How should we read Anna Karenina? [The Common Room]

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 30 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 90

  • @mattakubodimasen10
    @mattakubodimasen10 4 роки тому +71

    My favourite thing about the way Tolstoy writes is that all of his characters are so real. We relate to them, see their thought process and what pushed them into making this or that decision, we know who they are, who their parents and friends and families and acquaintances are, what they are dealing with and what they enjoy, etc. Every character is so fleshed out and fit into the bigger picture like a puzzle piece, always in the right place.

    • @abdullahahmad1490
      @abdullahahmad1490 3 роки тому +5

      Exactly , he understands the tribulations of BEING and rightfully pens them so but despite being such deeply rooted in realism with less flowery , dreamy words... it still makes your heart flutter at times and bring you at the edge of tears!!

  • @jaliscodiss
    @jaliscodiss 5 років тому +89

    It's not a hard book to read, despite its length. Ulysses, on the other hand, is a beast.

  • @greggoat6570
    @greggoat6570 5 років тому +47

    The novel is honestly genius in its pacing and assembly. I don’t won’t to necessarily give too much credit to Tolstoy for this, but he did consider it a novel unlike War and Peace, so here I go.
    The beautiful thing about the work is that it can be enjoyed in 5-20 page chunks, and move along very elegantly and methodically, giving you something satisfying in that span, but also works wonderfully taken 50 or even a hundred pages at a time, as you take in the scope and majesty of the narrative. One of the many reasons why it is one of the very best novels ever written.

  • @nicolezuno6541
    @nicolezuno6541 4 роки тому +18

    I read it 20 pages at a time every night for a month and it was the best way to unwind after a long day, definitely recommend reading it in chunks. It also makes it easy to understand what is happening, and really sleep on what is happening in each section.

  • @michaelkelleypoetry
    @michaelkelleypoetry 3 роки тому +23

    I'm surprised anyone can stop reading Anna Karenina after only ten pages. There is a lot of insight in every 10 pages, but that's like only watching one episode of a TV show. I have to binge-read Anna Karenina, quickly getting back to the characters I like and seeing where their stories go.

    • @tysonking6750
      @tysonking6750 2 роки тому +1

      I read just the first two chapters in a sample and felt compelled to buy the book to find out what happens!

  • @brianacoman4011
    @brianacoman4011 7 років тому +35

    I was soooo expecting this to talk down to students and tell students to read it within the confines of the school system and instead I got a lovely discussion about the themes of Anna Karenina, how to read a book this big and stomach it, and a comparison of 2 of my favorite authors. Loved it!

  • @ReligionOfSacrifice
    @ReligionOfSacrifice Рік тому +4

    The books I read in 2022; I read 52 books in 52 weeks.
    1) "The Way We Live Now" by Anthony Trollope
    2) "Can You Forgive Her?" by Anthony Trollope
    3) "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
    4) "Mark Twain: A Life" by Rom Powers
    5) "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain
    6) "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain
    7) "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene
    8) "Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady" by Samuel Richardson
    9) "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark
    10) "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote
    11) "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver
    12) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
    13) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy
    14) "Master and Man" by Leo Tolstoy
    15) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy
    16) "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy
    17) "The Raid" by Leo Tolstoy
    18) "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs
    19) “In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
    20) "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Hugo
    21) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev
    22) "Mumu" by Ivan Turgenev
    23) "Kassyan of Fair Springs" by Ivan Turgenev
    24) "The Portrait Game" Ivan Turgenev
    25) " Punin and Baburin" by Ivan Turgenev
    26) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev
    27) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev
    28) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev
    29) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev
    30) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev
    31) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev
    32) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev
    33) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev
    34) "The Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev
    35) "How Russians Meet Death" by Ivan Turgenev
    36) "Sketches from a Hunter's Album" by Ivan Turgenev
    37) "Volodya" by Anton Chekhov
    38) "Ward No. 6" by Anton Chekhov
    39) "The Lady with the Dog" by Anton Chekov
    40) "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by Alexander Pushkin
    41) "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin
    42) “Le Grand Meaulnes, or the Lost Domain” by Alain-Fournier
    43) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    44) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    45) "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen
    46) "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov
    47) "An Island Hell" by S. A. Malsagoff
    48) "The Return of the Native" by Thomas Hardy
    49) "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy
    50) “Strait is the Gate” by André Gide
    51) “And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer” by Fredrik Backman
    52) “Middlemarch” by George Eliot

    • @adolfosilva3883
      @adolfosilva3883 Рік тому

      Which was your favourite?

    • @ReligionOfSacrifice
      @ReligionOfSacrifice Рік тому +1

      @@adolfosilva3883, that's easy.
      2) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy
      That was the best for 2022 and another one was also very good.
      10) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev
      And other one made the top 20.
      18) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev
      The two Brontë in the top 20 are from this year, 2023.
      TOP TWENTY BOOKS
      0) "The Holy Bible: King James Version" copyright 1967
      1) "Verbal Behavior" by Dr. B. F. Skinner
      2) "Resurrection" by Leo Tolstoy
      3) "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      4) "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev
      5) Myth Adventures - series by Robert Asprin
      6) The Chronicles of Narnia - series by C. S. Lewis
      7) "Vilette" by Charlotte Brontë
      8) "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy
      9) "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
      10) "Smoke" by Ivan Turgenev
      11) "Roots" by Alex Haley
      12) The Silmarillion - The Hobbit, or there and back again - The Lord of the Rings - Middle Earth stories by J. R. R. Tolkien
      13) Foundation Series - Isaac Asimov
      14) "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin
      15) "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      16) "Paris 1919: six months that changed the world" by Margaret MacMillian
      17) "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Brontë
      18) "Virgin Soil" by Ivan Turgenev
      19) "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
      20) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - by Mark Twain
      Here is where others fell from 2022.
      29) "Torrents of Spring" by Ivan Turgenev
      32) "In the First Circle" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
      49) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
      51) "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev
      52) "Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady" by Samuel Richardson
      55) "An Island Hell" by S.A. Malsagoff
      66) "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy
      69) "The Way We Live Now" by Anthony Trollope
      70) "Middlemarch" by George Eliot
      75) "A Confession" by Leo Tolstoy
      84) "Can you forgive her?" by Anthony Trollope
      85) "Acia" by Ivan Turgenev
      90) "The Watch" by Ivan Turgenev
      94) "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark
      97) "Poor Folk" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      105) "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen
      106) "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin
      107) "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs
      111) "Mark Twain: A Life" by Ron Powers
      113) "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev
      117) "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain
      122) "On the Eve" by Ivan Turgenev
      123) "Volodya" by Anton Chekhov
      124) "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov
      127) "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
      129) "White Nights" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      131) "Home of the Gentry" by Ivan Turgenev
      151) "Clara Militch" by Ivan Turgenev
      156) "The Inn" by Ivan Turgenev
      157) "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain
      160) "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene
      174) "Strait is the Gate" by André Gide
      179) "And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer" by Fredrik Backman

  • @ileanaaaaa
    @ileanaaaaa 4 роки тому +36

    Why this guy is trying to compare Jane Austen with Tolstoy? That is two whole different mediums! Is like comparing a comedy with a drama, in two different countries and realities. They both lived very different lives in very different circumstances so the only thing that they could have in common is that you can tell they were both observant of people and they both tried to put that on the page but on one side; Austen made satirical commentary on England’s provincial life whereas Tolstoy more of political and spiritual commentary in Russia.

    • @crops874
      @crops874 4 роки тому +6

      Exactly. I think Austen’s works are equally as beautiful as Anna Karenina, but they’re both wildly different genres. Anna Karenina is so Raw and dark at times and Austen’s works are more on the light and romantic side. It’s not fair to compare them both.

    • @ileanaaaaa
      @ileanaaaaa 4 роки тому

      kanak sakhuja precisely! They were trying to achieve completely different things!

    • @vodkatonyq
      @vodkatonyq 3 роки тому +1

      They belong to the same genre, the same century. They can absolutely be compared in aesthetic and artistic terms.

    • @dhihyakhalifah6138
      @dhihyakhalifah6138 3 роки тому

      right?!! because even the tone is different. when i first heard that question, i thought “did you even read austen and tolstoy”

    • @h-di4qd
      @h-di4qd 8 місяців тому

      I suppose one similarity is the story of Kitty's coming-of-age, which is a huge theme for Austen. And Lady Susan and Anna Karenina both stepped outside the moral bounds of society and faced the consequences. Oddly, "Anna Karenina" was the first book to scratch the Austen itch for me, although I agree with you that overall they don't have too much in common.

  • @iisaka_station
    @iisaka_station 5 років тому +31

    Huge Spoiler at 6:40 if you haven't finished Anna Karenina don't watch. I was disappointed when I heard

    • @anxietycelery1732
      @anxietycelery1732 5 років тому +1

      @@gabrielkennethmarinas6244 No, that's bullshit. I hated it when they spoiled how Lievin comes out as a transgender gay genderfluid androgynous woman.

    • @zippygundoo5852
      @zippygundoo5852 4 роки тому

      😱 that really was a spoiler. I had no idea. Damn.

    • @TTaylor
      @TTaylor 3 роки тому

      Me too. Should have read the comments first lol

    • @jasmin5868
      @jasmin5868 Рік тому

      @@anxietycelery1732 LMFAOOOOOOOO

  • @flutebasket4294
    @flutebasket4294 2 роки тому +3

    That fact that you didn't know you were reading from the point of view of the dog leads me to believe you weren't paying attention

  • @alexya2321
    @alexya2321 2 роки тому +9

    I cant believe this woman gave me the worst Spoiler possible. Great class.

    • @vineethnarayan1811
      @vineethnarayan1811 2 роки тому +1

      IFKR!

    • @joshuacreboreads
      @joshuacreboreads 2 роки тому +2

      Yeah, I should’ve been more careful watching this video, but they hadn’t said any other spoilers at all before hand so she caught me off guard

    • @LiliLili-us7pt
      @LiliLili-us7pt Рік тому

      Come on! Everyone, even if they haven't read the book, knows that Anna Karenina throws herself under the wheels of the train and that Madame Bovary drinks poison. I have read each of them several times. Not to read a book a second time because I know how it ends? Good books and good movies are not about how they end. Such books, like Anna Karenina, demand to be read several times, otherwise it's in vain

    • @h-di4qd
      @h-di4qd 8 місяців тому +1

      I was spoiled similarly by the freaking Editor's Note at the beginning of the book! But I encourage anyone who was spoiled to still read it. You'll forget. Other things happen. It's still worth it.

  • @janethayes5941
    @janethayes5941 3 роки тому +3

    I'm listening to it on audiobooks and it's pretty darn good. When I don't fall asleep. And have to find where I dropped off. So there's that.

  • @erigoasparago
    @erigoasparago 3 місяці тому

    That I can remember it almost in its entirety, after 40 years, shows how miraculous this book is.

  • @rudrakumardubey5069
    @rudrakumardubey5069 4 роки тому +7

    I read the 108 pages in one sitting...

  • @BarbaraBastron
    @BarbaraBastron 5 років тому +25

    People who count the number of pages they read are not readers. They are doing chores.

    • @odysseus1220
      @odysseus1220 5 років тому +10

      Some books are chores. That’s not a bad thing

  • @MDkid1
    @MDkid1 8 років тому +5

    Looking forward to starting Anna Karenina in the new year!

    • @annathieben8078
      @annathieben8078 6 років тому

      DID YOU?

    • @josipatokic329
      @josipatokic329 5 років тому +1

      @@annathieben8078 I'm reading it now, and losing my shit

    • @earthandwind820
      @earthandwind820 5 років тому +1

      anna thieben There’s also a version on Audible by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. I’m listening to it first before I decide to sit down with the book! 😁🙈

    • @annathieben8078
      @annathieben8078 5 років тому

      @@earthandwind820 ahhh its amazing, i assure u. Reading it for a second time at the moment but taking it slower than last time when i rushed through it in 2 weeks for a school assignment

  • @InnaAllStar
    @InnaAllStar 5 років тому +8

    I have the Russian original and I will be reading 15 pages a day :)

  • @elainesorensen5803
    @elainesorensen5803 8 місяців тому

    I’ve been listening to the audiobook. I cannot figure out how they went from being in debt to having all that money to build an estate and a hospital. Somehow I missed the part where they came into that money but I’m not all the way through the book yet.

  • @halcyon_distilled
    @halcyon_distilled 3 роки тому +3

    you should put SPOILERS alert in the title of the video. The woman cant stop spoiling it UUUGGGHHH

  • @sarahthompson138
    @sarahthompson138 5 років тому +14

    Jeez guys! How about a spoiler alert!?

  • @isaacdavid1468
    @isaacdavid1468 8 років тому +30

    SPOILERS!

    • @chiditasol
      @chiditasol 7 років тому +3

      thaaank youuuu!

    • @seanlee4672
      @seanlee4672 6 років тому +3

      I KNOW!! IM LIKE 40% INTO THE BOOK AND I HEAR WHAT ANNA K DOES AT THE END!! aGSDNKDFNKAJEFGBEFABVEFVAD!!!

    • @indyo618
      @indyo618 6 років тому

      this comment is also kind of a spoiler...

    • @jonm.5880
      @jonm.5880 5 років тому +1

      Pissed me off now that I know what happens to Anna

    • @gabrielkennethmarinas6244
      @gabrielkennethmarinas6244 5 років тому

      Its okay. The real spoiler is that Vronsky died at the end.

  • @AlinaAnastasia114
    @AlinaAnastasia114 5 років тому +1

    I want to read this book but unsure which translation is the best. Could anyone help? I’ve read the P&V translation of Crime and Punishment and really enjoyed that translation but unsure if the P&V translation of AK is any good?

    • @hughmccusker1345
      @hughmccusker1345 5 років тому +6

      Best translation of Anna Karenina that I have read is the Pevear & Volokhonsky.

    • @AlinaAnastasia114
      @AlinaAnastasia114 5 років тому +1

      Hugh McCusker Thank you. I’ll try it out.

  • @timmycorbitt5870
    @timmycorbitt5870 5 років тому +6

    Anna K!?

  • @Monah-u9f
    @Monah-u9f 5 років тому

    Im reading it in my offline app. Few pages after i did some works.

  • @flutebasket4294
    @flutebasket4294 2 роки тому +2

    The final scene isn't Anna's suicide, it's Levin's epiphany at the farm. Did you guys even read the book?

  • @joaquinserrano9614
    @joaquinserrano9614 4 роки тому +1

    Would the english version be the best language to read this book ?

  • @PS3FER0599
    @PS3FER0599 2 роки тому +1

    You should warn us about the spoilers 🙄🙄🙄 I got spoiled ffs

  • @Monah-u9f
    @Monah-u9f 5 років тому

    Im reading it in my offline app. Few pages after o did some works

  • @russianfolktales3641
    @russianfolktales3641 5 років тому +1

    Should we read it beyond the chapter where Anna died ?

    •  4 роки тому +1

      Obviously

  • @kristinab881
    @kristinab881 3 роки тому +5

    What are they talking about? These books are page turners, they are read by themselves. I read Anna Karenina for the first time in highschool and War and Peace took me 10 days. Couldn’t stop reading. If you have to make yourself sit down and read only 10 pages per day, you are probably not that bright.

  • @deusmate
    @deusmate 4 місяці тому

    Lol . Spoilers , a comparison to Austen (completely different realm of literature) , and unknowing that they were reading from the dog's point of view . These people are a bit silly

    • @deusmate
      @deusmate 4 місяці тому

      Not to mention the idea of reading 10 pages of at a time. Did you even enjoy the book if you have to do that? Anna Karenina is far more satisfying in the sense of a long term pay off .

  • @h-di4qd
    @h-di4qd 8 місяців тому

    !! THERE IS A SPOILER IN THIS VIDEO !!

  • @mykhailohohol8708
    @mykhailohohol8708 Рік тому

    Spoilers! GOD fucking damn it, warn for the spoilers!

  • @tiko135135
    @tiko135135 7 років тому +5

    2:10 Crime and Punishment *Cough* *Cough*

    • @tiko135135
      @tiko135135 7 років тому +2

      lol

    • @droppenkiken
      @droppenkiken 6 років тому +4

      Crime and Punishment is considerably better than Anna Karenina. Best read upside down while drinking vodka.

    • @countbessy
      @countbessy 4 роки тому

      @ Lol. Nothing more intelligent than telling someone that they're "bad and ignorant" for having different taste in literature. What a scholar you must be.

    • @countbessy
      @countbessy 4 роки тому

      @ You are hilarious, accusing anyone else of creating a strawman, after you've done nothing but put words in the mouth of anyone who dares to say anything that you don't like. It must be exhausting being so incredibly pompous and self-righteous.
      I recommend yoga, anger management, and critical thinking courses, in that order. You're going to die if you keep raging out like this.

  • @yutirwsna7715
    @yutirwsna7715 2 роки тому

    Ahh it's so long

  • @Theboss_-lj2pz
    @Theboss_-lj2pz 7 місяців тому

    Huge spoiler, no warning.. Really?

  • @leorose2680
    @leorose2680 2 роки тому

    Spoiler alert!

  • @Vlatka211
    @Vlatka211 4 роки тому

    This is just sad.

  • @miguelmadrigal2447
    @miguelmadrigal2447 3 роки тому

    Spoiled the novel telling an important art.

  • @kaiftintoiwala6414
    @kaiftintoiwala6414 Рік тому

    War and Peace is better than Anna K

  • @YANKEE10018
    @YANKEE10018 5 років тому +1

    Vapid shallow reading of AK. If you’re seeing yourself and your people in these characters and using it to connect to spirituality you’re sick or evangelical.

    • @gabrielkennethmarinas6244
      @gabrielkennethmarinas6244 5 років тому

      Can you elaborate what you mean?

    • @YANKEE10018
      @YANKEE10018 5 років тому +2

      Jehe No sure! Today’s evangelical sees Christianity as some sort of personal contract between god and themself, and only those who have taken their side can have this relationship. Therefore the Bible can be read very personally, for example, Jesus is very clear on wealth accumulation, but his take is now considered ‘Marxist.’ This whole nation is built on an odd bougie reading of Calvinism.
      Similarly if your first take from a top-5 novel in history is personal and picking out friends as characters in the book you’ve missed the deeper reading of a story that includes fantastic commentary on life even today: socially, politically, sexually, economically, religiously, etc. The beginning of this discussion perfectly encapsulates the selfishness of today’s evangelical.

    • @jakob4381
      @jakob4381 3 роки тому

      I Think tolstoi refuses to judge. Unusual for churchgoers.