The short answer: for most readers, the best translation of Anna Karenina is Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s, published by Penguin Classics. It won the PEN/Book of the Month Club Translation Prize, it is the most widely recommended modern version, and it comes in a Penguin Clothbound hardcover that makes an easy gift. Choose Rosamund Bartlett’s Oxford edition if you want the newest translation with the best notes.
Which Anna Karenina translation should you buy?
Every edition above is complete. The real choice is between a smooth English novel and one that keeps more of Tolstoy’s own phrasing. Pevear and Volokhonsky, and Schwartz, lean toward Tolstoy’s phrasing. The Maudes and Bartlett lean toward natural English.
The editions, one by one
Pevear and Volokhonsky: the one to buy
Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation won the PEN/Book of the Month Club Translation Prize in 2001. It aims to stay close to the Russian rather than smooth it into easy English, and the Penguin paperback also credits John Bayley. Penguin uses this translation for its Clothbound, Deluxe and audiobook editions, so you can match a reading copy, a gift copy and a listen.
Penguin Clothbound Classics: the gift edition
The same Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, bound in cloth with a Coralie Bickford-Smith cover. If you are buying Anna Karenina for someone else, this is the copy to give, and it matches the Clothbound War and Peace on a shelf.
Penguin Deluxe Edition: the reading copy
The Deluxe paperback has French flaps and deckle-edged pages, with the same translation inside. It is a sturdier, nicer copy than the standard paperback for a small step up in price.
Rosamund Bartlett: the newest, with the best notes
Bartlett wrote a biography of Tolstoy that was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, and her translation comes with a long introduction and explanatory notes. The Oxford listing quotes A. N. Wilson calling it “much the best English translation which has ever appeared”, and Robin Feuer Miller of Brandeis University calling the essay, notes and bibliography the go-to English version.
Oxford World’s Classics Hardback: the study gift
Oxford also sells the Bartlett translation in its hardback collection, with the same introduction and notes. It is the best choice for a reader who wants a durable copy with real help on the history.
Marian Schwartz: Tolstoy’s style, unsmoothed
Schwartz’s translation, edited by Gary Saul Morson for Yale, sets out to keep the repetitions and plain description that earlier translators smoothed away. It won the 2016 Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation from the Texas Institute of Letters.
Louise and Aylmer Maude: the Oxford edition
The Maudes’ translation is the classic English version, and the one many budget editions reprint. Oxford’s edition adds an introduction and notes by W. Gareth Jones. On Reddit some readers still call it the definitive translation of Tolstoy.
Everyman’s Library: the Maude hardcover
Everyman’s prints the Maude translation as a hardcover with an introduction by John Bayley. It is a good gift for someone who prefers the classic text. Check the listing for stock, since this edition dates from 1992.
Listen to it
Anna Karenina runs about 36 to 38 hours on audio, so one Audible credit buys a long listen.
- Read by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Unabridged, 35 hours 35 minutes, from Audible Studios. The listing does not name the translation. Listen on Audible.
- Read by Miranda Pleasence. Unabridged, 36 hours 59 minutes, the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, from Penguin Audio. Pair it with the paperback. Listen on Audible.
- Read by David Horovitch. Unabridged, 38 hours, the Maude translation, from Audible Studios. Listen on Audible.
- Read by Tamaryn Payne. The Maude translation, from Penguin Audio. Listen on Audible.
New Audible members can usually try a membership free. See Audible membership options.
Common questions
Pevear and Volokhonsky or the Maudes?
Pevear and Volokhonsky if you want a modern translation that stays close to the Russian. The Maudes if you want the classic English voice that many readers grew up with. Both are complete.
Is the Bartlett translation better than Pevear and Volokhonsky?
Reviewers quoted on the Oxford listing rank Bartlett at the top, and her notes are the fullest. Pevear and Volokhonsky won the bigger prize and have the gift and audio editions. If notes matter to you, choose Bartlett.
Which translation is best for a casual reader?
Readers asking this on Reddit get split answers. The Maudes and Bartlett read most like natural English, and some readers praise David Magarshack’s older translation as very accessible.
Should I read Anna Karenina or War and Peace first?
Many readers start with Anna Karenina because it is shorter and more personal. When you are ready for the longer book, see our War and Peace translation guide.
How long is Anna Karenina?
The complete paperbacks run about 800 to 900 pages, and the unabridged audiobooks about 36 to 38 hours.
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