Ranks 53rd on The Fictional
100
The following books and films will introduce you to Anna Karenina, who
said these words in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. To order a book or film, or for more information, follow the title links to Amazon.com,
or return home to browse other
characters.
- Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club)
(Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Trans.). Penguin Classics, 2004.
- Oprah Winfrey had the excellent taste to recommend this essential work to women everywhere who may have not yet tasted its tragic beauty. The translating team of Pevear and Volokhonsky have completed their monumental achievement of providing freshly accessible, yet faithful translations of Tolstoy's two masterpieces, now that this work is joined by their translation of War and Peace (Vintage Classics)
.
- Tolstoy, Leo. Anna
Karenina (Louise and Aylmer Maude, Trans.). Oxford
University Press, 1995.
- Compassionate portrayal of this doomed woman by
the grand-master of novelists. The Maudes'
translation eloquently
captures Tolstoy's detailed yet panoramic vision
of life. The cover portrait chosen for this
World's Classics paperback seems an uncanny match
to Tolstoy's heroine, with her womanly beauty and
wistfulness.
- Thorlby, Anthony. Leo
Tolstoy: Anna Karenina (Landmarks of World
Literature). Cambridge University Press, 1988.
- Excellent guide to the novel covers the evolution
of the character in Tolstoy's creative process,
Anna's "homelessness," and the
treatment of her death, along with the book's
critical reception.
- Bayley, John. Tolstoy
and the Novel. University of Chicago Press, 1988.
- No one can beat Bayley for profound literary
observations, stated with simple grace. He knows
Anna and Tolstoy well and leaves us feeling we
know them too. Also excellent on War and
Peace.
- Leavis, F. R. Anna
Karenina and Other Essays. London: Chatto &
Windus, 1967; Random House, 1968.
- Famed critic Leavis said of Anna Karenina
"it is, surely, the European
novel."
- Anna Karenina (1948)
[DVD]. Starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson. 20th Century Fox, 2007.
- Vivien Leigh perhaps best matches the style of beauty Tolstoy conjures in his descriptions of Anna. Leigh brings her own blend of strength and frail vulnerability to the role, perfectly portraying Anna's descent into bitterness and emotional breakdown, when her strength at last fails her.
- Anna Karenina (1935)
[DVD]. Starring Greta Garbo, Fredric March. Warner Home Video, 2005.
- Garbo's exotic looks and unique bearing make for a bewitching and flamboyant Anna. Her acting skills realize the strong contours of the character, down to her final tragic moments. Fredric March is particularly vivid as Vronsky.
- Anna Karenina (1977) - The Complete Miniseries
[DVD]. Starring Nicola Pagett, Eric Porter, Stuart Wilson. WEA, 2004.
- In ten episodes, this faithful adaptation has room to place the tragic romance of Anna and Vronsky in counterpoint with the healthier relationship of Kitty and Levin, as in Tolstoy's novel.
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