2008: the summer I finally read "Anna Karenina."
Took me more than a month, not because it was a difficult read, but because I wanted to savor the novel's richness with its enormous cast and the detailed rendering of 19th century Russia. Who knew Russian farming and elections could be interesting?
Tolstoy has the knack for drawing believable and engrossing characters. He opens windows to their souls imperceptibly (at first) that it's like a magic act. Before you know it, you are as hooked as they are to their own wants and passions.
Plotwise: Anna has an affair, flees a loveless marriage, and throws - er - I don't wanna ruin the ending for those who don't know. The "B" plot or the courtship of Levin and Kitty will appeal more to the Harlequin Romance set.
It touches on practically all the grand themes of life, but I'll back up my claim that above all else, it's about family from its opening line/thesis: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
I'm sure I'm not the only one who found Anna difficult to like. She is so annoyingly human and (dare I say it?) so female with her needs and jealousies. And also because there's a question I can't seem to answer: Why does she not love her second child?
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