Book of the Month August 2024 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Widely regarded as one of the best works of fiction, ever written, Anna Karenina is a classic-but in the Russian tradition, not a short classic, at 817 pages.? It has long been on my “to read” list but at this length and with a tag line of “it is about an unhappy woman” it never really rose to the top of my list until this summer.? And after having read it, my first observation is I am not totally sure why it is called Anna Karenina, as it is about a while lot more than just her.? Yes, she is one of the main characters, but there are about 7 main characters who have prominent roles in the book and could have easily grabbed the title……but really, the book should have been called “A Comprehensive Philosophical Examination of Life and Society in late 19th century Russia.”? Of course, while this title is way more accurate, it would have probably sold far fewer copies initially than calling it Anna Karenina and saying it is about a love-starved woman-so, maybe I do get why it is called Anna Karenina.?

In reality, this book is an awesome read and is simply about life. It is incredibly well written, the characters are fully defined and, even in translation, the language and the concepts are vividly conveyed.? At its heart, it really seems to tackle the tension between societal norms and what is best for the individuals involved- but in some ways that is a gross understatement of what is here.? Tolstoy gives us an action filled narrative that is a fine story in and of itself and uses that story as the vehicle for philosophical debate all on the context of a changing Russia.? He comes at life from multiple angles and weaves it together into a world that is interesting in its own right and challenges us today just as much as I am sure it did in its day.? He is super talented in describing cleanly and with great candor, what the characters are really thinking and feeling.? He uses the action of life as the vehicle for his philosophy of life- and like real life- it just keeps moving along as his characters are developing along the way.

As I was reading it, I was so struck by how many issues-themes are taken on here-so I started a list-partway through the book- and it is pretty interesting- and pretty long.? In my less than fully systematic capturing, I found myself thinking about the following themes from this story:

1.????? The role of government and trade-offs in certain forms of government.

2.????? The role of organized religion

3.????? The role of the economic classes in society

4.????? Family- The role of Marriage, happy marriages, stressful marriages, the life cycle of marriages, etc.

5.????? Family- Parental Relationships

6.????? Family – sibling relationships

7.????? Family- child relationships

8.????? Role of Science is Society

9.????? The conflicts of the church, the government, religion and science.

10. The joy of birth.

11. Marriage proposals- from both sides

12. What are the last moments of life like- aka death

13. Kindness vs propriety

14. Happiness vs propriety

15. Friendship vs society norms

16. Gender Roles and relationships

17. City vs Country Life

18. What Farming is Like

19. What hunting is like

20. What a local political election is like

21. The details of horse racing

22. The role and risks of debt

23. Capitalism vs socialism

24. The impact of Jealousy

25. ?The development of and importance of philosophy

26. Marriage vs single life

27. Passion vs reason

28. Impact of isolation on mental health

29. The value of work- and physical labor

30. The importance of nature

31. Careers and how they rise and fall

32. Belief, duty and kindness- tradeoffs

33. Doing vs thinking

34. ..and really so much more

At the end of the day, there is something for everyone in this story and some many places to stop and reflect- this was not, and should not be, a fast read - ?it probably took me 6 weeks overall to read it as there were so many times when I stopped, reflected and took notes- went through a bunch of highlighters on this one.? ?I didn’t have a strong urge to read more than 25 pages at a time as there was always some cool stuff to ponder. It is also simply a great historical piece of how the world in Russia was changing in the late 1800s and gives insight into Russian history and how technological change impacts society.? The end of the book summarizes a philosophy of life that is thought provoking and useful -and steeped in the story that precedes it.

So, while I could go on let me stop here and not make this review as long as the book- this is known as one of the greatest books of all time for a reason- and that reason is that it takes us through several interconnected lives and examines them from multiple individual and collective angles to further out own thinking about our world and how it works.? It is a book where you can escape to another time and place, get lost in yourself, and come out with fresh perspectives on our world today and the people in your world.? It does what great literature is supposed to do-make us listen, think, feel and change.

So, yes, I highly recommend reading Anna Karenina -but only when you have some time to dig into it and examine what is here in some detail- it is a full and worthy meal!

Enjoy!

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