Anna Karenina

A lot had to be left out when this 800-page novel was converted to a nearly four-hour dramatization, but there is much to please Tolstoy fans. A great deal of Tolstoy's description is converted to sounds that skillfully set the stage (the sound of the train, songs, laughter) while other elements must be implied in the delivery, or converted from thoughts to dialogue. The result is much less dense than Tolstoy's classic novel, but also much livelier. Attention is focused on the emotional interplay among the characters while the novel's political themes receive relatively little time. The actors in the production are strong, and their voices are distinct from one another, allowing listeners to follow the action easily. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


Released to coincide with a new film version and featuring one of its stars, this recording compresses the original a little too much. We get the entire story of Anna's tragic adultery and the subplot of Levin's search for meaningful love and work. But the distinctive thematic material and Russian character are sacrificed. On the plus side, Molina reads well indeed. His impersonations have great depth. He can leap into their full emotional intensity from a dead stop, thus elevating the audio considerably above the level of "Cliffs Notes." Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine