BOOK REVIEW

Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
A Tragic novel about an extramarital affair during rapid transformations as a result of the liberal
reforms initiated by Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Anna Karenina is a novel which rather
focusing on the central characters dives into characters’ psychology and makes us care about
every character of the book.
The book never tries to make any statement, rather the choices made by the characters and the
thoughts that went in the process of making those choices are the central concern for the author.
Tolstoy in his book ‘What is Art’ asserts that it is the duty of good art to generate empathy in
human minds towards others. Anna Karenina successfully makes us care about each character it
deals with. You understand the motives of the actions of each character, and at the end of each
character arc you root for them to have a happy ending.
To understand, the book better we need to understand the scenario of Imperial Russia when the
book was first published. The story is set during the Great Reforms. This was a major
reformation that took place in Russia where the liberal values started getting infiltrated. There
was a relaxation of censorship of the media. Modernization of the Army and Navy. Expansion of
schools and universities. Economic modernization impacting banking, railways, mining,
manufacturing.
What Tolstoy does better here is that he paints a picture of how these liberal values was a factor
in the decision-making process of his characters, rather than talking about the reformation or the
political aspects of Emperor Alexander II, he focuses more on his characters and their arc
development. Unlike his other masterpiece War and Peace, where he parallelly focusses on
people and politics.
To state that Anna Karenina is a romantic novel about a married woman falling in love with
another man will be a binary explanation of the book. Rather the book explores more themes and
ideas about human relationships. More importantly the book tries to explain love in its all forms
possible. It rather tries to focus on the acts rather than the idea and asks a more serious question
about who deserves our moral consideration. Even the most hateful characters in the book show
an act of humanity when it was least expected of them. This suggests the idea of good and bad
being present among all of us. This idea that humans are more complex than just being good or
bad is a recurring theme in Tolstoy’s work. The writer shows a keen hatred for pragmatism or
someone dehumanizing themselves to fit the norms of the society. Rather the book celebrates
people with embracing human emotions and taking decisions in a much more romantic yet
rational manner. The book encourages every character to find contentment in their lives to be
happy in their lives but that should not be a product of someone else sadness. Whenever
characters caused sadness in other lives, Tolstoy assured poetic justice.
The reason why Anna Karenina stands out from Leo Tolstoy’s other work because here Leo
shows his excellence more as a writer than a philosopher. His portrayal of the protagonist creates
a bridge between realism and modernism, which makes the character even more likable and
relatable to the context and thus makes it relevant even today. Even other characters of the book
suffer from a similar dilemma. Apart from the protagonist the characters who embody extreme
realism or romanticism suffer painful consequences. These characters' arc develops through the
acceptance of a more modernist approach towards life.
I read the English translated version Translated by Constance Garnett, which is widely most
reprinted version of the book till date, I might not be able to fully comment about the writing
genius of Leo Tolstoy but the way the books unfolds the inner conflicts and way the
psychological trauma is explained, it can successfully generate empathy in our minds. The book
is regarded as the greatest novel of all time and it is probably on my top five greatest works of
literature. Like all great literature, it will help you grow as a person. The book will never suggest
you make similar choices like the characters of the book, rather it would suggest you to except
the people who are doing so.