Russian Lit or Soap Opera?

Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Copyright 1873-1877
??? pages
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible

In nineteenth century Russia, carrying on an extra-marital love affair wasn't quite the thing to do. The novel follows the trials and tribulations of Anna Karenina as she rejects her passionless marriage in favor of pursuing her doomed love affair, enduring the hypocrasies of society.

Anna Karenina is said to have been Tolstoy's best work. If so, I certainly don't want to waste my time on anything else he wrote... This might have gotten a slightly better rating from me if I could have finished it... but the story is complex and each character seems to have multiple names, making the action - what there is of it - difficult to follow.  Most of the characters are forgettable and some downright unlikable, even though we are supposed to like them. Even though I liked Anna to a certain degree, I still wanted to alternately slap her for her lapses in judgement and support her for putting up with her very much unlikeable husband.

Someone else mentioned that it reads like a soap opera, and I have to agree, it very much does resemble the soaps. When things happen in this story, they happen slowly - almost as if one is watching a motion picture at slow speed. While I usually  enjoy long and complex novels, this book is different.  Anna Karenina is certainly not for everyone.  All I can say in it's favor is, I'm glad I didn't spend money on this novel.  I got mine from Project Gutenberg, hence no length listed.  Wikipedia has links to a couple other versions.  Recommended: If you're not 100% certain you will love this novel, either borrow it from your local library or read one of the versions available online free, otherwise it's not worth the cost.