Translated by constance black garnett 18621946 in 1917. Konstantin levin, stivas friend, arrives in moscow to propose to the eighteen year old kitty shtcherbatsky. Stiva to his friends has been having an affair with a french governess, and the novel. Anna kareninas first line is one of the most famous openings to a. The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a french girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that. Bbc culture what are the best first lines in fiction. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it. More than any other book, it persuades me that there is such a thing as human nature. Anna karenina, novel by leo tolstoy, published in installments between 1875 and 1877 and considered one of the pinnacles of world literature. The first and last lines of iconic books, and what they. Your can try this site 1 keira delivers anna as a damaged woman who is never happy. Is the movie anna karenina 2012 much different from the. Having that in mind, weve rounded up the first lines of some of the worlds most famous books, and they stand as excellent examples of how a short sentence or two can set the tone for an entire story and define its legacy for decades to come.
Our selection of wise and witty opening words from 30 brilliant classic novels. Moreover, this opening sentence of anna karenina sets a philosophical tone that. From melville to didion, these first sentences from famous books. Known for its scope and intricacies of character and plot, anna karenina begins with a. Upon starting anna k, i purchased both the gyllenhaal and hortovitch narrations and listened to the first two chapters. Anna karenina by tolstoy is a novel about a family and their messes. Additionally, hortovitch reads the maude translation a richer translation in my opinion, in contrast to gyllenhaals reading of the garnett. The first of the novels two major plot lines relates to the irresistible anna, who had. Literature network leo tolstoy anna karenina chapter 1.
Stivas sister, anna karenina, arrives to reconcile the couple and dissuades dolly from getting a divorce. The second plot, however, taking a little more space in this book, is the story about count levin, his internal struggle with religion, and his pursuit of his everyday work at his farm. First the challenge of war and peace and, with that under my belt, a graduation to anna karenina. A crisis develops in the oblonsky household when dolly finds out about her husbands affair. There are two moments in anna karenina when we get several lines worth of dots. Through these two core arcs, additional family dramas unfold throughout the story. To publish such a book in the 1870s was an act of defiance, and tolstoy meant it as one. Tolstoys description recalls the stereotype of love at first sight popular in romance novels of both tolstoys day and our own time. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for.
In the closing lines of anna karenina, levins exuberant affirmation of his new faith and philosophy of life reminds us of tolstoys aim for his novel, which is philosophical as much as narrative. Anna karenina is a novel with a contemporary thematic in which the main theme is annas adultery because of which she get rejected from society and experiences a tragic end. First of them, mostly known, is the story about anna karenina who falls in love with count vronsky, leaves her family and runs slowly into catastrophy. Madame karenina stood quite still, holding herself very erect, and her eyes were smiling. Part two chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 chapter 9 chapter 10 chapter 11 chapter 12 chapter chapter 14 chapter. Considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written, anna karenina is tolstoys classic tale of love and adultery set against the backdrop of high society in moscow and saint petersburg. Meanwhile, dollys younger sister, kitty, is courted by two suitors. Despite the basic structure of a multiple plot, anna karenina is essentially amorphic, lacking what henry james called a deepbreathing economy of organic form. And, as he had done every day for the last nine years, he stretched out his hand. Petersburg government official karenin, arrives at the oblonskys to mediate.
This idea plays out through the plot of anna karenina, published between 1874 and 1876, and often acclaimed as the best novel ever written. In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together. The book of anna succeeds at defamiliarizing tolstoys original, reenvisioning it through an entertaining feminist lens. Anna karenina by leo tolstoy, first edition abebooks.
Tolstoy revisits this old genre in order to give his own spin on family values, which were a popular target of attack for young russian liberals at the time. Anna arkadyevna, the countess said in explanation to her son, has a little son eight years old, i believe, and she has never been parted from him before, and she keeps fretting over leaving him. Francine prose, author of blue angel and my new american life. The first lines of leo tolstoys 1873 novel are some of the most famous of all time. Anna karenina, the film, ostensibly follows the arc of the novel, and the screenplay by tom stoppard includes many of the main characters and main scenes. First edition in english of this novel that is widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, which tolstoy considered his first true novel. Anna karenina by leo tolstoy translated by constance garnett. Part one chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 chapter 9. Ive always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be. Because while anna karenina delivers what is no joke one of the greatest love stories ever written, it also delivers a bunch of other equally masterful plot lines about politics, society, labor issues and religion. Many writers consider anna karenina the greatest work of literature ever and tolstoy himself called it his first true novel.
These dots show us, as in the example above, that the narrator is hesitating to say something, or hes leaving something out. Anna karenina is the story of a womans tragic selfdestruction as she pursues an affair with a younger man, vronsky, in pursuit of something better than the cold and distant relationship she has with her husband. From the pithy to the provocative, the classic book opener comes in many different forms. Hemingway, when asked what three books a writer should read, answered. It was initially released in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical the russian. Anna karenina is polemical, first of all, in its genre. It left me wanting to read more of boullosas work and hoping that more of it will soon be available to the englishspeaking world. The first sentence of leo tolstoys novel anna karenina is. Konstantin levin, an awkward landowner, and alexei vronsky, a dashing. Tolstoys masterpiece of realism, the great novel of the 19th century. A typical novel might have ended with anna s dramatic suicide, but tolstoys work concludes with an abstract philosophical statement. Anna karenina by leo tolstoy, first 2paragraphs, all happy.
Anna karenina is a multiple character study on the nature of family, sexuality, and what it means to be russian. These famous opening lines of anna karenina hearken back to the genre of the family novel, a type of work that had been popular in russia several decades earlier but was already outmoded by the 1870 s. Parallel to her story we follow up on the destructive love between anna and vronsky and the love story between levin and kitty based on an unselfish love. I kept hortovitch, his reading being much more passionate than gyllenhaals. The meaning of anna kareninas first line book riot. The first line of anna karenina is one of the most famous lines in literature and helps to establish that not only is the book a story about particular people, it is a philosophical exploration of life and the organization of humanity. All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow. Most unpleasant of all was the first minute when, on coming, happy and goodhumored, from the theater, with a huge pear in his hand for his wife, he had not found his wife in the drawingroom, to his surprise had not found her in the study either, and saw her at. Anna karenina penguin readers, level 6 by leo tolstoy and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. By then the family novel was hopelessly out of fashion. Anna karenina by leo tolstoy free online book and ebooks. Considering, then, the novel as epic prose, we must analyze its temper by contrasting tolstoy with homer, rather than his contemporaries like flaubert or james.
But there is no doubt that anna karenina, generally considered tolstoys best book, is definitely one ripping great read. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Some people say anna karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the worlds greatest color. The first line of the book is one of the most famous in literature. The narrative centres on the adulterous affair between anna, wife of aleksey karenin, and count vronsky, a young bachelor. The first comes at the end of part 2, chapter 10, when anna and vronsky consummate their affair. Everything was in confusion in the oblonskys house. The two main plot lines come together in a tragicomic final chapter. Reading between the lines yet anna karenina is a book that covers much more than one womans misguided love affair. Eventually, anna is able to bring stiva and dolly to a reconciliation.
Everyone is killed but the narrator, who had quickly familiarized himself with audience from the very first line. When i first started reading anna karenina, ten years agoim obsessed with the book, and have read it seven times since theni, too, thought of it as a love story. The titles on the list span centuries and genres and include classics and contemporary novels that are certain to become classics. Featuring opening lines of some of the greatest works of literature from it was the best of times, it was the worst of times to call me ishmael and 22 more. That book was made by a mr mark twain, and he told the truth, mainly. And with so many books to read, the competition between them is wast. Ten great opening lines in literature the irish times. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in.