Can you read Anna Karenina?

Question: What do you get when you throw a bunch of Russians together who either:

a) have some serious mental problems

b) have something very illuminating (NOT) to say about Russian politics or crop harvesting methods at any given time

c) commit adultery and then tear themselves about it

d) have some or the other (un)important crisis in their life, their attitude towards which makes you want to throw something at them or

e) do all of the above?

Answer: Anna Karenina

I first heard of the book when my sister borrowed it from a friend of hers and gave up on it after about a day. "That book," she said, "has nothing in it. And it's impossible to read." A few other people whom I talked to who knew about the book had the same opinion.

You know how it is. Somebody tells you that something's impossible to do and you decide that you're going to be the first one to do it. So it was with this book. I was determined to do the impossible and finish the book in one go.

The first time, I got to maybe 8 percent before I couldn't read any longer.

Okay, so here's the basic story. The novel is based on the life of Anna Karenina as well as those of the people surrounding her. The main plot is about Anna's illicit love affair with Count Vronsky and her consequent disgrace in society. Anna, who chooses to stay with Vronsky, soon realises that her life is not the happily-ever-after that she thought it would be and has to face several conflicts and battle her inner demons of insecurity, inferiority and jealousy. Side-by-side, the novel also focuses on the lives of Stepan Arkedyevitch (Anna's brother) and his wife Dolly Alexandrovna, as well as that of Konstantin Levin and his love interest Kitty Alexandrovna (Dolly's sister), and how all their lives are interconnected.

The main flaws with the novel are:

1. There is just something about this book that does not hold your attention long enough for you to read much more than 10% at a time. Trust me on that.

2. It feels like Tolstoy wrote the book just to provide himself with a platform for expressing his opinions on a wide range of topics ranging from philosophy to religion to agriculture and so on. There are entire chapters filled with this and it can get really boring.

3. Anna Karenina is one very confused individual. And I don't mean it like she can't decide which dress to wear to the theatre. She's always conflicted and unhappy about something. First she can’t stand her husband, then she feels he's too good for her. First she thinks Vronsky loves her, then she's convinced he doesn't. Why, Anna, why?

This may just be a part of her character but whenever such a situation arose in the book, I'd always think, 'Not. Again.'

So this is definitely a book which is hard to stick to and finish. However, all said and done, when I read a few pages and really got into the groove, I was surprised to see that I was actually finding it…interesting.

Yes, I said interesting. No, I'm not stark raving mad. Because, in its own way, the book is kind of interesting. The characters are a fascinating study (maybe not Konstantin Levin though, because he just keeps rambling all the time. No offence, Levin), especially Anna, portraying a ruined and miserable woman. This was my favourite part of the book and I feel Tolstoy did an amazing job creating the characters.

You'd have to read the book to really appreciate it. And for this very reason alone, I'd recommend reading the book.

And you can always show off by saying you've read Anna Karenina, the unreadable book. That's an added perk. ;)

I guess the bottom line is, Anna Karenina is a book that you might take days to finish and is not always going to hold your attention, but given a chance, might just surprise you and make you stick around long enough for you to finish it and maybe, just maybe, even like it.

P.S: This is my favourite quote from the book:

He looked at her as a man looks at a faded flower he has gathered, with difficulty recognizing in it the beauty for which he picked and ruined it.

Happy reading!