Anna Karenina (Wordsworth Classics) - Softcover

Tolstoy, Leo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853262714 ISBN 13: 9781853262715

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 1995

Synopsis

Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Introduction and Notes by E.B. Greenwood, University of Kent.

Anna Karenina is one of the most loved and memorable heroines of literature. Her overwhelming charm dominates a novel of unparalleled richness and density.

Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attempt at a novel form, and it addresses the very nature of society at all levels,- of destiny, death, human relationships and the irreconcilable contradictions of existence. It ends tragically, and there is much that evokes despair, yet set beside this is an abounding joy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusion of comic relief.

About this title

About the Author

Tolstoy was a champion of nonviolent protest. When he was two years of age his mother died, and when nine his father died. Tolstoy had a definitive set of ideas in regards to religion and philosophy. "Tolstoy condemned capitalism, private property, and the division of labour. Civilization in general he regarded as bad, emphasizing the need to make life as simple and primitive as possible." (Benet's.) His ideas led him into problems with his family, he was estranged from his family during the last of his life. Two of Tolstoy's most popular works are War & Peace and Anna Karenina.

From the Back Cover

A famous legend surrounding the creation of Anna Karenina tells us that Tolstoy began writing a cautionary tale about adultery and ended up by falling in love with his magnificent heroine. It is rare to find a reader of the book who doesn't experience the same kind of emotional upheaval: Anna Karenina is filled with major and minor characters who exist in their own right and fully embody their mid-nineteenth-century Russian milieu, but it still belongs entirely to the woman whose name it bears, whose portrait is one of the truest ever made by a writer.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853262714
• ISBN 13: 9781853262715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 848