If you read just one more book in your entire life, then make sure that you read 'Anna Karenina', the epic novel by Leo Tolstoy.

For many people the name Tolstoy instils fear instead of awe; yes, the number of pages in 'Anna...' may be great, but do not be put off. 864 pages fly by.

Anna Karenina is an extraordinary story. Following the lives and troubles of several characters, we see throughout the story many sides of human nature; we glimpse humour from Oblonsky,a cheating husband but a beloved friend to all; we meet the charming and confused Kitty, the dashing and passionate Count Vronsky, and of course, the brilliant, yet tragic Anna. It is a novel in which the essence of human nature is laid bare, revealing the good, the bad, and the shockingly ugly.

Tolstoy keeps the story unfolding and developing with such ease that you can't help but read just one more page. Thanks to the profoundly real characters it is hard not to become completely attached and entwined in their toils and joys. What's more is that when reading 'Anna...', you would not believe that it was written around 134 years ago, finally being completed in 1877 after five years in the making. Many of the issues dealt with in the novel-infidelity, death, the search for a purpose and jealousy-are still issues that many people are faced with today. Some parts of the book can be very painful to read; the characters own individual torment seeps through the pages like a disease that stays with you even after the book has been put down on the bedside table. But so does the happiness and joy, the laughter and the thoughts that each new chapter provokes.

Once read, I guarantee that you will want to read it again at once. 'Anna Karenina' and its wonderful and vivid characters will move you, and will certainly hold a firm place in your heart forever.