i have a lot of thoughts on this one, mostly contempt.

i will write my full review eventually, so stay tuned for that!

this book taught me to never get too excited when every person you know, every review you read, every ad you see tells you that this is the best story ever written.

certainly never preemptively spend $30 on a beautiful hard cover edition of the novel in anticipation of enjoying it, because you will be quite upset when you realize you wasted your money.

for now, what i can tell to whoever is at home reading this, is that this book is not worth it at all.

reading this book felt like reading the sparknotes for this book except it was the actual book.

levin is genuinely the most insufferable, worst character i’ve ever read. normally i can stomach an unlikable character, even if they never have any growth.

unfortunately, all of his actions, thoughts, and ideas are vindicated by the narrative. (he’s also tolstoy’s self insert).

none of these characters actions come from any real motivations or anything true to the characters. everything is contrived to move the narrative along. none of these characters have any depth and most of them are all incredibly flat. i also hate what this book is trying to say about women.

Everyone says Anna Karenina is the greatest novel ever written; I found it hollow, contrived, ideologically gross, and nauseatingly in love with its own self-insert man.

i will go into more detail once i actually write the review.