{"id":1812,"date":"2025-12-23T12:52:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T11:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/volkanartz.w23.fr\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2026-01-09T17:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T16:19:15","slug":"anna-karenina-de-l-n-tolstoi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/volkanartz.chauss.in\/en\/anna-karenina-de-l-n-tolstoi\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Karenina, by L. N. Tolsto\u00ef"},"content":{"rendered":"

This book is desirable, on two counts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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D’abord, parce que je d\u00e9sirais effectivement le lire.  
Or, pour une raison qui m’\u00e9chappe un peu aujourd\u2019hui, j’ai mis un temps infini \u00e0 mettre la main dessus. Il est vrai que je voulais le d\u00e9couvrir en version papier (et non en epub, sur un \u00e9cran) et que son le rendait globalement indisponible en biblioth\u00e8que, mais j’ai fini par en trouver une tr\u00e8s bonne traduction, \u00e9dit\u00e9e chez “Le Livre de Poche” (comme quoi…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond these circumstances, this book is also (and foremost) desirable for its content.  
De fait, c’est bien plus qu’un livre : c’est un monde entier (certes peupl\u00e9 d\u2019\u00eatres imaginaires), tout un ensemble de th\u00e8mes et d’id\u00e9es \u00e0 m\u00e9diter et, enfin, une \u0153uvre d’art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Un brin de contexte<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tolsto\u00ef intimide, un peu comme Dosto\u00efevski, ne serait-ce que compte tenu du nombre de pages de ses “grands romans”. 
Et pourtant, telles les meilleures \u0153uvres d\u2019Alexandre Dumas (dont Anna Karenina partageait, en l’occurrence, la publication en “feuilletons”), on les d\u00e9vore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, these Russian novels do present the trouble of naming every characters through 3 to 4 ways : first and last name, but also a patronymic middle name, and even sometimes a title (count...) or a rank (captain...) 
Hopefully, it seems that there are less protagonists in Anna K., compared to \"War and Peace\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, as the action takes place in the 4th quarter of the XIXth century, it makes it easier to understand the social relations in the (Bourgois) society \u2013 in the classical way of the \"Belle Epoque\". <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this makes it rather accessible... and I would encourage a new comer to Tolstoy to begin with this very novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writing process took place during the late 40s of the author, between 1873 and 1877, in the form of a series of publications in a journal (with a crazy editorial success). 
It seems that the end of the novel (which is indeed quite peculiar, and yet very logical in its own way) bothered this journal to such an extent, that they refused to publish it ! 
Anyway, everything tends to show that Tolstoy was then at the peak of his creative career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A cinematographic material<\/span><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems there has been no less than 18 versions made for the cinema of the TV, not mentioning the countless adaptation for the stage (theater, ballet...) 
Of course, I'm very far from having seen much of it and yet, that should be interesting to experience the stage adaptations by Jean Anouilh or even Stanislavky, or to look at the 1948 movie, with the great Vivien Leigh in the lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a matter of fact, my first encounter with this novel happened through an English movie, produced in 2012, with Keira Knightley, who delivered a decent job (if I remember correctly). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And yet, this movie didn't left me any memory... other than an excellent sequence of summer harvest, when Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) throws itself in this heavy work, along day-to-day peasants \u2013 a truly magical moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But other than that, the rest of the movie seemed \"transparent\" to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it is actually logical : how on earth could we hope for anything else, when the core material of the novel is only skimmed, in order to produce a 2 hours entertainment result (both commercial and superficial, I'm afraid). 
So let's forget this very forgettable movie and focus instead on the novel itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mais qu\u2019y a-t-il de bien, au juste, dans ce bouquin ?<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I confess it gets more slippery for me to write about such a work - but, let's take some risks ! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tolsto\u00ef attaque d\u2019embl\u00e9e avec une sc\u00e8ne de m\u00e9nage – et je ne g\u00e2cherai rien aux futurs lecteurs (puisqu’il s’agit de la deuxi\u00e8me phrase du livre) en r\u00e9v\u00e9lant qu\u2019un mari et p\u00e8re de famille se retrouve pris sur le fait, les doigts dans la confiture, d\u2019une amourette extra conjugale. 
His sister, Anna, comes down from St Petersburg, hoping to help them to reconciliate the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything begins in a very light way, but very lively... and here we find ourselves charmed by these imaginary people ! 
In one word : we're trapped into Tolstoy writing skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beyond the plot and its development (into something deeper), the true force of the novel is to offer us, sequence after sequence, dizzying highs.  
Such moments are actually more frequent than in \"War and Peace\" (and there were quite a few, notably : the unforgettable bal scene ; the cards play when Nikola\u00ef loses everything he has and even far more ; and of course the Borodino battle along prince Andre\u00ef), but in Anna Karenina, such moments keep coming on and on, with such an intensity that the reader keeps on crying and asking for more :  <\/p>\n\n\n\n