I am going to be so presumptuous as to be critical of Tolstoy's other lauded novel, which some consider to be even better than War and Peace: Anna Karenina is often very boring. The parts about Anna, the married woman who leaves her husband and child for her lover, are engrossing and accomplish the difficult task of making her a pitiable character instead of a heartless villain. The problem is that the character Levin in the secondary plot is more prominent than Anna, and his story is very reminiscent of Pierre's story in War and Peace, so much so that the climax is entirely anticipated. In addition, much space is given to his constant search for the answers to questions about the relationship between agricultural production and the peasantry and to his questions "What am I?" and "What am I here for?" Even a cursory knowledge of Tolstoy's life and beliefs provides the awareness that Levin's search was also Tolstoy's search and that the conclusions Levin reaches were also Tolstoy's conclusions. In that respect, the information about the progression of Levin's ideas is intellectually interesting, but in the middle of a novel they become tedious interruptions.
Though shorter than War and Peace, this is a very long novel (968 pages in paperback). I would not recommend it for a general reader, though the chapters dedicated to Anna's story near perfection. For scholars interested in Tolstoy's life and philosophy, I believe it would be invaluable.
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