Anna Karenina is a story about addiction.

Addiction to indulgence, to argument, to philosophy, to gambling, to drugs, to propriety, to station. Each addict gradually destroys their relationships and themselves and too few - perhaps only one or two - breaks free, sometimes just a moment too late.

***SPOILERS***

The unraveling of Anna and Vronsky's love affair in Moscow perplexed me until near the end, when we see Anna taking multiple doses of opium many months after her labor. It was then that I realized with a shock that she'd become addicted to opium and her mood swings, paranoid delusions, depression, and toxic cynicism were all products of her drug abuse. It was so clear in those last scenes from her perspective that she was high as a kite. The way every subtle glance of total strangers revealed their whole soul and the secrets of the universe and society to her is familiar to anyone who's been sufficiently dosed up.

In light of this twist on her story, I began to reconsider the rest of the book and realized that each character was struggling with a kind of psychological or spiritual addiction of their own, that was equally destructive in its own way.

I scanned other reviews and was surprised no one mentioned this theme.

Worth it.

A riveting epic read. We get to know several characters in this book in turn, and in great detail, all of which presumably tell us the character of Russian society at this time. People's highs & lows, their hopes & fears, but notably their transition between extreme and opposite emotions, sometimes in a matter of moments, sometimes teased over time. The majority seemed to be about the nobleman Levin, not AK: the lasting image I will have is of Levin scythe-mowing alongside his peasant workers while philosophising on the nobility of hard work & the character of Russian peasantry (whilst only the reader realises that Levin has a choice, the peasant not): a truly great piece of descriptive prose.

The AK story arc overlaps almost irrelevantly with Levin's, but generations of readers have appreciated that it stands on its own merits. Set inside the bigger context of a male dominated world of privilege, money, differing society expectations (contrast her situation with Dolly's husband, for example) underlines AK as an unlikely, and humanly-flawed rebel. I read "Beware of Pity" by Stefan Zweig immediately after: another outstanding book, which seemed an echo of the relationship between Vronsky & Anna.

Fantastic! Read this because I felt like I should, and kept on reading because I fell in love with it.

Great. Depressing though, phew!

"I've tried everything, Vronsky thought; the only thing left is not to pay attention." Most solid piece of advice I'm taking from this book.

Anna Karenina is an interesting book. Not in itself. It is terribly dull book that meanders from meaningless moment to meaningless moment until its entirely unsatisfying conclusion. But in how it is rated by other people... I mean it is a classic with > 4 rating on Goodreads and I have to say I'm baffled.

If you cut 600 of its 938 pages it would be a meh book about the various relationships of several Russian aristocrats who live really tedious, and meaningless lives. A three out of ten for the few moments of true tension.

In reality, it is a sprawling mess that is desperate for the editor's pen. There are literally dozens of chapters where nothing interesting happens. Levin goes hunting. Levin does some farm work. Levin finds God, oh Jesus shoot me now why won't this book get to the bloody point!?

The main narrative of Anna and Vronsky is interesting for the most part but even that descends into farce by the end when both characters become such whiny idiots you stop caring if they live or die never mind if they make their relationship work.

Seriously, unless you have too much time on your hands or have some kind of masochistic love of reading about old Russian farming techniques avoid this like the plague. The fact one person has given this five stars never mind 300,000 people on Goodreads amazes me. I'm not sure if I got a different book to them but wow. All I can say is if you think this is five stars wait until you read literally any other book, you'll be blown away to discover character, plot and pacing...