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Anna Karenina (Paperback)
Leo Tolstoy (author)
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Now the subject of a major new film adaptation from director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice), Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is translated by award-winning duo Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky in Penguin Classics.
Starring Keira Knightley (A Dangerous Method) as Anna Karenina, Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) as her husband Alexei, Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) as Count Vronsky, and also starring Matthew McFadyen, Andrea Riseborough and Kelly Macdonald, this dazzling production of Anna Karenina is adapted for the screen by legendary playwright Tom Stoppard.
Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike, and soon brings jealousy and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Konstantin Levin, a man striving to find contentment and meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.
Acclaimed as the definitive English version of Tolstoy's masterpiece, this edition contains an introduction by Richard Pevear and a preface by John Bayley.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) spent his youth in wasteful idleness until 1851, when he travelled to the Caucasus and joined the army, fighting in the Crimean war. After marrying in 1862, Tolstoy settled down, managing his estates and writing two of his best-known novels, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878). A Confession (1879-82) marked a spiritual crisis in his life, and in 1901 he was excommunicated by the Russian Holy Synod.
'William Faulkner, it's said, was once asked to name the three best novels ever. He replied: "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina." If you don't recall why, rush to buy a fine new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky'
Boyd Tonkin, Independent
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
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"Astonishing..."
This novel grabs at the heartstrings of one's emotional state... It is truly beautiful, complicated at its depth, but those are the qualities that it possesses. Anna is the most inspirational and complex... More
Paperback edition
SARA PALINSKA
Helpful? Upvote 88
"Not Tolstoy's best..."
I had to read this book in stages because it was so difficult to get through. To be honest, i'm not entirely glad I persevered because for all the beautifully written touching moments (mainly involving Kitty and... More
"Th best Book i have ever read"
I'll keep this short. If i was told i could only choose one book from all i have read, and forget the rest, i would choose this book. The characters are incredible, the plot lines brilliantly crafted and the... More