{"id":302166,"date":"2015-09-03T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wdev.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent-dev\/2015\/09\/03\/anna-karenina\/"},"modified":"2018-04-16T14:57:31","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T14:57:31","slug":"anna-karenina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/2015\/09\/03\/anna-karenina\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Karenina"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past 140 years, Anna Karenina<\/em> has been loved by millions of readers all over the world. It\u2019s easy to see why: the novel\u2019s two main plots revolve around characters who are just trying to find happiness through love. Even though it\u2019s a very Russian novel that occasionally addresses problems in that country during the nineteenth century, it appeals to modern-day readers because Tolstoy\u2019s works show that the events that have the greatest impact on our lives are not the major ones, but the ordinary, everyday ones. But unlike Tolstoy\u2019s other magnum opus, War and Peace<\/em>, Anna Karenina<\/em> is much more straightforward in getting that point across.<\/p>\n

Yet, it\u2019s not a perfect novel. This statement may surprise those who have heard it declared not just one of the greatest, but the<\/em> greatest novel ever written. For the most part, the novel is brilliant in its depiction of the lives and loves of the two main characters\u2014Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin and, of course, Anna Arkadyevna Karenin\u2014who end up taking different moral and spiritual paths. However, one cannot help but feel that, after a while, Anna is just a supporting character in her own story. <\/p>\n

That story begins when her brother, Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky, or Stiva, asks her to come to his home in Moscow to help him with his marital problems. Stiva\u2019s wife, Dolly, discovered that her husband had been unfaithful to her, and now refuses to talk to him. Even though she is able to convince her friend to forgive Stiva, Anna herself is not exactly in a state of marital bliss. She\u2019s no longer content with her husband, Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, and is looking for the kind of romance one finds in the novels she enjoys reading. <\/p>\n

Dolly\u2019s sister, Kitty, is also looking for the same kind of romance, which is why she gets excited when she thinks an officer named Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky is going to propose to her. Before he does, though, Levin, who has been a great friend of Kitty\u2019s family ever since childhood and truly loves her, asks her first. Because Levin is not part of the high society that Kitty belongs to, she declines his proposal. Her mother, a princess, also believes that Vronsky would make a better match for his daughter.<\/p>\n

However, Vronsky starts pursuing Anna after meeting her at a train station. At first, she spurns his advances, but eventually, they become lovers. When he learns of their affair, Karenin initially threatens to divorce her though later changes his mind after Anna has a health scare. Karenin forgives Anna and permits her to stay with Vronsky, even though they are still married; however, the lovers find it very difficult to live together in a society that doesn\u2019t look too kindly on adulterers. Things worsen when Anna later decides she does want a divorce and Karenin refuses. He also doesn\u2019t allow her to see her son, Seryozha. As a result, her relationship with Vronsky becomes strained.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Levin is trying to forget about Kitty\u2014who ends up with her own health problems as a result of Vronsky\u2019s rejection\u2014and focus on his estate. He is passionate about his work and spends a lot of time thinking about reforming agriculture in Russia. After a while, though, both Dolly and Stiva eventually convince Levin to see Kitty again. Their meeting leads to a reconciliation, marriage, and birth of their first child, although just as Anna realizes that one cannot turn to love to find all of the answers, so does Levin.<\/p>\n

For Levin\u2019s story, Tolstoy based it on his own experiences, making it both interesting and problematic at the same time. It\u2019s interesting because we can learn some things about Tolstoy the man, who tried his hand at farming. We also learn about Tolstoy the husband, since he modeled Levin\u2019s relationship with Kitty on his own with his wife. However, Tolstoy may have put too much of himself into Levin\u2019s story. Some of the lengthy passages involving Levin and his brothers do not really advance the plot, especially later in the book. And Levin\u2019s story drags on for far too long after Tolstoy makes his point.<\/p>\n

That said, Anna<\/em> has more to recommend than not. Tolstoy makes his characters, even the minor ones, rich and complex, showing both their good and bad sides without ever passing judgment on either one. For example, there are times when Karenin seems incapable of love. And he doesn\u2019t seem to have much of a relationship with his son, whom at one point thinks about giving him up because he\u2019s simply not interested in him. The word cold<\/em> is used to describe him, but so is magnanimous<\/em>, and as the novel progresses, we see the more human side of Karenin. During a scene where Anna thinks she\u2019s going to die in childbirth, Karenin struggles with seeing her for what may be the last time.<\/p>\n

\n

Alexei Alexandrovich\u2019s wrinkled face took on an expression full of suffering. He took her hand and wanted to say something but simply could not get the words out; his lower lip quivered, but he was still battling his agitation and now and then glanced at her. Each time he glanced, he saw her eyes, which were watching him with a touching and ecstatic tenderness as he had never seen in them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But it isn\u2019t just the observations of and insights into these characters that make Anna Karenina<\/em> great. Even though Tolstoy was committed to giving readers a realistic story, he does at times play with the reader. For example, early on, after Anna arrives in Moscow, a man gets run over by a train at the station. \u201cIt\u2019s a bad omen,\u201d she declares. It appears to be a foreshadowing device, but later on, Tolstoy makes us question how much of an \u201comen\u201d it really was . . .<\/p>\n

So while Anna Karenina<\/em> comes recommended, one might ask, \u201cDo we really need another translation?\u201d especially considering the popularity of the Oprah-endorsed Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky version. The selling point for this edition, though, is that translator Marian Schwartz, who has won numerous awards for her translations, has maintained Tolstoy\u2019s idiosyncrasies. Apparently, the author had a tendency to be repetitive, and in the past, translators have edited to text to avoid these duplications. Trying to retain a writer\u2019s quirks isn\u2019t always a good idea: Pevear and Volokhonsky tried it with Boris Pasternak\u2019s Doctor Zhivago<\/em> a few years ago, and the result was a very clunky text. Schwartz took a risk, but the risk seems to have paid off because she seems to understand the rhythm Tolstoy was trying to create with his language. Here is an example:<\/p>\n

Although Vronsky\u2019s entire inner life was filled with his passion, his outward life rolled, relentless and unchanged, down the old familiar tracks of society and regimental connections and interest. Regimental interests held an important place in Vronsky\u2019s life, both because he loved his regiment, and even more because the regiment loved him.<\/p>\n

The first time I read these sentences, I didn\u2019t even notice all of the repetition; yet, I feel like it wouldn\u2019t read the same without them.<\/p>\n

Still, some readers may feel this is not enough of a reason to pay $35 for something that can be downloaded for free in a different iteration. Those who are thinking about doing that should consider this: Schwartz\u2019s version is not only more accurate, but the language is clearer and more tuned to a twenty-first-century reader than the no-cost alternatives. Here is the Constance Garnett version of the three sentences I had quoted in the previous paragraph:<\/p>\n

Although all Vronsky\u2019s inner life was absorbed in his passion, his external life unalterably and inevitably followed along the old accustomed lines of his social and regimental ties and interests. The interests of his regiment took an important place in Vronsky\u2019s life, both because he was fond of the regiment, and because the regiment was fond of him.<\/p>\n

In terms of word count, the sentences are not that much longer, but Schwartz\u2019s version has more punch: The phrase \u201chis outward life rolled, relentless and unchanged\u201d works better for me than \u201chis external life unalterably and inevitably followed.\u201d And \u201che loved his regiment\u201d uses active voice, as opposed to the passive voice in \u201che was fond of the regiment\u201d; and while it\u2019s not wrong to use passive voice, the active voice has a greater impact on the reader.<\/p>\n

So if you haven\u2019t read any version of Anna Karenina<\/em> yet, you should read Schwartz\u2019s version. If you\u2019ve read another translation, give this one a shot anyway. After all, an excellent translation like this one can only make the experience of reading Anna Karenina<\/em> even more enjoyable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past 140 years, Anna Karenina has been loved by millions of readers all over the world. It\u2019s easy to see why: the novel\u2019s two main plots revolve around characters who are just trying to find happiness through love. Even though it\u2019s a very Russian novel that occasionally addresses problems in that country during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67486],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335866,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302166\/revisions\/335866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}