Anna Karenina

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Tolstoy's masterpiece begins, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

This is the story of the unhappy family of Anna Karenina. The novel contains much concerning Tolstoy's spiritual crisis and his search for the meaning of life. But it is also chiefly about marriage, and the growth and death of love.

The touching picture of Anna Aarkadyevna Karenina's slow disintegration has fascinated readers for well over a century. Beautiful and charming, Anna lives in a splendid world of her own making. She smokes, rides horseback, plays tennis, takes opium, practices birth control, and (although she is already married) falls in love with a handsome army officer.

Anna's life is played out against a backdrop of dazzling balls and the vastness of Russia's landscape. It is a magnificent story that shimmers with the intensity of intelligence and passion, especially through this superb narration by Davina Porter.

Public Domain (P)1990 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Porter reads magnificently." (Los Angeles Times)

Spectacular Book by Tolstoy with A+ reading

Anna Karenina is possibly the best book I have ever enjoyed. The reading of this book by Davina Porter was perfect, she has an amazing ability to do justice to male, female, old, and young characters. I walk every day and listen to books. This Tolstoy novel and the way it was presented by Porter made all my walks special. I will buy other books like Madame Bovary by Porter.

Well Worth the Effort

I FINALLY finished listening to this book today, all 36 hours and 8 minutes of it, and I have to say it was worth it. This is a long, involved, 19th century novel by one of the greatest novelists in history. It took some work on my part to stick with it and understand it. I followed the story along on sparknotes, which made it much easier, because when I got lost in the detail, or didn't know or remember who a character was, I could consult this website and get those questions answered.

This book is a juxtaposition of two stories, the sad story of Anna Karenina, and the happy story of Konstantin Levin. The book has been analyzed to death over the last 200 years so it is futile to try to do that. I will just give my impressions. When I finished this book, I wanted to cry, not because I was sad, not because I had a feeling of losing something of value, or losing contact with good friends as I sometimes have at the end of a good book, but I think it was because I saw Levin come around to an understanding of who he was, and what his place was in the world. He realized the most valuable things to him were his wife and son. It was like the sun coming out. It made me happy after the tragic story of Anna and her messed up life. In any case, I loved the whole book. I knew it would be long and involved and contain a lot of detail that is not germane to the story. Do not read this book if you don't want to put up with that aspect of the novel. It is a rewarding story with much food for thought and lessons for life. Makes me happy I have made the good decisions I have made, and helps me understand the poor ones. BTW, Davina Porter is about the best narrator of all times. I could listen to her all day . . . and I DID for several days!

Not bad, but not great

Originally, I chose this version of Tolstoy's classic because I am so fond of Davina Porter's narration, and she did (once again) magnificently. I try to stay away from abridged versions of anything, not wanting to miss any detail the author deemed important. Having said this, I'm not sure I could handle reading any more of Tolstoy unabridged. Holy crow, the man goes on and on at times! There were times when his writing was magical and I felt the emotion of it so powerfully, it overwhelmed me. However, I think you can take description too far, like exaggerated montages on agricultural processes or political maneuvers. If you dislike contention, do not attempt this book. From what I gathered of Tolstoy's perspective, until the last few pages anyways, all that the intellectual people do when they are together is argue. I couldn't help but wish I could have shared my prescription Zoloft with Anna and Levin on many occasions; if those two aren't perfect candidates for anti-anxiety medication, I don't know who is. In Levin, his overactive mind and self-reflection seemed, in the end, to bring him to a peaceful place, but he nearly drove me insane getting there. And, I'll be honest, Anna's descent into madness near the end got more and more difficult for me to listen to; as another reviewer mentioned, I, too, couldn't wait for her to off herself so I could get out of her painfully warped mind. She was so pitiful! I am curious about the lack of closure for many of the important characters, and why Tolstoy didn't tie things up at the end for several of the people critical to the story. Overall, it was worth listening to, even though I am exhausted and relieved it is finally over. I'm not sure I would recommend it to others as highly as many reviewers have, but if you've got over forty hours in which you'd like to indulge in some excessively lengthy and serious Tolstoy reflections, then by all means, go for it.

Intense read

I don’t believe I could have read this book, but it was so wonderfully narrated. Tolstoy’s characters are so rich and their lives so intertwined. What a though provoking ending. Very deep.

Brilliant rendition

I owned this version as a CD set and sought it out when I joined Audible. Divina Porter renders the story with beauty and sensitivity. Truly one of the greatest of all novels.

Loved it!

Loved the story and the narration! Highly reccomended!

Listened to this four times, never will tire of it

Would you listen to Anna Karenina again? Why?

Yes I will listen to it again and again. The book itself draws the listener to the story with it being one of the top 5 classics. And when it is read, it comes to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Levin, always Levin. He tries to figure things out, he is spiritual without realizing it. He is generous, faithful, evolving.

What does Davina Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think her best characterizations are of Anna and Kitty. When she reads, these women become very real.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My extreme reaction is that I am addicted to it.

Any additional comments?

Thank you Mr. Tolstoy for the gift of this novel.

Meant to be read aloud! Also, surprisingly modern.

What made the experience of listening to Anna Karenina the most enjoyable?

This, like many Victorian novels, was written over a period of years, released as a magazine serial. It was meant, at least partially, to be read aloud, in the parlor of an evening. It WORKS.

I would suggest, though, that watching the movie first (the new Tom Stoppard-written release is fantastic) makes the book even more accessible, taking care of the notorious problem the book has of giving everybody, in Russian style, multiple names and nicknames.

Davina Porter is still one of the best readers out there, and she does a very good job of interpreting the characters. I listened to the whole thing in a couple of weeks, and I don't always make it through books 1/4 the length of this one.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The discussion of childbirth, nursing, and motherhood - more spot-on than most modern books.

A Classic for a Reason

Any additional comments?

I never had to read this book in college but had a friend who loved it. Now I know why. I would have been too intimidated by the length of the actual paper book but loved listening to it and "couldn't put it down" so to speak. I found myself wondering about the various characters as I went to sleep at night and thinking about the meaning of true love, marriage, relationships and divorce. I'm eager to use this for a book club meeting b/c the discussion questions are endless.

The Other Great Tolstoi Novel

With perhaps the most famous first sentence in world literature we begin the other great novel written by Tolstoi. Very well narrated. For those having trouble with Russian names that, I'm afraid is your problem. Russians likely have trouble with American names. Easily one of the great classics of Russian literature, it also ranks as one of the greatest of "modern novels" of the 19th and 20th century. I read this several times years ago but was pleased to find such a well narrated audio book.