"Anna Karenina" might get an "F" if submitted in a writing class today. A gifted critic explains why:
#writing #fiction #books #bookstodon #MediumWriters #Medium janiceharayda
https://medium.com/p/d28d524428f6
Why ‘Anna Karenina’ Might Get An ‘F’ In Today’s Writing Classes

Anna Karenina is probably the most popular Russian novel in America. It has the best-known first line: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And it’s the…

Fanfare
@janiceharayda @donmelton Anna not being introduced right at the beginning is an interesting point. I loved reading that book, and looking back I remember being more focused on Oblansky’s family’s storyline or on Levin and Kitty’s than on Anna’s. I wonder if that late introduction to her influenced that? It’s been almost 20 years since I read it, I should probably give it a reread 😅
@rose @donmelton An interesting question. Thanks for raising it. I, too, was more interested in Levin and Kitty at first. And while I've reread "War and Peace" and other work by Tolstoy, I haven't had a strong desire to reread "Anna Karenina." I've assumed that it's because it ends tragically when we live amid so much of tragedy, but the structure may play a role, too.