Anna Karenina
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Anna Karenina
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Narrated by:
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Maggie Gyllenhaal
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By:
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Leo Tolstoy
About this listen
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.
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What listeners say about Anna Karenina
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR JOHN M SULLER
- 05-08-18
narrator
The narrator was wonderful to listen to. I hope she narrates more Tolstoy , I would purchase more of hers.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- miss a baker
- 24-04-23
It’s not war and peace
It’s not war and peace which is a masterpiece, but Maggie Gyllenhaals performance is outstanding, filling the characters with a naturalness and relatability which makes the experience personal and very enjoyable
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- User143
- 23-12-23
Quietly delightful
Loved it! Moments of amazing writing (Kitty and Levin's honeymoon, Anna at her son's birthday, the near proposal, the mowing, the hunting, the psychotic episode (?), and the portrait), and the characters feel real! Language isn't too florid but serves the story. Found the narrator clear but sometimes too airy/dramatic but was a good voice of Anna (genuinely felt Wronsky's frustration at the end).
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- W. J. Haworth
- 06-12-20
Fantastic!
Well worth the wait - it's been on my list for years! It was something worth making sure I had time to enjoy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms T
- 10-07-18
An epic
Wow! From ten hours on, this audiobook completely enthralled me. Rich in characterisation, beautifully written, with wonderful lilting chapters and perfect narration by Maggie Gyllenhaal. At 35 hours in length, this audiobook is certainly a commitment of time but so worth the dedication: a classic and rightly so. Highly recommended for those who enjoy period dramas of epic proportions.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca
- 21-05-22
Absorbing read, marvellous narration
In an act of bravery I undertook to listen to Anna Karenina - if not now, when? What an absolute pleasure.The whole of humanity is in this novel, in all it's complexity, despite its focus on these protagonists in a very defined historical period. Maggie Gyllenhaal's narration was outstanding. She brought compassion and insight to the text, without overperforming - I feel the reading enhanced the written text, which of course isn't always the case with audiobooks. I was enthralled by sections I probably would have skimmed if faced by 1000 physical pages. I am sad to have reached the end and, if you can believe it, plan a reread in the future.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lindsey909975
- 10-11-23
Spoiled by the narration
I stuck with it but the reader’s voice and rendition was too much of a drone for my taste
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Zeddysdad
- 28-07-24
Cheap & tragic
I hope Maggie G was paid handsomely for this, because in all other regards it smacks of cost-cutting. Fortunately Constance Garnett‘s 1901 translation is sufficiently unfusty to be no obstacle to enjoyment (since clearly no one wanted to spend any money on royalties). Gyllenhaal is good voice casting, in many ways more suited then a classic fruity British male - the dry & rather hazy tone with flashes of girlishness suits Tolstoy‘s heroine, and the decision not to affect numerous voices for the vast cast of characters permits the listener a more direct experience of the text. But some rehearsal/direction would have helped. There are numerous mispronounciations (of English words - don’t get me started on the French and German, the latter of which is little more than an embarrassed jumble of vowels and consonants), quite a few misreadings (charablanc?) and little response to the ebb and flow of the story. All of this could have easily been solved by paying for some preparation, rehearsal and direction. But it seems that here & elsewhere Audible will splash money on glitz but not back it up with graft.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ray Woodward
- 24-06-20
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
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ellie Preston
- 15-04-20
Beautifully read and a beautiful story.
Perfect narration and great story with such deep characters...I would say it’s just as much about Levin as about Anna....you realise at the end their similarities.
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