La historia de Anna Karénina, junto a la de Madame Bovary, es la del adulterio más célebre de la literatura. El enamoramiento de la protagonista, casada con el alto funcionario Karénin, por el atractivo militar Vronski y el estrepitoso romance que con él vive son el eje de una novela que es mucho más que la pulida tragedia de una caída en desgracia: es un esmerado y delicado retrato de todo un tiempo y un lugar, la vivisección de una sociedad en la que la felicidad de algunos convive con la desdicha de otros.

El presente volumen se abre con la espléndida introducción del que fuera catedrático en la Universidad de Cornell y estudioso de la literatura eslava, George Gibian. A ella la sigue la cabal y aclamada traducción realizada por las hermanas Irene y Laura Andresco.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Introduction by George Gibian, Cornell University professor.

Anna Karenina is a novel of unparalleled richness and complexity, set against the backdrop of Russian high society. Tolstoy charts the course of the doomed love affair between Anna, a beautiful married woman, and Count Vronsky, a wealthy army officer who pursues Anna after becoming infatuated with her at a ball. Although she initially resists his charms Anna eventually succumbs, falling passionately in love and setting in motion a chain of events that lead to her downfall.

This classic is one of the most loved and memorable heroines of literature. Her overwhelming charm dominates a novel of unparalleled richness and density. Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attempt at a novel form, and it addresses the very nature of society at all levels, - of destiny, death, human relationships and the irreconcilable contradictions of existence. It ends tragically, and there is much that evokes despair, yet set beside this is an abounding joy in life's many ephemeral pleasures, and a profusion of comic relief. In this extraordinary novel Tolstoy seamlessly weaves together the lives of dozens of characters, while evoking a love so strong that those who experience it are prepared to die for it.

This edition opens with a magnificent introduction by former Cornell University professor and scholar of Slavic literature, George Gibian. It is followed by the methodical and acclaimed translation by sisters Irene and Laura Andresco.