Tags
Anna Karenina, Art, book beginnings, Books, fiction, first lines, Kindle, Leo Tolstoy, literature, movies
So I’ve been reading away on my new Kindle in the new year (at least I’m getting something done!) and am still reading the first tomb of a book I downloaded, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. At well over a thousand pages this one may take me a while. Reading other books in between I guess isn’t helping my progress. If you haven’t read this classic nothing is wrong with you my dear. It simply isn’t for everyone. I confess I started it and set it down years ago, thinking it was boring, but it feels fresh to me today, and perfection in a literary find.
This book beginning will be a short one; it’s actually the first line. And it’s one that everyone, even if they are not a classic literature fan, or a Tolstoy fan, can relate to I am sure. Perhaps you have heard it quoted before.
The Beginning of Anna Karenina:
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
There are a number of movies versions in the past:
Greta Garbo as Anna Karenina, 1948
And I can’t believe, the same year, 1948, Vivian Leigh was Anna Karenina? This stunning gown was so well described in the book; it seems the costume designers nailed it here.
Sophie Marceau as Anna Karenina in 1997.
Some inspired book covers and art…
Anna Karenina by Clifford Bailey
mixed media by Ludmila Kalmaeva
Anna Karenina by Reno Photo
What a wonderful set of images and that opening line certainly provides pause for thought.
Anna Karenina was the first book by Tolstoy I ever read and I thought it was great. I still do. And the first line is the best opener in any book I’ve ever come across.
I’ve never seen a movie adaptation because I don’t see how it could possibly live up to the book. The photos and art you’ve included are excellent, however.
I’ve never read it, you’ll have to let me know what you think when you finish it next year-HA. Just kidding….nice post.
I too started reading this recently, and I also have the same problem; I’m also reading Bukowski’s Hollywood. Nasty habit I recently picked up, of reading more than one book at the same time…