Anna Karenina

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 36 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Overall a good story

The narrator was excellent. The story can be a bit slow and the author tends to ramble, particularly towards the end. But overall it was enjoyable.

reinforcement of why by faith is so important

what an absolutely beautiful story and perfect book that I will treasure always Levin and the farm life what's my favorite part and how Livin returned to the love of his faith

Fabulous rendition of a great classic

Wonderful experience re-"reading" this classic as a listener with Audible's all-time best narrator, Davina Porter.

A treasure!

Where does Anna Karenina rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

#1 This reading is a world treasure of a world treasure.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Anna Karenina?

The book is titled Anna Karenina, but it's central character is Levin... listen.. and seek your place in the world.

thank god its over

These were perhaps the most irritating characters in alll of history. I made it through the whole damn thing only because of the excellent naration .

PAINFUL

This book was painful to listen to. Maybe it's a better read, especially with all the Russian names that are hard to distinguish, but I doubt it. For whatever reason, this book is considered a "classic"...but it's classically boring. I don't know what Oprah was thinking when she picked this sleeper.

Tedious and long-winded

I should have paid closer attention to the reviews that stated this book was tortuous and boring. I couldn't AGREE more!! I listen primarily in the car, but I have a short commute, and I feel like I've been slogging through this listen for months and months. Perhaps, the abridged version would have gotten to the point of each chapter instead of torturing me with unnecessary minutia. I finally had it with the interspersing of french without a translation. This book must have been written back when people had nothing else to do or read to sit through this. Suffice it to say I have download the spark notes so I can get through part 4 and find out what happens to the characters. What a relief to let myself off this hook! That said, the narrator is wonderful, and I have listened to other books she's narrated and enjoyed her performance each time.

Great narrator, long drawn out, boring story

I've tried to read Anna Karenina multiple times, picking it up every 2-3 years, but I'd never made it past the first 2 chapters. When I saw this was narrated by Davina Porter I thought I would give it a try, as I've enjoyed her narration on other books.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't get through it. I made it about 3/4 of the way through before I finally gave up for good, because I just didn't care about any of the 50 million characters or Tolstoy's rambling side stories. It was like listening to a soap opera with the number of intertwined sub-plots, except I just didn't care about any of the characters so I didn't really care to keep listening to find out what happened.
If you have to read this book as a school assignment I would recommend this audiobook of just reading it. But if you have a choice in the matter, find something else to read.
As a side note - other reviews have compared this book to Victor Hugo and mentioned that they both need editors. I actually really like Victor Hugo's work, and find his characters and even side tangents interesting, but this book just doesn't compare, either character or side-story wise.

Disappointed

I know alot of teenagers are forced to read this book in school but I had never had the opportunity until recently to give it a shot. I love Davina Porter as a narrator and she was why I chose this particular recording. The story however made it impossible for me to be pulled in. The character Anna was such an evil and selfish person the entire time I was just hoping someone would accidentally run her over with a carriage... thank god for the ending because I would have been disappointed further if she had gotten away with all of that.

Could not get into it!

What would have made Anna Karenina better?

Felt like my life was wasting away while listening! I tried so, so hard to care about the characters, and I found myself dreading it and trying so hard to stay engaged in the story. I wanted to like this story so badly, and I just found it SO boring and gave up about half way through. I feel so disappointed.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment.