Hi there. I’m Rowan from Scotland. I’m soon gonna study Leo Tolstoy at my Russian classes and I’m looking forward to it. I have already read ‘Anna Karenina’ and even watched a movie with Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean. The story is beautiful and very impressive but I don’t fully understand why Anna kills herself in the end. Will you share your ideas please?

I know this book. That woman was crazy and that’s why she jumped under the train. Her young lover abandoned her and her old husbant divorsed with her.

Well… I think she just thought she was very miserable in her life. She used to have a husband but she didn’t love him. She had a beloved son but she couldn’t take him into her new family. She had a lover who adored her but she was constantly jealous of him. She had a daughter from him but this little girl didn’t matter anything to her… She couldn’t find happiness and peace of mind - that’s why she killed herself. But however that’s not very Russian (это не очень по-русски).

Actually I think that the point of this novel is the contrast between Anna’s promiscuous life and typical “happy ever after” love story of Kity and Levin. Anna is really lost and confused, she’s unhappy in marriage and also with her lover. So in the end she falls under the wheels of a train - while those two find peace and happiness in their perfect family life.

And I suppose that Anna just didn’t know how to love somebody… Except her own self maybe.

I tried to read this book but it was too difficult for me. Even in English translation…