I'm sure I'm not as sophisticated as many of the other readers reviewing this classic, but to the coolest thing about this book is how it made me continuely rethink my initial impressions on every character.

I would be "meeting" a new character from a third person POV and think to myself that this is character is vapid, unlikable and unreasonable and in the next chapter through this new characters internal monologue I would do a complete 180 on my opinion of them.

The internal monologues are sooo good that it is really easy to lose yourself and imagine yourself in that characters shoes. (What would I do in this scenario? Wouldn't I act exactly is this character did if I had the same the motivations and upbringing?)

I haven't read a sparknotes summary, so I'm sure 80% of the concepts in the book went over my head.
I didn't understand any of the French, I tried to figure out it's significance (do only rich people in Russia speak French? Why did they sometimes speak French in very emotional and important moments?) but could not...

I had a hard time understanding many of the political themes related to Russia in the book.

I still really enjoyed the book, it was a pretty long listen and I'm honestly surprised I finished. It's a slow burn type of book. ( )

This is truly one of the greatest novels of all time. Super complex morally, fascinating characters who fly right off the page. AMAZING. I love this book ( )

Gorgeous sweeping thought-provoking enthralling triumphant ( )

I am a big fan of Tolstoy in general: I love the depth he gives his characters. This book is a great example of his writing style. However, I didn't like the ending. It seems like after Anna dies, the story is about all of the major characters coming to agree with Tolstoy. I also really did not like the fact that Anna dies. She was acting ridiculous right before she did; and even though she was very much wronged by society, nobody respects her after her death. I think it is interesting to compare her fate with that of the playboy Count Ablonski. He gets to apologise and live happily ever after, she cannot repent or move forward even through death. But the book is so long and well-written that I think the good parts dominate. ( )

Imádom a romantikusokat és a realistákat is. Az oroszokat egyszerűen faltam - valahogy nagyon kedvemre való történeteket írtak... Ez is ilyen volt. Még éppen a kamaszkorban olvasni egy ilyen női sorsot. Sok helyzetet nem értettem, de érdekelt az a világ, ahogy az emberek hatnak egymásra, ahogy viszonyulnak a családi állapotokhoz, ahogyan a férfiak és nők barátkoznak. ( )