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I wrote everything in Anna Karenina.
There is nothing left.
― Leo Tolstoy

★ The Guardian's 100 Best Novels of All Time
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Anna Karenina was written when Tolstoy's artistic talent was at its peak, and is considered one of his three greatest works, along with War and Peace and Resurrection.
World-renowned authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Thomas Mann, William Faulkner, and Vladimir Nabokov have lavished praise on this novel, and it has had a profound influence on the literary world of later major writers.
Additionally, thanks to its vivid emotional lines and interesting narrative, it has been made into various movies and musicals several times and has been consistently loved by many people.

This novel unfolds around two axes: the story of Anna, a noblewoman who is the wife of a high-ranking official but meets a tragic fate when she falls in love with another man, and the story of Levin, a rural nobleman and landowner who dreams of creating an ideal family by proposing to the noblewoman he has been in love with.
This work, which depicts the problems facing contemporary Russian society and the inner wanderings of the characters through everyday subjects such as love, marriage, and family with astonishing vividness, can be said to be the best realistic novel that encapsulates all of Tolstoy's social, ethical, and religious concerns.

Professor Lee Myeong-hyeon of the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Korea University, who translated this book, carefully translated the text, emphasizing the nuances of the original Russian text while enhancing readability. This meticulous translation fully captured the characteristics and texture of Tolstoy's elegant yet vibrant writing style.


The Life and Tragedy of Anna Karenina, the Most Fascinating Female Figure in World Literature

Anna Karenina, a high-ranking official's wife and a noblewoman living in St. Petersburg, visits Moscow one day at the request of her brother Stiva.
When Steve's affair with the children's governess caused a deep rift between him and his wife, he asked his affectionate younger sister Anna to act as a reconciler between the couple.
Anna arrives at the Moscow train station and accidentally encounters the handsome young officer Vronsky, and the two are deeply impressed by each other.

At the time, Vronsky was on close terms with Kitty Shcherbatskaya, the daughter of the Shcherbatsky princes and Stiva's sister-in-law, and Kitty had been waiting for his proposal.
Meanwhile, Levin, a wealthy noble landowner from the countryside and a close friend of Stiva, visits Moscow to propose to Kitty, whom he has secretly admired. Kitty, although secretly attracted to Levin, rejects his proposal because she is waiting for Vronsky's proposal.
However, when Kitty sees Vronsky dancing with Anna at the ball, she realizes that Vronsky is completely in love with Anna and falls into deep heartbreak and despair.
Anna, too, tries to calm her excited heart because of Vronsky and runs away from him, hurrying back to Petersburg where her husband is.
However, she is eventually captivated by Vronsky's passionate courtship as he pursues her...

In this way, the story of this work revolves around the events that unfold when the protagonist, Anna, a married woman, falls in love with a man other than her husband.
Anna, who married a man twenty years older than her at a young age and continued a superficial marriage without even knowing what love was, first opens her eyes to the feeling of love through Vronsky, a young man who arouses her passion.
Her life becomes increasingly tragic as she commits a so-called "affair" and is met with a cold reception from high society and the society around her. However, Anna, who is thoughtful, affectionate, and always brings energy to those around her, is a character overflowing with relatable elements and three-dimensional charm that cannot be condemned so harshly.
Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov once referred to Anna as “the most fascinating female character in world literature,” and in the film “Anna Karenina,” legendary world actors such as Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, and Sophie Marceau gave impressive performances in the role of Anna.

Additionally, this work has a structure in which the story of Levin, who can be said to be another main character of the work, is developed in conjunction with Anna's story.
Levin, a noble landowner who manages agriculture on his estate in the countryside, dreams of marrying Kitty, the young princess he has been in love with, and creating an ideal family.
However, the couple Levin-Kitty, who go through trials and tribulations due to the reality that is different from their ideals and misunderstandings, and who eventually bear the fruit of love after many twists and turns, form the symmetry of this novel alongside the couple Anna-Vronsky, and help Tolstoy deal with the major themes that he explores in this work, such as love and passion, marriage and family life, life and death, from a richer angle.
Unlike Anna's life, which ends in despair and a pitiful collapse, Levin's story, which continues to grow even amidst anguish and doubt, provides a simple glimpse of hope in the novel's tragic development, thereby achieving aesthetic balance in the work.

Leo Tolstoy, the great master of Russian literature,
A masterpiece that encapsulates all of his social, ethical, and religious concerns.

Anna Karenina was first introduced to readers through serial publication in the magazine Russian News from 1875 to 1877, and was published as a book the following year.
Although Tolstoy began writing this work in early 1873, the basic motif was conceived in 1870, and the book was published after revisions in 1878, so most of the 1870s were devoted to the creation of Anna Karenina.
“I wrote everything in Anna Karenina.
As Tolstoy reflected, “There is nothing left,” this work, into which he had even stopped writing his usual diary and devoted himself, exerted a frighteningly attractive force and sucked up all of his creative energy.

As such, this work vividly encapsulates all the social, ethical, and religious concerns that Tolstoy was intensely engrossed in at the time.
It vividly portrays the changing Russian society of the time by dealing with all sorts of social issues and topics that Tolstoy saw and heard at the time of writing, as well as the philosophical concerns that he wrestled with throughout his life, such as issues of love and sex, reflections on marriage and family life, the problem of death, and questions and realizations about the existence of God.


In particular, Tolstoy effectively portrayed the chaotic social situation of Russia at the time and the inner lives of individuals wandering within it through the issues of happiness and unhappiness in the family, which can be said to be the foundation of society.
As hinted at in the novel's famous opening line, "All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," this work shows the unhappiness and happiness of different families, such as Anna's family, Levin's family, and Stiva's family, from various angles, thereby uncovering the truth of life and the meaning of true happiness revealed through the human figures who struggle and conflict amidst the contradictions and crises of the system.

A very vivid and lively novel

Professor Lee Myeong-hyeon, who translated this book, says that the biggest reason why so many people are deeply captivated by this work is because the characters and anecdotes that appear in the work are all so vivid and realistic.
In the author's own words, this novel is "very vivid and lively," and the characters, with their multi-layered and three-dimensional personalities that could actually exist in reality, unfold before the readers' eyes as if they were alive and breathing.
Therefore, while reading Anna Karenina, readers feel familiar with the characters and connect with them as if they were real people, as if they were their friends.

The British poet and critic Matthew Arnold observed that “Tolstoy’s real acquaintances feel far more obscure than his characters,” and Nabokov also noted this, attributing it to Tolstoy’s gift “to give his works a time precisely corresponding to our sense of time,” his prose “having the same pace as our pulse.”
Also, as Professor Lee Myeong-hyeon pointed out, it is because “Tolstoy’s keen insight into the appearance and character of people and things, and his balanced and comprehensive observation skills, breathed special liveliness and realism into the reality of the novel, especially the characters’ figures.”

The better the work, the more likely it is that the numerous characters and events within it will each have their own vitality.
Anna Karenina also allows us to reach a deep understanding and affection for the diverse lives of the characters.
Because the truth of life permeates their lives, which the author has given life to.
In this respect, Tolstoy achieved to the fullest extent through this work his stated goal as an artist: to make people love life in its infinite manifestations.