Anna Karenina, a direct and truthful transcript of life in Russia in the early 1800's,like most of Tolstoy's other novels, were written for the enjoyment and diversion of the very type of people about whom he writes; those so rich that they had way too much time on their hands:
             Pre-Bolshevik Russian Lady of Leisure #1 (in French, of course):"Darling, you look absolutely ravishing. What are your plans for the day?" Lady #2: "Oh I don't know...Maybe after counting my tiaras, I'll recline on my mink couch, act dainty, and oppress the servants. When that grows tiresome, perhaps I'll read a long epic by that Tolstoy fellow to pass the time. Care to join me, dear?"
             Lady #1: "But that's what we do every day."
             Lady #2: "Of course it is! We're Pre-Bolshevik Russian Ladies of Leisure!"
             This book is over 800 pages long. Perhaps if I had that much time on my hands, I would have enjoyed it more. But the fact is: I didn't. I read this book for pleasure, but after the first 400 pages, I felt I was drowning in superfluity. If it weren't for the richness in scenery, I would have thrown Karenina down in defeat.
             Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is a respectable society women who leaves her bureaucrat husband and their only child to pursue a scandalous affair with the much more exciting Count Vronsky, with whom she eventually has a child and travels across Europe in a sort of a scandalous exile.
             Eventually, Anna's jealousy and angst get the best of her, but despitethis, she is a rich character whose stubborn determination in pursuing bad choices make her unforgettable at least.
             Tolstoy also weaves into Karenina the story of Konstantin Levin, but good and simple man who, though torn with a question of faith in God, is probably the happiest character in the book. He marries the rosy-cheeked and fragile Princess Kitty Shcherbatsky, whom he loves desperately. Tolstoy's portrayal of Kitty, who remains faithful to Levin though her love for him is not so ...