Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attemptat a novel form, and it addresses the very nature ofsociety at all levels - of destiny, death, humanrelationships and the irreconcilable contradictions ofexistence. It ends tragically, and there is much thatevokes despair, yet set beside this is an aboundingjoy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusionof comic relief.
Anna Karenina is one of the most loved and memorableheroines of literature. Her overwhelming charmdominates a novel of unparalleled richness and density.
Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attemptat a novel form, and it addresses the very nature ofsociety at all levels - of destiny, death, humanrelationships and the irreconcilable contradictions ofexistence. It ends tragically, and there is much thatevokes despair, yet set beside this is an aboundingjoy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusionof comic relief.
INTRODUCTION
VOLUME ONE
LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PARTS I-IV
LIST OF RUSSIAN WORDS
PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV
VOLUME TWO
LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PARTS V-VIII
PART V
PART VI
PART VII
PART VIII
NOTES