Product Description
Controversial upon its publication in 1890, The Kreutzer Sonata illuminates Tolstoy?s then-feverish Christian ideals, his conflicts with lust and the hypocrisies of nineteenth-century marriage, and his thinking on the role of art and music in society. The Kreutzer Sonata is essentially a discussion in which the character Pozdnyshev tells of his disasterous marriage. A cautionary tale, it is a declamation against immorality and sexual indulgence. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A marvelous tale that raises interesting questions
Leo Tolstoy presents radical views on sex and marriage in this magnificent tale, views that raise questions and evoke thought.
Tolstoy's protagonist is mired in a marriage that disintegrates. He kills his wife because of an intense jealousy. The jealousy, in his mind, is as frenzied as the first movement of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, the fast emotional presto. He has harsh unusual views about women and their relations with men. Some of his comments, that follow, taken from various places in the novel, reflect his bizarre thinking. But, we should ask: are his ideas entirely wrong?
He speaks about having sex with prostitutes. He admits that it is bad, but there is something, he says, that is far worse: having no relations with the person, wife, mistress or prostitute other than physical sex. "Dissoluteness does not lay in anything physical... debauchery lies precisely in freeing oneself from moral relations with a woman with whom you have physical intimacy."
A man who seeks only the physical gratification of sex, he says, "will never have those pure, simple, clear, brotherly relations with a woman."
So far, this seems rational, moral and proper. But he goes on.
Men, claims our murderer, are entranced and fooled by beauty. "A handsome woman talks nonsense, you listen and hear not nonsense but cleverness. She says and does horrid things, and you see only charm."
Men, he says, are so charmed by a woman's beauty, that they do not understand that love may be only an illusion: "love as we call it, depends not on moral qualities but on physical nearness and on the coiffure, and the color of the dress."
And he moves deeper, "You say that the women of our society have other interests than prostitutes have, but I say no." Even the women at the highest levels of society have the same "exposure of arms, shoulders, and breasts, the same tight skirts over prominent bustles, the same passion for little stones, for costly, glittering objects, the same amusements, dances, music, and singing. As the former employ all means to allure, so do these others." And he claims, "Millions of people, generations of slaves, perish at hard labor in factories merely to satisfy woman's caprice."
But he does not quit there. Women, our murderer continues, use sensualities, perfumes, dress, jewels, smiles, tears and other allures to dominate men. Men subjugate and humiliate them in horrid ways. But "they pay us back for their oppression by a financial domination," for they now own most of the nation's wealth. Through "sensuality (a woman) subdues him so that he only chooses formally, while in reality it is she who chooses." He imagines that he has control, while control is in the woman's hand.
Men fool themselves. They offer women "all sorts of rights equal to men, but continue to (focus on her body and) regard her as an instrument of enjoyment." This misplaced attention castrates him and leads to his downfall.
Are these Tolstoy's views or only they the ideas of his protagonist, the man who murdered his wife? Are they true? Are they somewhat true, but exaggerated?Are they the views of a sane man? Could it be that such views caused the murderer to murder? Why, indeed, did he kill his wife?
Even if the murderer's generalities are correct, was his wife the kind of woman he was describing? Or, did he fail to have a real relationship with his wife, focusing on sex rather than deep "moral relations"?
Was she unfaithful? If she was unfaithful, is this a justification for murder? Should a court let him free?
These are some of many unusual ideas in this masterpiece. These are some questions that cause the reader to think about Tolstoy's tale, that make readers partners in how the story should be understood.
... Read more

Product Description
‘On Life’ and ‘What is religion?’ were published by the Fee Age Press in England; a publishing house set up to side-step the censorship of Tolstoy in Russia, and to give him an international voice.
So what is life? ‘Life is the sum of functions which resist death,’ says the scientist. But is it more than that, asks Tolstoy in ‘On Life’ - a philosophical and religious search for an understanding of life beyond scientific formulae.
For Tolstoy, the basic contradiction for humanity is this: people aim solely for their own well being, but discover along the way that their own well being depends also on the well being of others. A further discovery by such people is that decay, old age and death attend their every step. Such basic human truths are the context for Tolstoy’s search for happiness, in which Buddhist, Jewish, Stoic and Christian views are considered, as well as those of science. Tolstoy believes that fear of death is merely the consciousness of the unsolved contradiction of life; a sign of a carnal or animal mentality, which mistakenly takes part of life to be the whole. Tolstoy believes that individual well-being must be renounced and replaced by our ‘reasonable consciousness’, which points the way to true happiness, and brings human re-birth.
‘What is religion?’ is a collection of articles and letters written by the mature Tolstoy of 1901 and 1902. Here is a variety of subject matter, including a book review of a German novel; Tolstoy’s response to his excommunication by the church; an attack on army recruitment and training and reflections on a recent political assassination. The title piece – ‘What is religion?’ is the most substantial, in which Tolstoy provides the following definition: ‘True religion is the establishment by man of a relation to the infinite life around him; as long as connecting his life with this infinitude and directing his conduct, is also in agreement with his reason and human knowledge.’

Simon Parke, author of The One Minute Mystic
... Read more

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The Kingdom of God Is Within You is the non-fiction magnum opus of Leo Tolstoy and was first published in Germany in 1894, after being banned in his home country of Russia. It is the culmination of thirty years of Tolstoy's Christian thinking, and lays out a new organization for society based on a literal Christian interpretation. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains The Kreutzer Sonata, Leo Tolstoy's afterword to The Kreutzer Sonata, and The Death of Ivan Ilyich. This is a dual-language book with the Russian text on the left side, and the English text on the right side of each spread. The texts are precisely synchronized. A great book for learning both languages while reading a Russian classic masterpiece. Translated by Professor Leo Wiener, and Louise and Aylmer Maude; verified and corrected by Alexander Vassiliev. ... Read more

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Translated by Mrs. Louise Maude ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Leo Tolstoy
Resurrection or, The Awakening by Leo Tolstoy

Resurrection (1899) is one of the great novels by Leo Tolstoy. Very good ebook! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Resurrection, the last of Tolstoy's major novels, tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem himself for the suffering his youthful philandering caused a peasant girl. Tolstoy's vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of guilt, anger, and forgiveness, Resurrection is at the same time a panoramic description of social life in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, reflecting Tolstoy's outrage at the social injustices of the world in which he lived. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If Levin had a book all to himself.
This has been on my shelf for a number of years and only recently have I gotten around to reading it. I've read all of Tolstoy with the exception of Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth and a few selections from Tolstoy: Tales of Courage and Conflict; so I know his style as well as anyone can hope who doesn't read or speak the Russian language or have a Ph.D. in Russian Literature. I think--before I get farther--I would recommend the Rosemary Edmonds translation. It is very similar to Maude's, but flows much better. After I finished reading this book, I read a very effusive praising of the opening paragraph from someone fluent in both English and Russian. I hadn't given much thought to the opening and even found it a bit bungled, but this made me compare the translation I had read with a few others, and that was a good thing. In Maude's translation it is broken in such a stilted manner that it loses coherence by a too faithful, slightly word-for-word translation that seems constantly underfoot (I really dislike the trend of Peaverizing currently sweeping the literary world by storm, the most ridiculous example being the Proust Peaverizing by Penguin). I know Tolstoy uses different techniques and his writing and one of those was to mimic poor or sloppy writing, but the chance of ever rendering into English things that have no syntactic equivalent is simply a stubborn indulgence on the translator's part. But the first paragraph is remarkable because it's essentially a distillation of the novel, and humanity itself if you take the novel's message to heart.Now if you look at the Edmonds' translation of the first paragraph you get a specific idea (in a sweeping establishing shot a la Dickens, a personal favorite of Tolstoy's by the way) of the scene as a unified whole with those pieces of late-life Tolstoy cynicism common to his later work smeared into the edges. Perhaps the staccato is missing but the entire thrust is more clearly understood. Again (to labor the point) look at the last scene between Nekhlyudov and Maslova. It's brutally concise, and considering the novel consistently centers around Nekhlydov's relationship to her, it should be emotionally resonant even in its brevity. Tolstoy never shied away from rendering his character's inner thoughts or feelings, he is perhaps the strongest novelist in this aspect, so the scene though brief and filled with ineffable thoughts from both characters is very important to the novel and what follows. This scene (and the one preceding it involving the General's daughter) read much better in the Edmonds translation.

The structure of the book is much like Gogol's Dead Souls with Nekhlydov as a Chichikovian wanderer through the different strata of Russian society. He might have more of a connection to these scenes than the much slighter and unctious Chichokov, who sometimes seems an inert fixture before all the provincial pageantry Gogol conjures up. Funny enough, the initial scenes of Nekhlyudov's dealings within the aristocratic society are clipped and vaguely trenchant. Remarkable for the fact that Tolstoy rarely approached these scenes and others with such a heavy hand, so it's a little forced and unnatural, a quality not usually found in any of Tolstoy's work. Perhaps it was his intention to assist the reader in making the transition that Nekhlydov is making as he becomes more alienated and disgusted by that high society. This aspect is probably what has given the novel it's poor reputation among Tolstoy admirers.

There are parts of this novel that you see very distinctly the two conflicting aspects of Tolstoy's personality, encapsulated before in the contrasting duality that is Anna and Levin in Anna Karenina. Probably less effective here in this novel than ever before as full reign is given to the sententious idealist, the Levin if you will.Though if you've read stories from the Tales of Courage you may be accustomed to the christian pedagogy overtook his work as he approached death.

Fortunately there are enough scenes and descriptions by the Master for a pleasing read, so I don't think this book is entirely devoid of merit; and as a book that is the last substantial contribution of one of the great 19th century authors it should be considered essential reading (Hadji Murad is actually his last work, fittingly, it's more novella than novel, a swan song to the artistic, aesthetic side that was all but squeezed out of this novel by excessive moralizing). I believe the resentments readers have is that they are denied entrance into those splendid drawing rooms of the rich, always a supreme treat of Tolstoy's then and today.But if you like Zola-type earthiness some of the prison scenes, particularly the early scene in the women's prison and the later ones that center around a group of political prisoners, are to me more affirmation of his writing prowess. Actually, I think he's doing Zola one better than Zola.

Fundamentally, this is an existential book about the human condition. You feel and sometimes identify with Nekhlyudov (I would think anyone who reads this is a thoughtful, moral person like Nekhlyudov) and Tolstoy shows that it's easier said than done, trying to make this world a better place, somehow beyond our power. But he has chosen to illustrate that question in this novel, quite well I think, and it's one we will eternally ask ourselves. The "why" of life.

So if you want a novel with a sociological power-train, try it out. The fact it's Tolstoy is a blessing. You won't particularly like Nekhlyudov, but you pity him and sympathize with struggle. Overall, the realm of Dostoevsky (ideas, philosophies, cruxes as novels) as tried on by Tolstoy. Interesting and compelling nonetheless. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

This should be required reading for the Christian and Nonchristian alike.
This is my first encounter with the writing of Leo Tolstoy, but I believe it has profoundly changed my view of christianity and the role it has played in history both past and present.I deciced to read this work after it was recommended on the website of the King Center founded by Coretta Scott King the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The book that spawned Dr. King?
Did you know that Tolstoy created Gandhi with his "The Kingdom of God is Within You?"Gandhi says as much, having read it as a young barrister in UK.It transformed him (along with Ruskin's "Unto This Last")and on he went to save India with this "bible" under his arm, by way of South Africa.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. was formed if not created by Tolstoy's "The Law of Love and the Law of Violence" which he read as a Seminarian at Crozier Seminary in Chester PA.

Both these books were created by Tolstoy's self-suicide preventing work, "The Gospel In Brief," his original translation of the Greek Texts of the Gospel.THIS is the book that could save the world.THIS is the GOOD NEWS, THE TRUE GOSPEL.

God is or He insn't
If one confidently labels oneself a follower of Jesus Christ, yet don't find credence in Tolstoy's proclamations, you ain't the real thing, baby.Tolstoy's title makes for a good read.Warning to the Christian right:are you sure Bush has Christ in his heart?
Tolstoy's reader will be slapped in the face with consternation and this is as it should be for the true believer.Surely worth your time if you want to become enlightened. ... Read more

Product Description
"Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist-I really believe he is Antichrist-I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you-sit down and tell me all the news."

It was in July, 1805, and the speaker was the well-known Anna Pavlovna Scherer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Marya Fedorovna. With these words she greeted Prince Vasili Kuragin, a man of high rank and importance, who was the first to arrive at her reception. Anna Pavlovna had had a cough for some days. She was, as she said, suffering from la grippe; grippe being then a new word in St. Petersburg, used only by the elite.

All her invitations without exception, written in French, and delivered by a scarlet-liveried footman that morning, ran as follows:

"If you have nothing better to do, Count (or Prince), and if the prospect of spending an evening with a poor invalid is not too terrible, I shall be very charmed to see you tonight between 7 and 10-Annette Scherer."

"Heavens! what a virulent attack!" replied the prince, not in the least disconcerted by this reception. He had just entered, wearing an embroidered court uniform, knee breeches, and shoes, and had stars on his breast and a serene expression on his flat face. He spoke in that refined French in which our grandfathers not only spoke but thought, and with the gentle, patronizing intonation natural to a man of importance who had grown old in society and at court. He went up to Anna Pavlovna, kissed her hand, presenting to her his bald, scented, and shining head, and complacently seated himself on the sofa.

"First of all, dear friend, tell me how you are. Set your friend's mind at rest," said he without altering his tone, beneath the politeness and affected sympathy of which indifference and even irony could be discerned.

"Can one be well while suffering morally? Can one be calm in times like these if one has any feeling?" said Anna Pavlovna. "You are staying the whole evening, I hope?"

"And the fete at the English ambassador's? Today is Wednesday. I must put in an appearance there," said the prince. "My daughter is coming for me to take me there."

"I thought today's fete had been canceled. I confess all these festivities and fireworks are becoming wearisome."

"If they had known that you wished it, the entertainment would have been put off," said the prince, who, like a wound-up clock, by force of habit said things he did not even wish to be believed.

"Don't tease! Well, and what has been decided about Novosiltsev's dispatch? You know everything."

"What can one say about it?" replied the prince in a cold, listless tone. "What has been decided? They have decided that Buonaparte has burnt his boats, and I believe that we are ready to burn ours."

Prince Vasili always spoke languidly, like an actor repeating a stale part. Anna Pavlovna Scherer on the contrary, despite her forty years, overflowed with animation and impulsiveness. To be an enthusiast had become her social vocation and, sometimes even when she did not feel like it, she became enthusiastic in order not to disappoint the expectations of those who knew her. The subdued smile which, though it did not suit her faded features, always played round her lips expressed, as in a spoiled child, a continual consciousness of her charming defect, which she neither wished, nor could, nor considered it necessary, to correct." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

War Forever
It's been 20 years since I read this book but I remember it so well. I was hooked by the third chapter when Pierre goes to see his dying father and his Uncle and beautiful young cousin conspire to steal his inheritance. Natasha grows up in the course of the story, loved by Prince Andre, and she has her own brush with cads and ruinous scandal when she makes the error of eloping with a dishonorable man. One of the most memorable scenes takes place when the Czar has ordered everyone to evacuate Moscow and rather than take their possessions with them Natasha's family loads their carts with wounded Russian soldiers. Pierre later tries to assasinate Napoleon. Full of memorable characters. Really a great reading experience. Don't be afraid of the size of the book. I couldn't put it down.

War and Peace
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is a very involving and intricate novel about the struggle for victory between the French and the Russians with more of a focus on the private lives of the Russians. The story is extremely interesting and thought provoking, but you should only try to read it if you have a lot of free time on your hands. If you have the time and patience I suggest that you read this book. This book shows the every day struggle that comes from a war whether you are a soldier, poor man, or rich land lord, and that it effects everyone equally. The book follows numerous people through out the book and doesn't focus on one perticular person, but it does tell what happens to many different people. The story is a very hard to read book and if you don't stick with it and try to tough it out you'll have to start over continually, so if you want to read this book just keep at it and you'll get it. I really hope you'll read it because it is a really good and interesting book. ... Read more

Product Description
An excerpt:

On the 12th of August, 18-- (just three days after my tenth birthday, when I had been given such wonderful presents), I was awakened at seven o'clock in the morning by Karl Ivanitch slapping the wall close to my head with a fly-flap made of sugar paper and a stick. He did this so roughly that he hit the image of my patron saint suspended to the oaken back of my bed, and the dead fly fell down on my curls. I peeped out from under the coverlet, steadied the still shaking image with my hand, flicked the dead fly on to the floor, and gazed at Karl Ivanitch with sleepy, wrathful eyes. He, in a parti-coloured wadded dressing- gown fastened about the waist with a wide belt of the same material, a red knitted cap adorned with a tassel, and soft slippers of goat skin, went on walking round the walls and taking aim at, and slapping, flies.

"Suppose," I thought to myself," that I am only a small boy, yet why should he disturb me? Why does he not go killing flies around Woloda's bed? No; Woloda is older than I, and I am the youngest of the family, so he torments me. That is what he thinks of all day long--how to tease me. He knows very well that he has woken me up and frightened me, but he pretends not to notice it. Disgusting brute! And his dressing-gown and cap and tassel too-- they are all of them disgusting." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

55 hours of listening to a fine reader
I was not familiar with Davidson as a reader, but he seems well-suited to the classics.I do agree with one reviewer that Pierre was a bit stuffy and 'bufoonish' for someone who is actually the hero of the piece and not as old as the reader made him sound, but I will also say that I looked forward to my time in the car and to see what was coming next in his narration. I thought he did an adequate job with the feminine voices, a fine one with the males, and was perhaps best suited to the non-dialogue portions.

Listener beware!The last 12 'chapters' are Tolstoy's ruminations on humanity, society, and religion and really detract from having finished the actual narrative.While Tolstoy was obviously a man ahead of his time and a great intellect, he repeats himself in these essays, and I would have rather read them (or not).The essays should have been clearly marked as separate and in some versions of "War and Peace" they are appendices, as they should be.In this version some of these ruminations are interspersed with the story, and they do make sense in their placement as they always brought the reader back around to the tale; but the last pieces failed to do this and left me feeling a little disappointed that the story was done and he had messed up the ending for me (even though I already knew how it ended).

Flawed But What The Hell!
Frederik Davidson, aka David Case, was a ubiquitous voice on the audiobooks scene before his death a few years ago. He excites widely varying reactions: some find his languid, rather campy recitations rivetting; others find them merely languid and rather campy to the point of having-to-turn-the-damn-thing-off! Immediately!

I think he's highly variable. He tells a good yarn but his penchant for imitating all the various voices of the characters - EVEN young girls - is offputting because he quite often makes a hash of them. Other readers "suggest" the voices; Davidson tries to play all the parts as if he's performing a one-man play.

Happily, his reading of "War And Peace" minimizes (comparatively) the annoyance-level. He occasionally messes up: his voice for Dolokhov veers between "aristocratic" and "working-class" depending on the situation and his voice for Pierre is a little too buffoonish for comfort but for me his reading stays on the enjoyable side of "languid" and "campy". Besides, it's such a great story that it's almost impossible to completely ruin. And the price is an amazing bargain.

However, try the audio samples to see if you can bear Mr Davidson' style of delivery before parting with your money.

Very Well Read
First off, I wouldn't pretend to be a scholar of classic literature. This review is written by a regular working guy with a good job that allows me to listen to audiobooks. Having listened to this reading of War and Peace I gladly feel obliged to leave comment.

Narrator Frederick Davidson is a pleasure to listen to as he gives life to all the various characters both male and female. This was no chore to listen to, nor is the story all that complicated as the characters appear and reappear throughout the story. I actually took notes during the first cd in order to remember who was related to who, the various princes and rank of officers and gentry. This may have helped the sometimes feeble memory to get the characters straight however this may not have been entirely necessary. It didn't hurt to have the reference notes close at hand.

I can now rest comfortably knowing that, when my day on this earth is done, I am a better man for having this translation of War and Peace read to me by this wonderful narrator. ... Read more

Product Description
The most notable works of the Russian author including his masterpieces War and Peace, and Anna Karenina, with active table of contents:

Anna Karenina
The Awakening
"Bethink Yourselves"
Boyhood
The Cause of it All
Moscow Census
Childhood
The Cossacks
Father Sergius
The First Distiller
The Forged Coupon and Other Stories
The Kingdom of God is within you
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
The Light Shines in Darkness
The Live Corpse
Master and Man
On the Significance of Science and Art
The Power of Darkness
Redemption and Two Other Plays
Resurrection
War and Peace
What Men Live By and Other Tales
Youth
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Table of Contents
There is a table of contents. From any page in the book, select "Menu" then "go to" then "table of contents."

Not user-friendly
I chose this collection instead of getting several of the works separately.However, there is no table of contents or any way to navigate from one story/novel to the next!It begins with the first page of Anna Karenina.It appears I will have to page all the way through Anna Karenina (and perhaps War and Peace? I have no idea what comes next) before getting to any of the subsequent pieces that I want to read. This seems like a pretty major oversight in a collection of 37 works that includes some of the longest novels ever.Am I missing something? ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of eleven stories spans virtually the whole of Tolstoy's creative life.While each is unique in form, as a group they are representative of his style, and touch on the central themes that surface in War and Peace and Anna Karenina.Stories as different as "The Snowstorm", "Lucerne", "The Diary of a Madman", and "The Devil" are grounded in autobiographical experience.They deal with journeys of self-discovery and the moral and religious thought that characterizes Tolstoy's works of criticism and philosophy. "Strider" and "Father Sergy", as well as reflecting Tolstoy's own experiences, also reveal profound psychological insights.

These stories range over much of the nineteenth-century Russian world, from the nobility to the peasantry, the military to the clergy, from merchants and cobblers to a horse and a tree.Together they present a fascinating picture of Tolstoy's skill and artistry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Brilliant short stories from a Master of Russian Literature
These are wonderful short stories by Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest writers to have come from Russia. Every story on this collection deals with Tolstoy's real-life observations and experiences. Each contains issures that are either social, religious, philsophical, or (in only a few occasions) political. For example, "The Devil" deals with the consequences of sexuality, while "Strider: The Story of a Horse" tells of both animal cruelty and flaws of the social class. "Lucerne" and "Diary of a Madman" consist of journal entries by people who deal with the real world.

All in all, I would recommend these short stories to all Tolstoy fans, and fans of Russian Literature in general. Grade: A

Brilliant Translation and Introduction
Oxford World Classics have been my choice in Russian literature for many years now. These works typically provide excellent introductions and translations of the great Russian literary masters of the 19th century. This book is no exception. Compared to other versions of these stories, I find this book combines the formality of Russian literary style with the simplicity of a casual reader; it captures the mood of the story and relates it quite well to the reader. I would highly recommend this and other Oxford World Classics works. ... Read more

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Please visit www.ArcManor.com for more books by this and other great authors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A brief masterpiece
There are essentially two main plots in this marvelous frequently comic tale. One describes the life of the "unspoiled" Cossacks, unlearned people, living in an almost primitive fashion, fighting against and killing neighbors, overindulgence in alcohol, womanizing, hunting, stealing, not caring for good clothing or culture, but enjoying life, living as what some people extolled as "the Noble Savage" where women ran the household and much of the business. The second plot is the story of a very rich young man, Olenin, who is dissatisfied with the diversity of his city life and the inanities of his associates, who is searching for an alternative, who joins the army and is stationed in a Cossack village, and enjoys his simple life there. He has a romantic dream of settling in the village and like the Cossacks, marrying a Cossack wife, for all the girls seems so pretty and so merry. This is naïve, humorous, almost absurd.
There is also what can be called two subplots. One concerns a strong, very healthy, well-built Cossack, who is admired by his fellow villagers, men and women, who has shown his capability by killing an enemy soldier, even though he did so from a hidden position. The brave young man exemplifies the best of the Cossacks to his villagers and Olenin. This Cossack has become engaged to the most beautiful girl in the village.
The second subplot is the beautiful girl, Maryanka. Tolstoy portrays her magnificently. Readers can sense her beauty and sensuality, it is almost erotic. Olenin falls in love with her and realizes that he has become a competitor with the Cossack brave. He feels certain that he and she, from two distinct cultures, can marry. It is interesting to read how a world-renowned writer portrays Olenin's shyness in Maryanka's presence and her reactions and how the two rivals for her hand participated in a disastrous battle against enemy soldiers.

Cossacks a short but good read for travel preparation.
I purchased this book to prepare for a trip to the Ukraine which includes visiting the Cossack Museum. It helped understand the inner workings of a cossack village, why they left the mainstream of Russia and founded their own small communities. Of course, Tolstoi is always a good read. Delivered promptly and in the advertised condition. ... Read more

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This collection of Tolstoy's stories includes "Sevastopol," "Two Hussars," "Albert," "What Men Live By," "Master and Man," "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," "The Death of Ivan Ilych," "The Three Hermits," and the title piece. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Tolstoy's short masterpieces
This book represents stories from Tolstoy's both periods. "What Men Live By?", "Master and Man", "How Much Land Does A Man Need?" and "The Death of Ivan Ilych", are among his best parables written during his second period (and they are indeed some of the best parables ever written). But it is his early and less-known fiction that makes this collection so valuable. "Sevastopol in May 1855", "Albert" and "Two Hussars" in particular, are great examples of Tolstoy's art. They are largely overshadowed by "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" and are lesser-known, but equally great. In these stories, one can see Tolstoy's familiar `life and death' theme, as well as his mastery in revealing the inner thoughts of his characters, and furnishing the so-called `furniture' of his stories. Notice the description of a piece of music, "illumining the inner world of every listener with an unexpectedly clear and tranquilizing light." in "Albert"; death of Praskukhin in "Sevastopol in May 1855"; Ilyin's inner thoughts, intermingled with street events as he walks, in "Two Hussars" and several other examples. Structures of these stories are highly original, and gave people opportunity to criticize Tolstoy's fiction for lack of apparent structure. I strongly recommend this book for serious lovers of literature.

Tolstoy at his best
Tolstoy is a masterful writer, and this marvelous collection of his short stories is excellent proof of this.Of the 9 stories contained in the collection, 3 in particular are worth noting: The Raid wasan interesting tale of life on the "frontier" of Ukraine - and is not unlike a Louis L'Amour viginette.Tolstoy pulls no punches here, and the line between "good guy" and "bad guy" is blurred.Two Hussars is another favorite of mine, mostly because of the way in which he writes the characters - so real you can imagine meeting them in person in some dimly-lit pub.How Much Land Does a Man Need?is the third short story that resonnated with me, as it wrestles with the typically Russian theme of a man and his attachment to the land, but also with the broader human theme of need versus greed.(Especially resonant in our own time, what with ozone depletion, increased consumption of fossil fuels, and over population.)While the other stories are good, these 3 in particular make the book worth the purchase price.Don't think of it as "Tolstoy" - read it for its own sake - its a thumping good book.

Tolstoy on a smaller, more managable scale.
I was attracted to this volume by Calvino's recommendation of 'Two Hussars', a gorgeous, bipartite story of Turgenev-like transparency, about the respective, mirroring adventures of a father and son, and their relationships with the army, their servants, the local society they briefly enter, and the women they meet.

In one sense it is a tale about history, about the raucous gambling, drinking and dancing of the early 19th century, and the more sedate, stolid bourgeoisification in its middle.The climax, where narrative and character gives way to suspended time and a tableaux of nature, is heartstopping.

The other stories in this collection are similarly schizophrenic, ranging from early works in the 1850s influenced by Tolstoy's time in the army; and the later didactic, moralistic works, including some of his most famous, 'The Death of Ivan Illyich' and 'How much land does a man need?' (which Joyce thought the greatest story ever written).

the translations by Louise and Aylmer Maude, nearly a century old, are still very readable, probably because they were friends of Tolstoy's, and had greatr knowledge of his methods and intentions.The annotation and 1982 introduction needs updating, though. ... Read more

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A classic novel based on Dickens personal experiences, it delineates the sufferings and sentiments of orphans and abandoned children through the outstandingly portrayed character of David. The novel shows Dickens incredible knack of uniting humor with pathos. The story ponders on the themes of self-exploitation, hypocrisy, sexual degradation, and fraud. Wondrously realistic masterpiece! ... Read more