Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy (Perennial Classics)

Book Description

The brilliant shorter novels of Tolstoy, including The Death of Ivan Ilych and Family Happiness, collected and reissued with a beautiful updated design.

Of all Russian writers Leo Tolstoy is probably the best known to the Western world, largely because of War and Peace, his epic in prose, and Anna Karenina, one of the most splendid novels in any language. But during his long lifetime Tolstoy also wrote enough shorter works to fill many volumes. Here reprinted in one volume are his eight finest short novels, together with "Alyosha the Pot", the little tale that Prince Mirsky described as "a masterpiece of rare perfection."

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Simply Put: An Outstanding Collection.......2007-07-08

According to many critics, Tolstoy (1828 to 1910) is viewed as one of the greatest novelists of all time, particularly noted for his historical novel War and Peace and later the novel Anna Karenina. The two novels are among the best novels ever written, and depict life in 19th century Russia. Tolstoy was associated with the realism movement and as such his writings are graphic and compelling. The present book is a bargain and brings the reader some of his best short works.

Tolstoy was born on his father's estate in Central Russia, attended college, and joined the military. He served in Chechnya and wrote about his experiences, and later served in Sevastopol where he was involved in intensive fighting. He wrote about life in the Russia military, and he wrote about other historical military events such as the Napoleonic wars. He wrote about historical events and he wrote about people and the mundane events of life. The short novel The Cossacks (included here) came from this early experiences in the military.

War and Peace (1865-69) is generally thought to be one of the greatest and most complicated novels ever written including over 500 characters and a variety of historical details on the Napoleonic wars. Anna Karenina (1877) followed later. It is a beautifully written story of a farmer (Levin) and a woman (Anna ¨Karenina) who have two parallel and loosely interconnected lives.

In addition to those primary novels, Tolstoy wrote other major novels, novellas, and short stories. Some of the best of his writings are here in this collection. They include the important work "The Death of Ivan Ilych" which is a profound but short work, and possibly one of the best novels of all time. There are others such as "The Cossacks," "The Devil," and one of my favorite short stories "Master and Man." Also, there are other stories such as the emotional "Father Sergius," a story that was published later but was a favorite of Tolstoy. Personally speaking, I was not too excited by his tale Hadji Murad, but the other stories are just superb.

The stories here are mostly good to great, and are all a bit different, and all are easy to read. Shakespeare was perhaps the greatest writer ever, but as great as he was, most find the writings of Shakespeare to be a bit opaque. But Tolstoy is completely different. Most stories are clear, easy to read, and they are engaging and compelling. This is a wonderful collection of the best writing by one of the world's great writers.

Not as great!.......2007-01-03

I had read few stories by tolstoy as a teenager in school and liked. I decided to buy them again and I just dont think I am impressed anymore. Only very few stories are good to read but other than that this looks like a christian book to me with quotes from the Bible.

Death of Ivan Ilych is probably the best thing Tolstoy ever wrote.......2006-09-29

With that work being the main concern of this review, I must say that probably the most facinating thing about Tolstoy the artist, the man, the philosopher is his lifelong horror and obsession of death. He was a lifelong deathwatcher and with a distinctive brilliance does he describe death in his works, Ivan Ilych being the culmination of his concern with death.

Dostoevsky is without a shadow of a doubt my favorite writer and with that being stated is the obvious superior of his great tempororay Tolstoy. I sometimes regret this because it sometimes blinds me to Tolstoy's greatness. In the case of Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy shines through in all of his literary genius. With this 1886 short novel, one can easily see Tolstoy the literary artist. He chooses a judge who never gives death a thought and yet condemns accused to death. Tolstoy hated judges and one perceives that there is a slight sinister Chekhovian schadenfreude to the title character's sufferings and epiphany in the great Lion as he wrote this one. I remember slightly the storm of thought which surged within me when I finished reading this work about a year ago. Never before had I read a work with a simple plot work laced through with character intrigue (and in this case Tolstoy gets alongside and may have even beaten Dostoevsky when it comes to the latter's utter phenomenal mastry over creating facinating characters) and the philosophical force of a bullet train.

Everyone must at one point in their lives read Tolstoy's incredible work, The Death of Ivan Ilych. It is not only what I would consider to be the greatest short novel ever written but is a testament to the philosophical anguish of a great mind rendered into haunting brilliance and a beauty which leaves its mark upon the stunned reader, never to recover over the magnificence that is Tolstoy.

worth reading.......2006-09-23

I may be missing something, but the three short stories I read from this Tolstoy collection were good but nothing superspecial. From what I understand War and Peace and Anna Kerrenina are really his masterpieces, but The Death of Ivan Ilych is also well-known. There may also have been something missing in translation as well as across time and culture.

I also read The Devil and The Kreutzer Sonata. Curiously, all three stories all inevitably lead to a death. Cossacks was written 1852-62, while the others were written much later in the mid 1880's. I felt that the later stories had a much more refined writing technique, so I never finished Cossacks.

So those of you who want to get a taste of Tolstoy, these short stories may suffice, though I have a feeling that the only way to "taste" Tolstoy is to take that really big bite and read his major masterpieces.

Best single volume of the short fiction.......2006-06-02

I prefer the Everyman's volumes because the typesetting is so much nicer. The present volume is a trade-sized paperback with the text simply photo-enlarged from the original mass-market edition. Both volumes use the Maudes' translations, but the Everyman's includes a great many more stories, including the Sevastopol Sketches. On the other hand, Everyman's publishes The Cossacks as a third volume, whereas you get that in here and all the other can't-miss stories.

If you can't afford the Everyman's, this is the one to get.

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Historia de Ivan El Imbecil
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
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Binding: Hardcover

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Tolstoy: Father Sergius & Other Short Stories

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Tolstoy: Father Sergius & Other Short Stories
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Hovel Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich & Master and Man

ASIN: 1596441763

Book Description

Tolstoy is perhaps best recognized as the author of the classic novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. While he was able to sustain complex and moving plots through large novels, his ability as a writer also is demonstrated in his many short stories. Tolstoy brings to these brief tales the same psychological depth and spiritual insight found in his larger works. In fact, his short stories are an excellent place to begin reading this great author. In them, you will find the same challenging themes of morality, forgiveness, redemption and more. The stories in this work include God sees the truth, but waits A Prisoner in the Caucuses Alyosha the Pot Father Sergius What Men Live By Where Love is, God is

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Some Advice For Prospective Readers
The Best thing next to a time machine
Cat Club Review: www.freewebs.com/hlgstrider
Daunting, but splendid!
probably the most serviceable in English

War and Peace (Modern Library)
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679600841
Release Date: 1994-05-17

Book Description

Three-Volume Boxed Set

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Tolstoy's classic, complete and unabridged.

Customer Reviews:

Some Advice For Prospective Readers.......2007-09-29

Truth be told, I am nowhere near finishing this gargantuan tome, and if I ever do get through it I might end up giving it a five star rating. But for now, I thought I would go ahead and post a few suggestions for the person considering tackling this novel. These are drawn from my impressions based upon what I have read thus far, and I hope they help prepare you. Here's my list of tips:

- I suggest making notes (I'm not kidding). I realize you might not
feel like taking the trouble, but I'm telling you that the myriad of
Russian names & characters is staggering, and a few notes jotted down
as things unfold (especially a list of characters) can help you keep
track far better.

- Make a firm but manageable plan as to when you're going to find time
to read this work. If this is not done, it's definitely the kind of
book that will very likely end up unread. Random snatches here and
there won't cut it.

- Become a patient reader, letting Tolstoy tell his grand story at his
own pace. This is no Agatha Christie! If you give it time, though, I
think you'll eventually find the author's overall sweep magnificent.

- Finally, realize this. It has been said that with Russian authors,
the more you get to know them the less you know them. In other words,
there is something a bit strange (or unique) about them which you
might not always care for. Almost hard to put your finger on. My
advice would simply be not to let this aspect of their literature keep
you from seeing its considerable virtues.

For example, one virtue of this novel that I have not seen mentioned is how effectively and poignantly it brings out the element of confusion in war. It is not just a matter of sharp strategies, brutal conflict, etc. In the midst of matters of life and death, there is plenty of madcap absurdity mixed in as well, purely unintentionally. Was it not a dash of genius on Tolstoy's part to notice, think of, and include this often-overlooked, seemingly incongruous aspect of human warfare? You get that kind of thing with Leo.

The Best thing next to a time machine.......2007-09-16

This novel presents you an image of what the life of European upper classes was like in the 19th century, their never ending parties and balls, their courtships, the perennial presence of war. It's interesting to observe how the persons were full-fledged adults by their late teens. And it was accepted as a normal thing that your children could die at any moment, be it in combat, for the sons, or during child labour if they were daughters.

This novel has as a background the Napoleonic Wars and several historical characters have intermittent cameos like Emperors Napoleon and Alexander, their generals, etc.

There is also an interesting mention to Freemasonry and its rites. It's thick as a brick, do not despair, continue reading, even if it is some pages every day, at the end you'll enjoy it.

Cat Club Review: www.freewebs.com/hlgstrider.......2007-07-13

I do not actually own War and Peace, but I thought I'd point out that I have read it. This is me saying, "I have read it!" It took me about six months and I am still not really sure what the point is, but I have read it. It was a matter of pride.
I am not a slow reader usually. I read Crime and Punishment in two days. However, I couldn't read Tolstoy's master work in long sessions, only in small, bite sized portions, one every other day or so. This is why I somewhat un-affectionately refer to this book as War in Pieces. Now, I have been told that this is a book that you don't really get when you are young but later on when you have lived life if you come back to it and read it all over again it makes a lot more sense and is a lot more interesting. . .so maybe I should wait and pick it up again in fifteen years, but still. . .what was the plot? Why was Pierre the main character when everyone else was so much more interesting? Why didn't they kill Pierre and let Andrei live? I liked Andrei. Why didn't they spend more time doing things rather than talking about doing them? Why did it take me six months to chop through that thing. . .why why why why why. . .
So, I only give it a two, but who knows. In fifteen years I might change my mind, so stay posted.

Daunting, but splendid!.......2007-06-26

"so well bound that it will lie open at any page" haha not quite, unless you've read it a few times.

I enjoyed the introduction to the book, to Tolstoy, the translation, characters etc... and the quick references in both back and front, which made it simple to look something up during those times when my head was swimming in a sea of names and places.

Since I do not know French I would often read near a computer with the Babel Fish translation web site up for quick decoding. I imagine a French-English dictionary would have sufficed. If you do not know French (like a few of us out there) then a reference is a must because most of the first half of this book you will be confronted by many French terms and phrases and if you have no idea what they're saying then the impact of the story kinda gets lost momentarily. Having to translate with this book made it that much more fun and interesting, I hadn't realized how enjoyable it could be to get that envolved into a story.

This took me aprox. 3 weeks of on and off reading, and the sheer size of it can be intimidating, but it is a superb read, with detailed historical accounts accompanied by Tolstoy's educated opinions (not your average novel). The depth of the characters is wonderful, although I find the aristocratic life to be a little odd and facetious at times.

probably the most serviceable in English.......2007-05-25

The Oxford World's Classics edition of "War and Peace" is the one I find myself coming back to whenever the need arises to sink into Tolstoy's novel again. I have tried others but I am most comfortable with this version.

What you're looking at here is the entire novel, unabridged, in one volume: the previous Oxford's World Classics edition of "War and Peace" was two volumes, but was entirely the same text, including the footnotes.

They've used the Louise and Aylmer Maude translation, which reads fluidly enough, except that it uses British English, including a lot of British slang, the intended effect of which, I imagine, will fall flat on an American ear.

As for the footnotes, the ones here were done by Henry Gifford, and they work as follows: next to each glossed term in the text, there appears an asterisk. In the back of the book are the corresponding annotations; there are no notes in the running text itself. The footnotes are well done and literate, but Gifford seems a bit stingy with them: there are only 26 pages of them for the entire text!

One thing I kind of wish is that Gifford had glossed the ubiquitous British slang that peppers this translation. This would help out many readers (especially American ones) considerably, but the folks at Oxford University Press would probably take a dim view of such charity.

The Death of Ivan Ilych & Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics)

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The Death of Ivan Ilych & Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics)
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Barnes & Noble Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593080697

Book Description

Chief among Tolstoy’s shorter works is The Death of Ivan Ilych, a masterful meditation on the act of dying. The first major fictional work published by Tolstoy after a mid-life psychological crisis, this novella reflects the author’s struggle to find meaning in life, a challenge Tolstoy resolved by developing a religious philosophy based on brotherly love, mutual support, and charity. These guiding principles are the dominant moral themes in The Death of Ivan Ilych, an account of the spiritual conversion of a judge—an ordinary, unthinking, vulgar man—in the face of his terrible fear about death.

Also included in this volume are Family Happiness, an early work that traces the arc of a marriage; The Kreutzer Sonata, a frank tale of sexual love that shocked readers when it first appeared; and Hadji Murád, Tolstoy’s final masterpiece about power politics, intrigue, and colonial conquest.

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Please enter a title for your review
Best book I ever read
Passionate pastoral
Sense of Self
All literate people should read this fine book

Anna Karenina (Everyman's Library)
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679410007
Release Date: 1992-04-28

Amazon.com

Some people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.

Book Description

A famous legend surrounding the creation of Anna Karenina tells us that Tolstoy began writing a cautionary tale about adultery and ended up falling in love with his magnificent heroine. It is rare to find a reader of the book who doesn’t experience the same kind of emotional upheaval. Anna Karenina is filled with major and minor characters who exist in their own right and fully embody their mid-nineteenth-century Russian milieu, but it still belongs entirely to the woman whose name it bears, whose portrait is one of the truest ever made by a writer.

Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude

Customer Reviews:

Please enter a title for your review.......2007-09-23

Half the content is elaborate banal detail used to establish context, but in it's more consequential moments this novel is the final word on the disingenuous nature of institutionalized aspects of social behaviour. It's a theme I've pondered and seen touched on in a few other books, but I was blown away by how comprehensively Tolstoy articulates and extrapolates my own thoughts.
This novel is primarily a work of philosophy, using the characters to illustrate social observations at the expense of a fully cohesive narrative.
It's difficult to understand how fans of classic fiction, who generally consider "reading" a neccessity for respectable people, don't take offense to this book as it seems to be constantly critcizing that kind of cultural pretense.
Another interesting thing I got from the book is how culture 100+ years ago doesn't seem as formal and conservative as I had previously been led to believe. Parents were already complaining about tradition falling out of favor among the younger generation and governmental red-tape was already something criticized as getting in the way of practical goals. On the other hand the doctors of the era are presented as having no medical knowledge whatsoever.
my fave quote:
"The word talent, which they understood to mean an innate and almost physical capacity, independent of mind and heart, and which was their term for everything an artist lives through, occurred very often in their conversation, since they required it as a name for something which they did not at all understand, but about which they wanted to talk."

Best book I ever read.......2007-08-14

My favorite book from Russian author Count Leo Tolstoy. The passion, the datails, everything about this book is powerful. I read it in College and I just re-read it last summer. I will read it again.

Passionate pastoral.......2007-08-02

It was interesting to read this--arguably the greatest of all novels--just after CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and several years after WAR AND PEACE. By comparison, this novel is gentle and lucid, written with the eye of comedy despite the tragic ending of its heroine, and intimate in scale despite its immense themes. Among these are the first stirrings of communism, the differences between social norms and true morality, and the search for religious belief, echoing the course of Tolstoy's own conversion. Although it is heresy to say so, I found Levin, the author's alter ego, the pastoral world he inhabits, and his love for Kitty to be ultimately more moving (to the point of bringing tears to the eyes) than the passion of Anna and Vronsky. I think this is because their subplot really begins to develop at precisely the point where the adulterous affair of the title character begins to lose its forward drive. But in both sides of the story, Tolstoy's eye for detail is unmatched; his set-pieces like the ball, the horse race, the bird hunt, and the election are uniformly superb; and with his vivid characters for company, his book flies by.

I read this in the Modern Library hardback edition, whose translation by Constance Garnett, reworked by Leonard Kent and Nina Berberova, flows a lot more smoothly than the unretouched Garnett of the Barnes and Noble CRIME AND PUNIHSMENT.

Sense of Self.......2007-07-25

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

- Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"

Anna Karenina is a beautifully written novel about three families: the Oblonskys, the Levins, and the Karenins. The first line (one of the most famous in literature) hints at Tolstoy's own views about happy and unhappy marriages having these same three families also represent three very different societal and physical locations in Russia in addition to distinctly different views on love, loyalty, fidelity, happiness and marital bliss.

Tolstoy seems to stress that `trusting companionships" are more durable and filled with happiness versus "romantic passion" that bursts with flames and then slowly; leaves ashes rather than a firm, solid foundation to build upon.

It is like reading a soap opera with all of its twists and turns where the observer is allowed to enter into the homes, the minds and the spirits of its main characters. The moral compass in the book belongs to Levin whose life and courtship of Kitty mirrors much of Leo Tolstoy's own courtship of his wife Sophia. Levin's personality and spiritual quest is Tolstoy's veiled attempt at bringing to life his own spiritual peaks and valleys and the self doubts that plagued him his entire life despite his happy family life and the fact that he too found love in his life and a committed durable marriage. At the other end of the spectrum is Anna, who also because of her individual choices and circumstances, falls into despair.

It is clear that Tolstoy wants the reader to come away with many messages about the sanctity of marriage, love and family life. He also wants us to be mindful of the choices that we make in life and the affect that these choices have upon ourselves, our station and path in life as well as the affect upon those that we profess to love. Tolstoy also wants us to examine what makes our lives happy or not; and what is at the root of either end result. Levin and Kitty are the happiest married couple; yet Levin faces his own double bind when struggling against domestic bliss and his need for independence on the other hand and how to achieve both (if that is possible) without relinquishing that which made him who he was born to be.

Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin are the primary protagonists in the novel and both are rich and fine characters in their own right. Both of them focus on self; one however finds the self to be a nurturer which puts value into life very much as a farmer; while the other views self with despair and as a punisher or destroyer. Both views, diametrically opposed, force the characters on very different paths and lives for themselves. Then there is the dilemma of forgiveness versus vengeance. The very epigram for the novel from Romans states: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." Yet vengeance upon oneself or others is not up to individuals but God; and yet the characters are haunted about what forgiveness is or isn't and by the hollowness of words versus heartfelt and soulfully reflective actions. The themes of social change in Russia, family life's blessings and virtues and farming (even if it is simply the goodness one puts into life and how one cultivates it and others) dominate the novel's landscape. Trains also play a symbolic importance in the novel and it is odd that Tolstoy himself years after writing Anna Karenina dies himself in a train station after setting off from his home in an emotional cloud.

Sometimes the names of the characters themselves can be confusing: so a hint to the reader might be to think of each Russian character's name as having three parts: the first name (examples here are for Levin and Kitty) like Konstantin or Ekaterina, a patronymic which is the father's first name accompanied by a suffix which means son of or daughter of like Dmitrich (son of Dmitri) or Alexandrovna (daughter of Alexander) and then the surname like Levin or Shcherbatskaya. Thus the explanations for the Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya (nicknamed Kitty) and Konstantin Dmitrich Levin (Levin).

I loved the book and its details and the richness of the characterizations as well as the storytelling technique of the great Tolstoy and I have to agree with Tolstoy when he stated, "I am very proud of its architecture-its vaults are joined so that one cannot even notice where the keystone is. " The vaults: "Anna and Levin" are joined with the very first line of the novel and with their focus on themselves.

Rating: A

Bentley/2007

All literate people should read this fine book.......2007-05-10

This is world literature and a story, albeit an older one, that teaches us much about life. I would HIGHLY recommend this book as a gift to any young adult. Yes, it is lengthy but, here, Tolstoy has yielded us one of the finest tales ever written.
Anna Karenina is pure female Homo sapiens. She is both good and bad, but, most of all, human. When I began this fine story, I thought I would be disappointed by having anticipated what was about to happen -- I BELIEVED that this was going to tell me about a good girl who was about to have bad things happen to her and that Tolstoy was going to barter for my sympathies for her. Well, no such thing! Instead, Anna Karenina could well be living in the 21st Century, given her proclivities and lifestyle, (well... at least if you use your imagination just a bit). And sometimes I admired her and sometimes I wanted to strangle her, but I could never see where Tolstoy was really headed with her until the very end.
Anna is by no means the only interesting character in the work. Maybe some folks get to like Levin, for example, but by the end of the book, I really despised him. And there is one of the principals (I won't name him) which will surpise the reader with both his perseverence as well as with his positive morality. Religion, or perhaps hipocracy, is a large feature of the work as well, and it is rendered in a fashion which often has present-day applications.
But, most of all, beyond the moral lessons, ANNA KARENINA is just a great and readable story. It's a lot like reading "Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal" (Lloyd C. Douglas) -- the moral lessons are present but do not interfere with the saga.
It's difficult to say enough good about this book. Buy it, read it -- you will enjoy it. Classic literature at its best.

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Good Introduction to Tolstoy
"As one needs nothing oneself, why not live for others?": Olenin's epiphany
A real find
Excellent Short Fiction From Tolstoy
An outstanding tale of aristocrats and peasants.

The Cossacks (Modern Library Classics)
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812975049
Release Date: 2006-02-14

Book Description

This 1862 novel, in a vibrant new translation by Peter Constantine, is Tolstoy’s semiautobiographical story of young Olenin, a wealthy, disaffected Muscovite who joins the Russian army and travels to the untamed frontier of the Caucasus in search of a more authentic life. While striving to adopt the rough and ready lifestyle of the local Cossacks, Olenin falls in love with a free-spirited girl whose fiancé turns out to be a formidable opponent. Showcasing the philosophical insight that would characterize Tolstoy’s later masterpieces, this long overdue translation is a revelation.

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Olenin, a young Russian aristocrat finds himself as a Russian army officer, serving at a remote Cossack outpost in the Caucasus. Here among the Tatars, the Chechens, and the Old Believers, is the place where Olenin will find his love, a beautiful Cossack girl. The only problem is she is promised to a Cossack warrior. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

Customer Reviews:

Good Introduction to Tolstoy.......2006-08-31

This is a good first read of Tolstoy's material. It is not nearly as long as _War and Peace_, but is still a good first exposure to the great works of Leo Tolstoy.

"As one needs nothing oneself, why not live for others?": Olenin's epiphany.......2005-07-06

In the middle of _The Cossacks_, Dmitri Olenin, a young Russian cadet reflects joyfully, "Happiness is to live for others. How clear it is!," while being mercilessly bitten by mosquitos during a deer hunt. Despite the fact that his "whole body [is] consumed by a consuming itch," Olenin revels in the beauties of bountiful nature. It is almost as if he gives himself up to the mosquitos, whom he imagines are yelling out to each other, "Over here, boys! Here's someone we can devour!" Tolstoy develops the scene with such skill. We see Olenin's joy quickly turn into confusion and mortal terror.

Leo Tolstoy's _The Cossacks_ (begun in 1852 and published in 1862) is about a young aristocrat's quest for happiness and his uncertainty about what will make him happy--whether a life given up to the senses or a life devoted to others. The novel begins with a late night discussion in a Moscow alehouse about Olenin's relationship with a wealthy Moscow woman whom he is about to abandon. One of his friends responds, "You have not yet loved, and you don't know what love is!" Dmitri bids his friends adieu and sets out by carriage for a military assignment in the faraway Caucasus to start life anew and to find out what love means (ironically, while serving as a military cadet in a war).

The novel contrasts Dmitri Olenin with Lukashka the Snatcher, a young fearless Cossack soldier admired by everyone in his village. While Dmitri's life lacks purpose and direction, Lukashka is driven to become an ideal Cossack warrior. Lukashka is a carouser who is a brave fighter. Dmitri envies Lukashka's life and, in particular, the defined Cossack traditions to which Lukashka devotes himself.

In an incredible early scene, Tolstoy introduces Lukashka on duty at a military look-out point that protects the Cossack village from Chechen "marauders." The tension of the scene and the philosophical undertones also reminded me immediately of Hemingway--as another reviewer commented. In a brilliant transition, Tolstoy revisits this scene later in the novel as seen through Olenin's eyes.

The novel, while mythic in its discussions of love and youthful idealism, takes place in a background of ethnic conflict and suspicion. The Russian troops are quartered in a Cossack village, and the Russians, Cossacks, and Chechens are all in conflict, either in outright war or deep distrust. One of the most endearing characters of the novel, Uncle Eroksha, a rogish seventy year old villager and hunter, suggests the pointlessness of all this division. Uncle Eroksha, who is "a blood brother to all," maintains that "Everyone has his own rules. But if you ask me, it's all the same."

For the contemporary reader, the book also offers some historical context to the current conflict in Chechnia, between the Chechens and the Russians. Cynthia Ozick's introduction provides useful historical background information and challenges Tolstoy's romanticized depiction of Cossack society. Ozick discusses a history of ethnic cleansing in the region that goes back many centuries. The fierce pride in culture and clan often has dangerous effects, a subject that Tolstoy does not really address.

The novel is steeped in sensuous passages, of nature, war, and physical attraction, which are unforgettable. Over the course of the novel, Dmitri becomes obsessed with a Cossack peasant woman named Maryanka. The passages describing his infatuation are intense. The narrator describes Dmitri's first long look at Maryanka as follows: "With the quick and hungry curiosity of youth, he noticed despite himself the strong virginal lines that stood out beneath the thin calico smock, and her beautiful eyes were fixed on him with childish terror and wild curiousity." This gives a taste of the vividness of Tolstoy's writing and the wonderful skill of the translator, Peter Constantine.

This is a truly excellent novel. I agree with the reviewer who says that it is a great novel to introduce Tolstoy to new readers since it is short and accessible. I would recommend this edition in particular because the translation is great and Ozick's introduction is astute. Many of the major themes in Tolstoy's work are evident here, particularly the conflict between sensual and spiritual impulses.

A real find.......2004-08-09

Here's a book that not many people know about which should be read by all. It was really just what I needed to read, having just dropped out of university myself. Also, does anyone else think that this book must have greatly influenced Hemingway? It sounds just like him, and he says in A Moveable Feast that he was reading lots of Russian stuff at the start of his career. I realize it might just be that the translator liked Hemingway, but even so it's amazing how much it ends up reading like one of his novels and is so unlike the rest of Tolstoy.

Excellent Short Fiction From Tolstoy.......2002-11-27

Tolstoy is one of the most famous names in Russian literature. Sadly, the sheer size of most of his celebrated works, i.e. War and Peace, tend to make many readers anxious. However, readers fail to realize that Tolstoy has quite a phenomenal collection of short fiction, such as this 178-page novella.

Tolstoy explores the dissatisfaction a young Russian aristocrat holds towards the emptiness of high-society, and his subsequent journey in search of meaning. The aristocrat finds himself as a young Russian army officer, serving at a remote Cossack outpost in the Caucasus. Here he finds that his wealth and breeding do not garner him respect. Instead he is looked upon as an outsider, and an unwelcome one at that.

Nevertheless, the aristocrat finds himself in love with a beautiful Cossack girl, who is promised to a Cossack warrior. Tolstoy discusses the emotions that rise between these three parties regarding love, class, and sacrifice.

Indeed, The Cossacks is great first exposure to Leo Tolstoy and his descriptive writing style is sure to lead the reader to explore more of his works.

An outstanding tale of aristocrats and peasants........1999-01-20

Truly the best novella that I have ever read. The story of a young Russian aristocrat disillusionned with the life of a city gentleman who looks to the simpler life of a soldier in the Caucasus for his completion. An outstanding read.

The Cossacks, Sevastopol, the Invaders And Other Stories

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The Cossacks, Sevastopol, the Invaders And Other Stories
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Master and Man and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 1417917644

Book Description

1899. Russian author, considered one of the greatest of all novelists. Tolstoy's major works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The novel, The Cossacks, and the three Sevastopol sketches contained in this volume were the direct outcome of Count Tolstoy's own experience. The writer, Turgenieff, called The Cossacks the best novel in Russian, and declared that it gave an incomparable picture of men and things in the Caucasus. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Classic Tales and Fables for Children (Literary Classics (Amherst, N.Y.).)

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Classic Tales and Fables for Children (Literary Classics (Amherst, N.Y.).)
Leo Tolstoy
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Short Story Collections | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Classics | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1573929395

Book Description

Renowned Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) had an abiding interest in children and children's literature. He started a school for peasant children on his family's estate, and later founded another, experimental school with the motto, "Come when you like, leave when you like."

Fascinated by the simple charm and fresh innocence with which the children of his schools told stories, Tolstoy began writing about his own childhood, emulating the uncomplicated narrative style and disarming directness of the tales told by the children of his acquaintance. After completing WAR AND PEACE, he incorporated these stories in a series of easy readers. Known as THE ABC BOOK (Azbuka) and THE NEW ABC BOOK (Novaia Azbuka), these marvelous readers were widely adopted in Russia and were still in use in the Soviet era.

The tales and fables in this charmingly illustrated volume come mainly from these two well-loved primers. Part 1 consists of stories about Tolstoy's own childhood, all told with beautiful simplicity. Part 2 contains Tolstoy's free adaptations of fables from Aesop and from Hindu tradition. Part 3 is devoted solely to his longest and most famous children's work, the fairy tale "Ivan the Fool and His Two Brothers."

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