Q 01/05

What did Tolstoy himself call Anna Karenina?

A) His last will and testament

B) His first true novel

C) A failed experiment

D) A children's tale

Answer · why

B) His first true novel

He came to hate it while finishing the final instalments, yet finished it anyway.

Q 02/05

In which year was Anna Karenina first published in book form?

A) 1899

B) 1886

C) 1869

D) 1878

Answer · why

D) 1878

It had been serialised from 1875 to 1877 in a periodical, all but the last part.

Q 03/05

In which periodical was Anna Karenina serialised between 1875 and 1877?

A) The Northern Bee

B) The Russian Messenger

C) Notes of the Fatherland

D) The Contemporary

Answer · why

B) The Russian Messenger

All but the last part appeared there.

Q 04/05

How does the novel's famous first sentence begin?

A) All families are unhappy in exactly the same way, whatever they claim

B) No family is ever truly happy, however rich it may be

C) Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way

D) Every happy family hides an unhappy secret behind its doors

Answer · why

C) Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way

A 1997 bestseller turned it into the 'Anna Karenina principle' to explain why so few animals were domesticated.

Q 05/05

What is the novel's epigraph, taken from Romans 12:19?

A) 'Love thy neighbour as thyself'

B) 'The wages of sin is death'

C) 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay'

D) 'Judge not, that ye be not judged'

Answer · why

C) 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay'

Romans is itself quoting Deuteronomy 32:35.