La réponse courte
- Choose our edition if you want the whole Anna Karenina: all eight parts, nothing left out, with a 15-minute summary beside it.
- For study: set a few key passages of Anna Karenina beside a close, annotated scholarly translation.
How translations differ
The Russian nobles in Anna Karenina often speak French, and Tolstoy leaves French phrases in the text. A translator must therefore decide whether to preserve those phrases with notes or turn them into English, making the language of the conversation part of the translation choice.
What makes Anna Karenina hard to translate
Russian names give a translator several forms to account for within a single character's identity. A person has a first name, a patronymic taken from the father's name, and a family name. Diminutives add further forms. The task is not simply to carry a name from Russian into English. It is to handle the several names by which the same person appears, without losing the connection between them.
Anna Karenina brings together two main stories: Anna and Count Vronsky's affair, and Levin and Kitty's marriage and country life. Translating the novel means carrying both stories into English, rather than treating Anna's affair as the whole work. The opening chapter presents the Oblonsky household in crisis. That household scene is another part of the translator's task, alongside the affair, the marriage, and the country life.
The kinds of translation of Anna Karenina
| Kind of translation | What it keeps | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Close to the original | The Russian word order and flavour of Anna Karenina | Study, next to the Russian. |
| Smooth and natural | Anna Karenina as a story that reads like an English novel | A first read. |
| Annotated | The names, history and allusions of Anna Karenina, explained in notes | Study and teaching. |
| Library of Alexandria | The whole story of Anna Karenina, in clear, modern English | A first read, with a 15-minute summary beside it. Open our edition |
When to set a passage beside a scholarly translation
For study, use our edition for the whole story and set a few key passages beside a close, annotated scholarly translation. Compare how each presents the Oblonsky household's crisis in the opening chapter, Levin mowing hay with his peasants in Part 3, and the last day of Anna's life in Part 7.
Questions
Is Anna Karenina hard to translate?
Yes, its Russian naming system makes Anna Karenina hard to translate. A character can appear under a first name, a patronymic derived from the father's name, a family name, and diminutives. A translator has to account for those forms as names for the same person.
How long is Anna Karenina?
Anna Karenina takes about 24 hours to read at an average pace in the Library of Alexandria edition. Its eight parts cover Anna and Count Vronsky's affair and Levin and Kitty's marriage and country life.
Why is there French in Anna Karenina?
French appears because the Russian nobles in the novel often speak it, and Tolstoy leaves French phrases in the text. A translation can retain those phrases with notes or put them into English. The choice concerns whether the reader encounters the French itself or its English meaning.
Which kind of translation is best for a first read of Anna Karenina?
Smooth and natural suits a first read, keeping a story that reads like an English novel. That kind gives priority to the story's movement in English. For study, Close to the original keeps the author's own word order and flavour for reading next to the Russian, while Annotated explains names, history and allusions in notes.
Is the Library of Alexandria edition of Anna Karenina complete?
Yes. The whole story is there, all eight parts, in clear, modern language.
