Anna Karenina

Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.8

Word count: 2M words
Chapters: 197

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Anna Karenina by graf Leo TolstoyAuthor: Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 1998

Editor's review

Anna Karenina is Tolstoy's major novel, advancing on two lines—Anna's emotional tragedy and Levin's spiritual quest—to expose the deep tensions in family, marriage, morality, and faith in nineteenth-century Russian society. Its psychological portraiture is meticulous and restrained, with inner monologue interwoven with external scenes, making for a reading experience that is both dramatic and intellectually substantial. The Project Gutenberg edition is an English public-domain eBook, convenient for searching on screen and reading on the go, and serves well as an entry point for reading the classic straight through or revisiting it. Pairing it with introductory materials that clarify character relationships and the historical background will make the reading smoother. The book is long and leisurely paced, best advanced chapter by chapter in quiet stretches; it works both as a supplementary text for literature courses and for readers who wish to understand the narrative art of the realist novel and return to it again and again.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature lovers who want a systematic reading of Russian realist classics
Readers who need to understand issues of marriage, family, and morality
Students in university literature courses studying long-form narrative
Readers patient enough for close reading of a long work who enjoy psychological portraiture

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and short, light reading
Readers with little interest in nineteenth-century Russian social background
Readers with fragmented time who find it hard to sustain a long book

Reading tips

First map the character relationships along Anna's and Levin's two main lines, then read volume by volume
After each section, note the characters' psychological shifts for easy cross-reference later
Use brief materials on nineteenth-century Russian society as a reading aid
If English reading is difficult, work through chapter by chapter alongside a reliable translation

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this edition in Chinese or English?

According to the information, the language of this edition is English; it is an English public-domain eBook provided by Project Gutenberg. If you are more comfortable in Chinese, you can find a Chinese translation to read alongside, or read the Chinese version first to get familiar with the plot before returning to the English edition for close reading.

Can I understand it without Russian historical background?

You can read it, but understanding will take more effort. The novel involves the Russian aristocratic family, the marriage system, and social transformation of the time; it is advisable to first read a concise introduction to the era's background, or choose an edition with notes and an introduction, which will help you grasp the social pressures behind the characters' choices.

Should I read Anna's line or Levin's line first?

The two lines advance interwoven through the book, so there is no need to force them apart. On a first reading, follow the book's original order, and when you reach Levin's line, note how his spiritual quest contrasts with Anna's; on rereading, you can trace the two lines separately and appreciate Tolstoy's structural design.

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About the author

Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910 Author

Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910) is a highly important writer in the history of Russian literature. Public information about his nationality and exact dates of birth and death is limited; the library records only his name, the number of his works, and representative titles. The library holds 81 of his works, with representative titles including Anna Karenina and War and Peace (Sota ja rauha). These titles show that he excelled at presenting characters' fates and inner conflicts against broad social panoramas, with calm narration and a reflective quality, while questions of family, morality, and the course of history run throughout. His works have been translated into many languages and have a lasting readership and wide influence.