Short Fiction - Leo Tolstoy, Constance Garnett, J. D. Duff, R. S. Townsend, Everyman's Library, Vladimir Chertkov & Isabella Fyvie Mayo
By Leo Tolstoy, Constance Garnett, J. D. Duff, R. S. Townsend, Everyman's Library, Vladimir Chertkov & Isabella Fyvie Mayo
Release Date: 2021-04-27
Genre: Fiction & Literature
While perhaps best known for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, the Russian author and religious thinker Leo Tolstoy was also a prolific author of short fiction. This Standard Ebooks edition compiles all of Tolstoyâs short stories and novellas written from 1852 up to his death, arranged in order of their original publication.
The stories in this collection vary enormously in size and scope, from short, page-length fables composed for the education of schoolchildren, to full novellas like âFamily Happiness.â Readers who are familiar with Tolstoyâs life and religious experiencesâas detailed, for example, in his spiritual memoir A Confessionâmay be able to trace the events of Tolstoyâs life through the changing subjects of these stories. Some early stories, like âThe Raidâ and the âSevastopolâ sketches, draw from Tolstoyâs experiences in the Caucasian War and the Crimean War when he served in the Imperial Russian Army, while other early stories like âRecollections of a Scorerâ and âTwo Hussarsâ reflect Tolstoyâs personal struggle with gambling addiction.
Later stories in the collection, written during and after Tolstoyâs 1870s conversion to Christian anarcho-pacifism (a spiritual and religious philosophy described in detail in his treatise The Kingdom of God Is Within You), frequently reflect either Tolstoyâs own experiences in spiritual struggle (e.g. âThe Death of Ivan Ilyitchâ) or his interpretation of the New Testament (e.g. âThe Forged Couponâ), or both. Many later stories, like âThree Questionsâ and âHow Much Land Does a Man Need?â are explicitly didactic in nature and are addressed to a popular audience to promote his religious ideals and views on social and economic justice.
Short Fiction - Leo Tolstoy, Constance Garnett, J. D. Duff, R. S. Townsend, Everyman's Library, Vladimir Chertkov & Isabella Fyvie Mayo
By Leo Tolstoy, Constance Garnett, J. D. Duff, R. S. Townsend, Everyman's Library, Vladimir Chertkov & Isabella Fyvie Mayo
Release Date: 2021-04-27
Genre: Fiction & Literature
