Android Karenina

Last updated
Android Karenina
Android Karenina Cover.jpg
Author Ben H. Winters (with Leo Tolstoy attributed)
IllustratorEugene Smith [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Parody, Steampunk
Publisher Quirk Books, Philadelphia
Publication date
June 8, 2010
Media typePrint, (paperback)
Pages538 [2]
ISBN 978-1-59474-460-0 [1]
Preceded by Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters  
Followed by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls  

Android Karenina is a 2010 parody novel written by Ben H. Winters based on the 1877 novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. [2] The novel is a mashup, adding steampunk elements to the Russian 19th-century environment of Anna Karenina, a book first published in 1877.

The book has the same main couples as Tolstoy's – Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky, and Kitty Shcherbatskaya and Konstantin Levin. Their society is high-tech, with servant-robots performing tasks all the way from pest control to education of children; the robots love their humans and are governed by the Iron Laws of Robot Behavior. Both Anna's husband and a terrorist group of scientists are opposed to widespread ownership of robots. The book also has time travel, space travel, aliens, and monsters. Eventually, the robots revolt against the humans, leading the latter to create ultra-human cyborgs to fight back.

Winters previously wrote Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) with Jane Austen, another parody novel.

Reception

Jay Parini of The Guardian doubts that Tolstoy would have been amused by a parody of his book. For Elif Batuman of The New Yorker , the book is an unoriginal repetition of the original story. [3] Ron Hogan of Den of Geeks acknowledged the clever reinterpretation of the original story, admitting that the steampunk/Tolstoy combination works, and calling the book a "definitive mash-up novel". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Anna Karenina</i> 1878 novel by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written, Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1875 to 1877, all but the last part appearing in the periodical The Russian Messenger. When William Faulkner was asked to list what he thought were the three greatest novels, he replied: "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, and Anna Karenina".

Possessed may refer to:

<i>Resurrection</i> (Tolstoy novel) 1899 novel by Leo Tolstoy

Resurrection, first published in 1899, was the last novel written by Leo Tolstoy. The book is the final of his major long fiction works published in his lifetime. Tolstoy intended the novel as a panoramic view of Russia at the end of the 19th century from the highest to the lowest levels of society and as an exposition of the injustice of man-made laws and the hypocrisy of the institutionalized church. The novel also explores the economic philosophy of Georgism, of which Tolstoy had become a very strong advocate towards the end of his life, and explains the theory in detail. The publication of Resurrection led to Tolstoy's excommunication by the Holy Synod from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901.

The Anna Karenina principle states that a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms an endeavor to failure. Consequently, a successful endeavor is one for which every possible deficiency has been avoided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese science fiction</span> Genre of speculative fiction

Science fiction is an important genre of modern Japanese literature that has strongly influenced aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, tokusatsu, and cinema.

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are literary translators best known for their collaborative English translations of classic Russian literature. Individually, Pevear has also translated into English works from French, Italian, and Greek. The couple's collaborative translations have been nominated three times and twice won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. Their translation of Dostoevsky's The Idiot also won the first Efim Etkind Translation Prize.

<i>Frankenstein</i> in popular culture

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the famous character of Frankenstein's monster, have influenced popular culture for at least a century. The work has inspired numerous films, television programs, video games and derivative works. The character of the Monster remains one of the most recognized icons in horror fiction.

<i>Anna Karenina</i> (musical) 1992 musical

Anna Karenina is a 1992 musical with a book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by Daniel Levine.

This is a list of adaptations of Anna Karenina, the 1877 novel by Leo Tolstoy.

<i>Anna Karenina</i> (1997 film) 1997 American period drama film

Anna Karenina is a 1997 American period drama film written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring Sophie Marceau, Sean Bean, Alfred Molina, Mia Kirshner and James Fox. Based on the 1878 novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, the film is about a young and beautiful married woman who meets a handsome count, with whom she falls in love. Eventually, the conflict between her passionate desires and painful social realities leads to depression and despair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Tolstoy</span> Russian writer and activist (1828–1910)

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben H. Winters</span> American author (born 1976)

Benjamin Allen H. "Ben" Winters is an American author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elif Batuman</span> American writer and academic (born 1977)

Elif Batuman is an American author, academic, and journalist. She is the author of three books: a memoir, The Possessed, and the novels The Idiot, which was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and Either/Or. Batuman is a staff writer for The New Yorker.

A mash-up novel is an unauthorised non-canonical work of fiction which combines a pre-existing literature text, often a classic work of fiction, with another genre, usually horror genre, into a single narrative.

Anna Karenina is an opera in three acts by Scottish composer Iain Hamilton. The libretto, based on Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel, Anna Karenina was written by the composer. Anna Karenina was premiered on May 7, 1981, at the London Coliseum by the English National Opera in a performance conducted by Howard Williams with Lois McDonall in the title role. The director was Colin Graham and the designers were Ralph Koltai and Annena Stubbs. Its running time is approximately two and a quarter hours.

<i>Anna Karenina</i> (2012 film) 2012 film by Joe Wright

Anna Karenina is a 2012 historical romantic drama film directed by Joe Wright. Adapted by Tom Stoppard from Leo Tolstoy's 1878 novel of the same name, the film depicts the tragedy of Russian aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina, wife of senior statesman Alexei Karenin, and her affair with the affluent cavalry officer Count Vronsky. Keira Knightley stars as the titular character; this is her third collaboration with director Joe Wright following Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson appear as Karenin and Vronsky, respectively. Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander appear in key supporting roles.

<i>Anna Karenina: Vronskys Story</i> 2017 Russian drama film

Anna Karenina: Vronsky's Story is a 2017 Russian drama film directed by Karen Shakhnazarov. An expanded eight-part version titled Anna Karenina aired on the Russia-1 television channel.

"Sojourn" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on October 31, 2018, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Josh Green, and directed by Bradley Buecker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXIII</span> 6th episode of the 34th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXIII" is the sixth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 734th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 30, 2022. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver, and written by Carolyn Omine, Ryan Koh and Matt Selman. This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode to not have an opening sequence, and instead just opens on a book of the episode before going straight into the first segment. This is also the first Treehouse of Horror since season 14's to feature a different writer for each segment. This is the first Treehouse of Horror to air closest to Halloween since 2011 without going into November.

References

  1. 1 2 WorldCat. Android Karenina. OCLC   528411113.
  2. 1 2 "Android Karenina". Quirk Books. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  3. Batuman, Elif (19 February 2010). "Android Karenina". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  4. Hogan, Ron (2010-06-08). "Android Karenina book review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2021-05-31.