Anna Karenina Audiobook By Leo Tolstoy, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator cover art

Anna Karenina

Penguin Classics

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Anna Karenina

By: Leo Tolstoy, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator
Narrated by: Miranda Pleasence
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Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Miranda Pleasence, the stage and television actress best known for her roles in Notes on a Scandal, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and The Affair of the Necklace. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Richard Pevear.

Tolstoy's epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction.

Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.

This acclaimed modern translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky won the PEN/Book of the Month Club Translation Prize in 2001.

©2003 Translation: Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (P)2020 Penguin Audio Classics Russia

Critic reviews

"The new and brilliantly witty translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is a must." (Lisa Appignanesi, Independent, Books of the Year)

"Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English, and their superb rendering allows us, as perhaps never before, to grasp the palpability of Tolstoy's characters, acts, situations." (James Wood, New Yorker)
Great Novel • Wonderful Story • Excellent Narration • Engaging Translation • Lively Performance • Complex Hero
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Fantastic edition. Glad I finally got around to it! I recommend doing a co-read of the same edition in print.

Loved the translation and narration

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Absolutely wonderful story and narration. Yes, it is a long read but it’s worth the effort of completing it!

Fantastic!

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How was this different from other versions?
Both the narrator & newly translated text add a modern feel to the language, especially that of the novel's inner narrator, expelling many of the 'Thus', Thy', & other non-modern language.
Above all, I found this new text to be both life changing & life affirming all at once. This is possibly the only novel I've ever read to portray life's actual pace and keep me absolutely riveted at the same time.
Once the novel really got going, I literally could not put it down. I'd tell any and all literary-minded adults to read or listen. One of my college professor once called this novel the Holy Bible of Literature and I can't help but finally agreeing in full!

A Near-Spiritual Experience!

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I'm already planning a reread of this great classic Russian novel! "On to War and Peace ..."

Love this JOINT!

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I vastly prefer this recording on the Pevear-Volokonsky translation over that voiced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ms. Pleasance creates wonderful characterizations and keeps the pace brisk (aside from speeding the narration). There's a real sense that Ms. Pleasance is superbly aware of the hierarchy of social classes in Russia in the time the novel is set, which I deeply appreciate. Ms. Pleasance does have a slight lisp, which some might have a quarrel with, but I did not. I can't say that I caught any other mistakes, but on p. 602 Ms. Pleasance flubs the translated text and substitutes "Vronsky" for "Veslovsky".

I very much enjoyed the novel itself, the translation, and the narration, but I'm not yet an Anna Karenina partisan. There are some chapters on hunting and farming that leave me cold, and the central love affair in the beginning is rushed as is the dénouement at the end.

Fantastic rendition with few quibbles

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This is a gorgeous and highly enjoyable novel, and the narration is stellar. Do listen to this translation as it is the gold standard.

beautiful work of art

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loved it, beautiful, wonderful timeless, heart warming and heartbreaking. please read at least once in a lifetime

Must read for everyone 👏 👌 👍 ❤️

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One of my favorite novels but loved having it read to me. First rate narration!

Translation and narration Excellent

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The translation has a nice, easy flow to it, and Miranda Pleasence does a great job of dramatic reading. The novel itself is a masterpiece.

Best Translation and Best Narrator

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From our modern perspective, it's easy to overlook just how ground-breaking this novel was in Russia at the time of it's writing. I found the narration to be exceptional throughout.

Strong performance of a classic.

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