Anna Karenina (1877)

I overall enjoyed this, but I can't quite put my feelings into words. I read the first 250 pages physically and had quite a good time, then I switched to the audiobook for the sake of making more progress, and that might have contributed to my insecurity with regards to how I feel about this overall. I swtiched back to physical reading for the last 60 pages in the hopes this might make my feelings clearer, but clearly that didn't work.

Some thoughts:
- I don't think I actually liked any of the characters and could only relate to their actions from time to time.
- I recently read a book dealing with the Russian revolution that went quite a bit into why the revolution came about and it was so interesting to see that the things which were criticized by the lower classes were definitely the case and the upper classes saw no problems with it (Stiva was a prime example).
- I don't really understand why Anna didn't like her husband? Apart from him being quite a few years older than her, he seemed alright. ( )

i think this one is going to take a while to get thru. havent gotten far enough to say much else.

I'm reading this for a buddy read and we're about to start discussing part I and II. I'm already reading part VII, so I'm way ahead, but thus far I am not inclined to throw it about, or stop reading.

What I like about the book is the way the people, situations and the environment (both nature and political) are described. Having said that.... Sometimes it gets too much, when the subject is AGAIN the peasants, or Anna AGAIN gets a fit when Vronsky leaves her to go to.... (not important where).

I must admit, that I've switched to the English audiobook. I've read the first two parts in Russian, things went well and at quite a reasonable pace. But... when I also want to do something simultaneously (household chores, embroidery etc.) I can't hold a book.
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And now I've finished reading. And fel a bit... what shal I call it..... empty, dispappointed, not sure how to describe it.
My general liking of the book hasn't changed, but... And it's quite a large but. The reasons for that are multiple.
First of all, the book is too much a soap story for my liking. A sort of Dynasty in the 19th century.
Then the title: Anna is one of the characters in the book, most certainly, but why name the book after her, when her role is not much bigger than for example Kitty's?
The political and economical discourses are sometimes too long. They may be interesting, but not really for me, not at this point. For the buddyread of this book we had Oprah's list of questions and they guided me a bit, but they also made me feel like reading the book as 'homework'.
And last: I knew what would happen to Anna at the end when I started out reading the book. During university years we read bits and peaces of this book, matching the lectures that were given. But after reading the whole of the book, leading up to that point, I couldn't help myself but ask 'Why, in heaven's name, why?'
And the story continuing afterward (not Vronsky, but the story), like nothing really happened, gossip etc., but it felt to me like going back to business as usual.

Well, another ticked off of the 1001-list! On to another (one by Tolstoy again)? ( )

I would consider War and Peace the greater novel, but gosh, isn't this a fantastic piece of work? What author so successfully places us inside the head of each of its characters, moving them forward with an unrelenting pace while also tying them so closely to the fortunes of their nation? Wondrous. ( )

I believe that translation has a major impact on how we read classics. So, I chose to read parts from the Garnett, the Pevear & Volokhousky, and the Bartlett translations. I was surprised to find that the one I liked most was the 2014 translation by Rosamund Barlett. I had been wanting to read this book for many, many years. What a joy to have finally done it! ( )