Literature

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy · 1876

Lindy Score

10,880·Ancient

150 yrs

Age

4

Endorsers

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Why it endured

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. A married aristocrat who falls in love with a dashing officer and faces the consequences of living outside society's rules. Tolstoy's most psychologically precise portrait of the inner life.

What they're saying

4 people recommend this book

Nassim Nicholas TalebAuthor & risk analyst

My preferred fiction. Tolstoy understood human nature better than any modern novelist.

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Sam AltmanCEO of OpenAI

Anna Karenina is one of the greatest novels ever written. Tolstoy understood human nature — self-deception, desire, and consequence — with terrifying precision.

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Peter ThielCo-founder of PayPal & Palantir

Anna Karenina is a perfect novel. Every character is fully human — no one is simply a villain or a hero. That moral complexity is what makes it last.

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