and all the variations on love and family happiness. While previous
versions have softened the robust, and sometimes shocking, quality of
Tolstoy's writing, Pevear and Volokhonsky have produced a translation
true to his powerful voice. This award-winning team's authoritative
edition also includes an illuminating introduction and explanatory
notes. Beautiful, vigorous, and eminently readable, this Anna Karenina
will be the definitive text for generations to come.
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