Global InformationAnna Karenina information
 Cover page of the first volume of Anna Karenina, Moscow, 1878 | |
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
|---|---|
| Original title | Анна Каренина |
| Translator | Nathan Haskell Dole (1887) |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Realist novel |
| Publisher | The Russian Messenger |
Publication date | 1878 |
| Media type | Print (serial) |
| Pages | 864 |
Original text | Анна Каренина at Russian Wikisource |
| Translation | Anna Karenina at Wikisource |
Anna Karenina (Russian: Анна Каренина, IPA: [ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə])[1] is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written,[2] Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1875 to 1877, all but the last part appearing in the periodical The Russian Messenger.[3] When William Faulkner was asked to list what he thought were the three greatest novels, he replied: "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, and Anna Karenina".[4]
The novel deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and the differences between rural and urban life. The story centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes the social circles of Saint Petersburg and forces the young lovers to flee to Italy in a search for happiness, but after they return to Russia, their lives further unravel.
Trains are a motif throughout the novel, with several major plot points taking place either on passenger trains or at stations in Saint Petersburg or elsewhere in Russia. The story takes place against the backdrop of the liberal reforms initiated by Emperor Alexander II of Russia and the rapid societal transformations that followed. The novel has been adapted into various media including theater, opera, film, television, ballet, figure skating, and radio drama.
- ^ Nabokov, Vladimir (1980). Lectures on Russian Literature. New York: Harvest. p. 137 (note). ISBN 0-15-649591-0.
- ^ McCrum, Robert (4 March 2007). "Can I make up my own mind?". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
The answers to this survey, [What are the 10 Greatest Works of Literature of All Time?], supply the meat of [The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favourite Books], in which Anna Karenina emerges as the All Time Number One Work of Literature.
- ^ Todd, William M. III (2003). "Anna on the Installment Plan: Teaching Anna Karenina through the History of Its Serial Publication," Approaches to Teaching Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," ed. Liza Knapp and Amy Mandeleker, New York: Modern Language Assoc. of America, p. 55.
- ^ Tolstoy, Leo (2023). "First Recollections". New England Review. 44 (2): 180–182. doi:10.1353/ner.2023.a901453. ISSN 2161-9131.