Less Could be More in Anna Karenina :: Tolstoy Anna Karenina Essays

Less Could be More in Anna Karenina    Anna Karenina was well-written, with a good plot, and valuable themes. But it fell short in each of these categories, because Tolstoy simply tried to do too much. The language was beautiful but, at times, far too descriptive. The plot was also well written, but tedious and hard to follow in many parts of the book. And the Themes were great and important, but they were many, and at times, not appropriate for this book. The book was great, but it could have said much more, and been better, if Tolstoy had said a little less.    The language in Anna Karenina was wonderful, although graphic and too descriptive in much of the book. Tolstoy was a great writer, and that is why this book is a classic. However, he should have made choices about what to emphasize, and what not to. Tolstoy had a great writing style. He used some wonderful techniques and literary devices in his writing to make is books so great. One example of this is how he often times placed characters in his books that mirrored himself, as is true with Anna Karenina. While this tool can be effective, in Anna Karenina it was mostly awkward. This character seemed to be somewhat misplaced, and unimportant. He also used a good deal of foreshadowing to give his books a more unique style. In one instance during Anna Karenina, Anna arrives at the train station to find that a man has been run-over by the train, which greatly foreshadows her own poignant suicide in part seven of the book. Tolstoy's language is compelling and fluid. He paints a clear and accurate picture in the reader's mind of all the details throughout the book. But his strength can very much be his weakness, because in trying to be so thorough and compelling, he over-analyzed and over-described many parts of the book.    The themes of this book were many. Some were well developed and appropriate to the story, but others seemed unnecessary. The books major themes were marriage and unhappiness, while the book also deals with depression, and making choices. This book follows several marriages and families, and these themes proved themselves to be very important and essential in Anna Karenina.