"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." So begins Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy's great modern novel of an adulterous affair set against the backdrop of Moscow and St. Petersburg high society in the later half of the nineteenth century. A sophisticated woman who is respectably married to a government bureaucrat, Anna begins a passionate, all-consuming involvement with a rich army officer. Refusing to conduct a discreet affair, she scandalizes society by abandoning both her husband and her young son for Count Vronsky—with tragic consequences. Running parallel is the story of the courtship and marriage of Konstantin Levin (the melancholy nobleman who is Tolstoy's stand-in) and Princess Kitty Shcherbatsky.
Levin's spiritual searching and growth reflect the religious ideals that at the time Tolstoy was evolving for himself. Taken together, the two plots embroider a vast canvas that ultimately encompasses all levels of Russian society. "Now and then Tolstoy's novel writes its own self, is produced by its matter, but its subject," noted Vladimir Nabokov. "Anna Karenina is one of the greatest love stories in world literature." As Matthew Arnold wrote in his celebrated essay on Tolstoy: "We are not to take Anna Karenina as a work of art; we are to take it as a piece of life."
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
January 31, 2006 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780553902297
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780553902297
- File size: 3131 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Levels
- ATOS Level: 9.6
- Lexile® Measure: 790
- Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty: 8
Formats
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
subjects
Languages
- English
Levels
- ATOS Level:9.6
- Lexile® Measure:790
- Interest Level:9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty:8
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.