anna_karenina

Genrikh Manizer, 1904. Anna Karenina.

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Let’s Read Together.

Leo Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”

Listen to “Anna Karenina” in Russian.

Each chapter of the novel is narrated in Russian and comes with a short summary of the chapter in English.

Here you will find the transcript of the “summary chapters” and original text in Russian.

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Part 1.

Chapter 1.

The 1^st chapter starts with the famous and often quoted:

Все счастливые семьи похожи друг на друга, каждая несчастливая семья несчастлива по-своему. Всё смешалось в доме Облонских. – All happy families are similar to each other; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Everything was in turmoil in the Oblonsky’s house...

Chapter 2.

What else happens in the 2^nd chapter?
It starts with Steeva’s monolog, inner monolog, how unpleasant all this situation and this argument are. He really didn’t expect it to have such an effect, he sincerely believed that his wife Darya Alexandrovna, Dolly, knew about his little affairs, and he was very surprised to find out that no she didn’t even suspect anything...

Chapter 3.

In this chapter, Tolstoy shows us a typical Moscow gentlemen, aristocrat represented in this case by the prince Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky: he holds some position in some governmental office – присутствие. At the end of the day, a guy should work somewhere...

Chapter 4.

All these chapters at the beginning are in a way a groundwork for the arrival of new characters, Anna Karenina first of all. Her name was mentioned in the previous chapters and we know she is coming and the Oblonskys are expecting her...

Chapter 5.

Anna Karenina is not the main character of the novel. The novel is not about Anna...

Chapter 6.

Now about the 6th chapter, it's quite short and it is about Левин. We learn that he came to Moscow this time to propose to Kitty Sherbatskaya...

Chapter 7.

In this chapter, we go back in time with Levin. Here Tolstoy shows Levin visiting his elder stepbrother Кознышев in the morning after that Levin goes to visit Oblonsky that was in chapter 5...

Chapter 8.

We learn about another brother - Nikolay, Levin’s sibling – elder brother. He has done something terrible; he is broke and doesn’t want anything to do with his brothers...

Chapter 9.

Here we meet Kitty for the first time and because we see her the way Levin sees her she is the most beautiful creature...

Chapter 10.

Levin and Oblonsky go to the restaurant for dinner. In two consecutive chapters, the 10th and 11th, we see Oblonsky and Levin having dinner and we listen to their conversation....

Chapter 11.

We are still at the same restaurant with Levin and Oblonsky. However in this chapter the atmosphere, the spirit of the conversation, changes completely because Levin changes, from being excited, talking about his love for Kitty, as he was in the previous chapter, he becomes angry and unpleasant. And the reason for it is Vronsky...

Chapter 12.

Princess Shtcherbatskaya likes Vronsky and she doesn’t like Levin; she is not smart enough to understand him, to see him for what he is. Vronsky is the person she understands, he is one of them: he is nice, pleasant, rich, from a good family, with future and more importantly with the pleasant manners, unlike Levin...

Chapter 13.

The main event of the chapter is that Levin proposes to Kitty and she rejects him...

Chapter 14.

In the previous chapter Kitty refused Levin and he was about to leave but he gets stuck with the Shtcherbatskys and their guests for the whole length of the 14^th chapter.

Chapter 15.

Prince Shtcherbatsky says that Levin is thousand times better than Vronsky because Vronsky is one of those dandies, fops, from St-Petersburg, they are mass-produced, all on one pattern and all rubbish.

Chapter 16.

The 16^th chapter is about Vronsky and what he thinks – so it’s a very short one, he doesn’t have any deep thoughts. Vronsky is a flat, one-dimensional character, nice and polite but very common.

Chapter 17.

And here we see Vronsky and Oblonsky who came to the station to meet – Vronsky his mother and Oblonsky – his sister Anna Karenina...

Chapter 18.

Well, this is a very important chapter. I dare to say it is a foundation of the novel. It gives away the end of the story involving Anna and Vronsky...

Chapter 19.

Anna saves Steeva’s marriage and is about to destroy her own and break Kitty’s heart...

Chapter 20.

Steeva’s life is back to normal, Kitty likes Anna and Anna likes Kitty, everybody’s happy...

Chapter 21.

At the beginning of the chapter, the main attention is on Dolly and Steeva. Anna is happy, she is convinced that Dolly has forgiven Steeva, so Anna’s mission is successfully fulfilled...

Chapter 22.

Kitty and Vronsky start dancing and when the music stops Kitty looks into his face which is so close and for several years afterward that look full of love to which he doesn’t make any response, fills her heart with an agony of shame...

Chapter 23.

In chapter 23 – during the 2^nd part of the ball Kitty senses that something is going wrong, not the way she expected...

Chapter 24.

In this chapter, we jump back in time and join Konstantin Levin. He has just left the Shtcherbatskys’ house, upset of course with being rejected by Kitty, but he blames himself for that. “Why would she choose him?” - he says to himself. “Him, who is not wanted by anybody or any use to anybody.”

Chapter 25.

In this chapter, Levin is still at his brother's Nikolay's place. Nikolay starts talking about his project – about a co-operative of mechanics - слесарная артель.

Chapter 26.

In this chapter, Levin Konstantin leaves Moscow and goes back to the countryside . . .

Chapter 27.

Levin is a landowner, an aristocrat, a gentleman but he is not an ordinary one. He is a landowner who runs his own estate...

Chapter 28.

Anna is leaving Moscow in a rush afraid of her feelings to Vronsky...

Chapter 29.

Anna is on the train to St-Petersburg reflecting on what happenned in Moscow...

Chapter 30.

Anna meets Vronsky on the train...

Chapter 31.

Anna arrives to St-Petersburg and Vronsky is introduced to her husband...

Chapter 32.

Anna is at her home in St-Petersburg, she is happy to see her son and go back to her usual routine. Vronsky and his confession seem unreal and nothing to worry about...

Chapter 33.

The Karenins have lunch with their freinds. Anna stays at home with her son. After Anna's husband returns from his work, the couple has a quiet evening...

Chapter 34.

Vronsky is back to St-Petersburg. He arrives to the flat he shares with his friend ...

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