# Anna Karenina - Is this book any good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320 "2010-09-10T18:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/21 "2010-09-11T11:58:27Z")
Yes. It’s truly one of my all-time favourites. However, people have different tastes, and no, everyone is not suddenly going to turn into zombie strippers or anything like that. If you got this far and you still don’t like, put it down and read something you do like. You’re not obliged to like it just because it is considered high literature. There are many famous literary authors I can’t stand. No shame in it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/22 "2010-09-11T12:46:06Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > However, people have different tastes, and no, everyone is not suddenly going to turn into zombie strippers or anything like that. If you got this far and you still don’t like, put it down and read something you do like. You’re not obliged to like it just because it is considered high literature. There are many famous literary authors I can’t stand. No shame in it. I think I’m gong to stop, but I hope you think I only read books with zombie strippers and so forth. I’ve read plenty of classic literature and usually love them. I guess this one is just one of those classics I can’t get into. For the record, I’ve never been a fan of King Lear, one of Shakespeare’s great works. And I liked War and Peace quite a bit more than Anna Karenina. I tend to think Dostoevsky is the better author, for me. I feel like I had more in common with him. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/23 "2010-09-11T12:54:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I think I’m gong to stop, but I hope you think I only read books with zombie strippers and so forth. I’ve read plenty of classic literature and usually love them. I guess this one is just one of those classics I can’t get into. Didn’t mean to imply you only liked dumb or action-packed tales. Just meant that the book won’t change course drastically. Me, I can’t get into Dickens or Austen. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/24 "2010-09-11T18:31:38Z")
In the book, [The Top Ten](http://www.amazon.com/Top-Ten-Writers-Their-Favorite/dp/0393328406/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284229357&sr=1-7), a bunch of authors were asked to pick their ten favorite books(very hard), in order(nigh impossible). You can read it and enjoy as such, but the editor then assigned points, 10 for first, 9 points for second, etc. and compiled a master list of sorts. The top two books were _Anna Karenina_ and _Madame Bovary_. Two similar books, indeed. I hated Anna the character and when she was about to meet her end, I couldn’t wait for her to meet it. I found Madame Bovary, not more likable, but more sympathetic. I did like Levin though. Even though I hated her, I did like the book overall. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/25 "2010-09-11T19:15:58Z")
It’s one of my favorite books. I read it maybe once every other year. It _is_ kind of a soap opera, if you just described the plot it’s totally different from anything I’d normally be interested in. But it’s more too, there’s something about it that’s just so, so good. I love it. Maybe it’s just the little lines here and there, like the one **gallows fodder** mentioned. Even the first sentence of the book, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Maybe it’s just me, but damn, that’s a good opener. And the tension of “T, I, c, g, n, o, a,” was just, amazing. Also, like Invisible Chimp I really dislike Anna and holy shit I wanted Vronsky to die in a fire. But even then, there are a few parts where Tolstoy made me feel some sympathy for the asshole. I absolutely loved Levin and Kitty though, and the parts that focused on them were my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/26 "2010-09-11T19:56:05Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > > [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > > > There’s a good reason for that. It IS an upper class soap opera for the Russian elite. > > > > I won’t give the ending away, but it does make sense of one of the riffs made on Mystery Science Theater’s Home Economics short. > > Put it in a spoiler box – it’s been a while since I’ve seen that one. Well, since the ending of **Anna Karenina** ’s already been spoiler boxed, I’ll just post the MST3K riff: Near the end of the short **The Home Economics Story** , the four college classmates, who apparently have spent four years studying home economics, all gather at the train station to say goodbye to each other… Quoth Tom Servo: And to reinact the ending of **Anna Karenina**. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/27 "2010-09-12T13:18:39Z")
I’ve tried reading it three times and just can’t finish it. I get confused by the Russian surnames and who’s related to whom, and it’s just too much for me. And it’s odd to have a character named Dolly. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/28 "2010-09-13T06:05:56Z")
I enjoyed both the book and the movie . . . until the end. I really wanted her to get her shit together and have a great life. I should have known better, that never happens in anything Russian. If nothing else, the movie is great because of Garbo. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/29 "2010-09-13T06:10:17Z")
If you enjoy anal probes, AK rocks. ---
**Author:** ![AnnaKareninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@AnnaKareninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnnaKareninja)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320/30 "2010-09-13T07:21:22Z")
Considering my username, I must put in a good word for this book. So big a book you get more Russian-y literature goodness. It helps to really picture the characters in your head, otherwise the names confuse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anna-karenina-is-this-book-any-good/553320.md?page=1)