Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Just as the famous quote goes, Tolstoy brought me back to the Russian society in the 19th century, leading me to ponder over the meaning of love, family, ethics, religion, as for the whole life. Anna Karenina is perhaps one of the greatest novels of all times. Anna shone like a bright light in Petersburg society and was admired by everyone. But she was married to the dull, cold Alexei Karenin, a government official much older than she. When Anna fell passionately in love with the attractive solider Vronsky, there was no easy solution for her, and she found herself in the terrible conflict of being torn between her lover and her son. In those days, only the innocent partner could apply for a divorce, which was not easy to obtain. The guilty partner could not remarry and was not allowed to keep the child. At first, Anna was happy winning the love she desired, but later she suffered from crisis, pressure, and jealousy. Anna and Vronsky were trapped in the dark, heavy love net and neither of them could escape. Their relationship soon crumbled, and the story ended in a tragedy: Anna killed herself to revenge Vronsky by throwing herself under the train. The story covers an enormous range and depth of emotions: love, hate, despair, jealousy, anger, pity, joy, and sorrow. I love Anna, the main character in the story, who longed for bold and free love in the conservative society. Admiring her courage, I wish I could be as brave as she. Under Tolstoy’s pen, I totally lost myself in the story. I was attracted by the strong affection of the characters, and the bright colors of the emotions formed an impressive picture in my mind. When I came to the short reunion of Anna and her son, I found myself shedding tears. There is nothing crueler than separating a mother from her child while their hearts linked together. Among the two beings, Vronsky and her son, whom she loved