Wednesday, January 26, 2011

All Happy Families are Like One Another...


Okay. So don’t freak out, I actually posted again in less than a week! Yeah, but I promised to talk about Anna Karenina and here I am, talking about the book.

First of all, I’d like to note that I finally finished Anna Karenina! Wahoo! And it wasn't even on my list for last week, but it was just sitting there, calling to me. Also, I wanted to procrastinate and what better way to do that then with a book?


For those of you who aren't familiar with the plotline of the book, Anna Karenina takes place in Russian during the 1800s. It revolves around two main characters: Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin. Honestly, I think Levin demanded to be a main character, and I'm really glad. He really balances out the book. I guess you could think of him as likeable to Anna’s unlikeable.  But I'm getting ahead of myself. Both Anna and Levin are members of the upper class in Russia. However Anna spends her time amidst high society going to balls, the opera, etc. Levin feels much more comfortable in the country, running his estate and he only ventures to society when he absolutely has to do so. Throughout the book, we follow Anna and Levin as they meet temptation and tragedy individually and watch how each have their own drastically different reactions with the things they come across in their respective lives.

Anna is considered a tragic heroine while she has an extremely tragic story, you can't help but feel that it's her own fault. Honestly, I really don't like her. If you can't tell. : ) But she is very realistic. I imagine that anyone in her situation would probably act the same way. They may not come to her final outcome but I think psychologically she does represent people who do the things she does. She so real! And I think that's what I love about this book. I may not like some of the characters, but they are so real I kept help but loving to read about them. Anyway, I'm trying not to ruin anything for those of you who haven't read Anna Karenina. It's a little difficult though to talk about her, but I shall persevere!

Anyway, I think Tolstoy did a brilliant job with her even if I didn't like her. He wrote her in such a way that I didn't like her because of her own actions not because Tolstoy told me she was a horrible person. Well, he did but you know what I mean. You have to figure out for yourself how wretched she is. He doesn't make it easy to hate her though. Even until the very end. By the novel's end, you'll start to pity her, much against your will, I promise. If nothing else will evoke your pity for Anna, Tolstoy forces you to with her last few moments in the novel. Darn you, Tolstoy! It was fantastic! Just the way he could manipulate you. Wow, just wow! I think if he'd written it any other way, you wouldn't feel the pity that you inevitably end up feeling. I was honestly close to tears. It's amazing how well he crafted it so that you can't help but pity her. I hope I can do that someday in my own writing. To be able to evoke pity in the reader for a character you hardly like. Wow. It's just amazing.

Anna was just a truly fantastically drawn character; however, my favorite, absolutely, was Levin. *sigh* He was just so sweet and cute and… poor guy. I’m probably making him unmanly for you. Lol. Not my intention! I guess the reason I liked him so much was that he as a character reminds me of the male characters in Jane Austen novels, in particular, Colonel Brandon and Captain Wentworth. *sigh* I lurve them. : ) They are just all such great characters. And what I liked about Levin was that he wasn’t perfect, but you still liked him anyway. He had his flaws. Some major ones sometimes, but he’s real. And that’s why he was my favorite.

Okay, so I loved Levin, but I have to admit that Anna's ending in the book is much more memorable than Levin's. I guess that's fitting though for both their characters. Levin lived in the quiet, country life so it makes sense that he would have a quiet ending. Anna's life was chaotic, dramatic so it makes sense that her ending would be epic.

In all, I really like Anna Karenina. It was a little difficult at first, but after about the first 5 chapters, you're hooked. It gets really hard to put down. Although I do admit that I found it easier to put down when Anna's sections came up. I really didn't like her. lol.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone for Levin alone! I heart Levin. He was awesome even though I didn't talk about him much in my blog. You'll just have to go read it and find out just how awesome he is! : ) And Anna's story is pretty good too, even if you don't like her.

Happy readings!
Heather

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