Some people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Tolstoy's novel dramatized by BBC Radio. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Pevear and Volokhonsky, winners of the 1991 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for their version of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, have produced the first new translation of Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina in 40 years. The result should make the book accessible to a new generation of readers. In an informative introduction, Pevear gives the reader a history of the work Tolstoy called his first true novel and which took him some four years to write. Pevear explains how Tolstoy took real events, incorporated them into his novel, and went through several versions before this tale of the married Anna and her love for Count Vronsky emerged in its final form in 1876. It was during the writing of the book that Tolstoy went through a religious crisis in his life, which is reflected in this novel. The translation is easily readable and succeeds in bringing Tolstoy's masterpiece to life once again. For all libraries. Ron Ratliff, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Released to coincide with a new film version and featuring one of its stars, this recording compresses the original a little too much. We get the entire story of Anna's tragic adultery and the subplot of Levin's search for meaningful love and work. But the distinctive thematic material and Russian character are sacrificed. On the plus side, Molina reads well indeed. His impersonations have great depth. He can leap into their full emotional intensity from a dead stop, thus elevating the audio considerably above the level of "Cliffs Notes." Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Midwest Book Review
Tolstoy's classic novel of love comes alive under the practiced reading of film actor Alfred Molina, who brings to life the drama of beautiful married Anna, who falls madly in love with a count and whose affair shocks Russian society and tears her family apart. This abridged version retains high drama and provides listeners with lasting memories.
Anna Karenina FROM OUR EDITORS
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation of Anna Karenina is quite simply the most faithful rendering of Tolstoy's words ever accomplished. Winners of the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for their translation of The Brothers Karamazov, Pevear and Volokhonsky bring the same literary and cultural fastidiousness to one of the greatest novels ever written, making Tolstoy accessible to a whole new generation of readers.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Anna Karenina has beauty, social position, wealth, a husband, and an adored son, but her existence seems empty. When she meets the dashing officer Count Vronsky she rejects her marriage and turns to him to fulfill her passionate nature -- with devastating results. One of the world's greatest novels, Anna Karenina is both an immortal drama of personal conflict and social scandal and a vivid, richly textured panorama of nineteenth-century Russia.
While previous versions have softened the robust, and sometimes shocking, quality of Tolstoy's writing, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have produced a magnificent translation that is true to his powerful voice. This award-winning team's authoritative edition also includes an illuminating introduction, a list of principal characters, suggestions for further reading, and full explanatory notes.
Beautiful, vigorous, and eminently readable, this Anna Karenina will be the definitive rendition for generations to come.
FROM THE CRITICS
San Diego Union-Tribune
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have received honors for their translations...[this] contribution will doubtless be welcomed with equal enthusiasm.
Portland Oregonian
The first English translation in 40 years, [this] 'Anna Kerenina' is the most scrupulous, illuminating and compelling version yet.
Library Journal
Pevear and Volokhonsky, winners of the 1991 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for their version of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, have produced the first new translation of Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina in 40 years. The result should make the book accessible to a new generation of readers. In an informative introduction, Pevear gives the reader a history of the work Tolstoy called his first true novel and which took him some four years to write. Pevear explains how Tolstoy took real events, incorporated them into his novel, and went through several versions before this tale of the married Anna and her love for Count Vronsky emerged in its final form in 1876. It was during the writing of the book that Tolstoy went through a religious crisis in his life, which is reflected in this novel. The translation is easily readable and succeeds in bringing Tolstoy's masterpiece to life once again. For all libraries. Ron Ratliff, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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