Anna Karenina (The Complete Classics)

Product Description The desperate plight of the strikingly beautiful and effervescent Anna Karenina is one of the most stirring in all of literature. In pursuit of a romance which is deemed elicit by her aristocratic clique, the story of Annas fire and passion being gradually choked by the repressive social standards of the day etches itself onto the memory. And yet, Tolstoys epic is sensitive and nuanced. Annas predicament is contrasted against the experiences of a whole range of intriguing characters. All in all, a finely detailed portrait of a Russian society in flux emerges, as the old ordering principles of social class, religion and morality are thrown into disarray. Kate Lock brings out the often unnoticed humour in one of the monuments of Russian literature. This unabridged recording will surely be the audiobook highlight of the Tolstoy year. From AudioFile Tolstoy's great novel portrays a tragic love affair against a backdrop of nineteenth-century Russian high society and country life. Kate Lock's treatment shows impressive range and facility, at times achieving remarkable power and poignancy. She skillfully provides a wide variety of voices--often indicating men just by changing intonation and pitch--and manages to convey Anna's loveliness by voice alone, giving her a kind of bell-like throatiness. Unfortunately, some of her male voices--indicated by roughening or straining her voice--are unconvincing. But any flaws are swallowed up by the magnitude of the work--Tolstoy's and hers--and by her predominant talent and deft touch. W.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine