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Anna Karenina cover art

Anna Karenina

By: Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
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Summary

Winner: Audible's Best of 2016 - Classic

"Anna Karenina is one of my favorite books. But when I agreed to read it for Audible, I had no idea how much work it would be, how intense it would be, and how deeply I would fall in love with it. There were places where I thought 'if I don't give Alexey Alexandrovitch the respect that he deserves in my reading of this scene, a critical part of the book will be ruined. If I don't give EVERYONE the utmost respect and understanding, I'm not doing justice to this brilliantly compassionate book.' But at the same time, I also wanted to have a light touch in the way I played the different characters, so that the magnificence of the novel could shine through. I feel like performing this novel is one of the major accomplishments of my work life - it was so challenging and so deep, a real pleasure." (Narrator Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky. Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight, The Honourable Woman) cites Tolstoy's epic as one of her favorite books of all time, and her love for the literature permeates her performance. Anna Karenina is a masterpiece not only because of the unforgettable woman at its core and the stark drama of her fate but also because it explores and illuminates the deepest questions about how to live a fulfilled life.

Public Domain (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

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What listeners say about Anna Karenina

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

a dissapointment

I was really hoping for a riveting listen after reading audibles hype of this performance by Maggie Gyllenhall.
I fancied listening to another classic after becoming bored with crime and thriller reads that all began to sound the same.
My last classic listen was The Woman in White which I thoroughly enjoyed and had high hopes for the praise given to Gyllenhalls interpretation of this classic novel.
I d love to say I made it past chapter 12 but for me it just turned into one long sentence. It was read but not with any gusto or giving any difference to the characters. I found it a woefully dull rendition and returned it.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A book for reading

After listening to a few books, I realise that there are books that a great to listen to and books that are better to read (another example of one not to listen to Mrs Dalloway) because the language is so dense. Ci think this is one of those. I struggled to remember who the different names belonged to, and to keep attention to the plot. Tolstoy is an accomplished writer for sure, but I was thinking get to the point.

I don't think Maggie Gyllenhaal was the right reader, I found her a little monotonous and failed to keep my attention.
There was a lot I enjoyed about the book, but I did feel that Anna Karenina needed to get a grip and lacked empathy for her as a character at times.

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35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book and the narrator

I loved everything about this. The story is amazing, I love the way Tolstoy seems to see the world from all the characters points of view and sympathise with all of them. At first I found it odd that Maggie Gyllenhall doesn't put on accents for the different characters - she just reads them all in her voice - but after a while I liked it and it has the advantage that she doesn't shape your perspective on the character; whereas other narrators can really shape how you see a character, e.g. by reading them in a shrill or silly voice. Thank you Maggie for a beautiful performance that will stay with me.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Flat narration of complex novel

Intersecting stories woven round doomed love affair but disappointingly passionless narration scattered with irritating mispronounciations

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Anna Karenina meets Dalas

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Better translation from the original in English rather than American english. you just don't get the sense of aristocracy without an upper class accent !

What will your next listen be?

Just started the Silk Road.

How could the performance have been better?

See comments above

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes , I was able to turn it off.

Any additional comments?

Dissapointed, I had been looking forward to listening to this book, but after thirty chaptors it still hadn't improved so turned it off!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So long

The OCD in me made me finish this even though it was nearly 40 hours. Maggie is cool and I like her so much I picked this book but even she can not make pages and pages on farming methods interesting and her French pronunciation is jarring.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

the narrator misses instructio on French an German

she really misses the german and french rightfully. it mess the whole thing disgracefully unpleasant.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely stunning - a truly definitive performance.

Beautifully read, Ms Gyllenhaal gives truly rounded inner and outer lives to Tolstoy’s characters and sets the scenes so fully that the emotions and their development in the world they inhabit is so vividly set one can only feel oneself being fully immersed in their lives, their loves, intrigues, frustrations, jealousies… all their emotions are delivered with neither monotony nor unnecessary embellishment so that the whole work rises up from the page and transports you into the author’s Russia in a way that feel at once both authentic to the time and true to the eternal lives that we all live. It is a definitive production that shows what brilliance can be achieved when a great work is performed by a great actor in a great production. If there is one Audible work that I can recommend without hesitation it’s this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely fantastic book.

I was in two minds about this book and reader due to previous reviews but bought it anyway. I am so glad I did. The story is wonderful and Maggie Gyllenhaal is in my opinion the best choice of reader. Her voice flowed through the book. I was in every room, every house with each character. It was like standing at the edge of the room listening in.32hrs is nothing for this kind of book. I was devastated when it ended. I will listen to this book many times. My next buy will be War and Peace. Can't wait.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent reading of classic novel

The reading is very well done, the story justly famous, the narrator distinguishes well between the characters and is particularly on form in conveying the pathos of Anna herself, the reality of love's imagined failure crossing into the romantic mania for grand statement and that burden of loss and guilt that remains for the survivor. For some British listeners the accent might become too severe but I didn't find it so. So if you want the feminine take this is to be recommended, if you prefer the male voice then the Horovitch version is also excellent.

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2 people found this helpful