One of the best books ever. A must read.

The book was written about 150 years ago, the story is still relevant. The internal struggles of a depressed woman has been captured and beautifully written. In the book the story runs around the elite of the society with couples in love, strife, infatuation, forced commitment and so on. In todays world, the same essence covers martial struggles of the whole society.

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An immersive experience

What a beautiful experience this piece of art and life is! A part of me wishes I'd read this earlier in life, that it would have changed the way I view classical literature. But, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as immensely as I have now. The writing is poignant and powerful, and the characters are complex and real. It's immersive, and I've spent this cold January tucked away in Russia, moving through my own life as though it were fiction.

A special mention to Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has given an Oscar worthy performance in the reading of this book.

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True classic fabulous narration

True classic the story is so true even today when we still torn between what society will say and what gives us happiness

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Literary masterpiece

It feels like we are transported to mid 19th century Russia. Finest piece of writing by Leo Tolstoy. Maggie gyllenhaal voice is scintillating.

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What a narration!

I loved the book, I loved how Tolstoy shaped his messages throughout the story through various characters.

However, Maggie Gyllenhaal made this even more fun for me. I had a Kindle book, but I stayed hooked on how she read, changing tones and pitch and everything else for each character. Eventually I could recognise q character just by the way she would repeat their dialogues 💚

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Slow, but enjoyable

Great insight into the dichotomy of people's minds, wish they had translated the French bits

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4 people found this helpful

Tolstoy Dances from the Mundane to Deep to Divine

It is a l-o-o-o-n-g book and it took me months to finish.

It was completely worth it. Some people call Tolstoy's creations "airport novels" but they are way off the mark. Tolstoy is a genius.

It is a philosophical treatise. Tolstoy goes very deep in the questions of existence, morality, god, and the goal of human lives. And he is the deepest in the last fifty pages.

But if you see the rest of the book as a mere preparation to the last fifty pages of philosophical treatment, then you will be out of breath soon enough. And that will be the wrong way to see the book as well.

Tolstoy handles the deepest question in his own way. But he also handles the nitty-gritty of the lives of aristocrats. He doesn't portray them and parade them and glorify them. Neither does he take the radical view of hatred towards them. He is, in his unique way- an observer. You can draw your own conclusions. He handles the regular lives in detail, he leaves, through his characters- remarks and comments on deep things. Tolstoy is grest in all three layers.

The book also gives you the good feeling of reading a thick novel in which you are transported to another world, and you feel like you know the characters personally. So, this book is fun and edifying at the same time.

This is the first time I loved the narration of a woman narratoe. Maggie Gyllenhaal really exceeded my expectations, and performed extremely well. Literally loved it. I would rate Gyllenhaal's performance as a 10.

The translation used is the Constance Garnett translation. It is okay. Bur extremely anglicized in a Victorian way. That was the cause of some annoyance. But it's fine.

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A vast canvas!

What a genius Leo Tolstoy is! I am reading this again after over 5 decades and I can appreciate so much more. He deals with as much expertise in describing a woman's emotions as he does social issues, politics, religion and human behaviour.

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Brilliant book

Maggie Gyllenhaal has brilliantly performed this towering book. I was intimidated by the length but did not find anything boring.

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touching

excellent narration. the engaging narration made it all the more enjoyable and endearing. loved it. wondering how deep a mind the author had to write such a thing. how sorry I felt for Anna. how my feelings for Vronsky changed towards the end. how sorry I felt for him. and how happy I felt for Levan. so dear to my heart the characters have become.

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