Leo Tolstoy: Resident and Stranger (Princeton Legacy Library)

by Richard F. Gustafson

'Richard Gustafson has written what will undoubtedly prove to be one of the major studies of Tolstoy produced in his generation , an especially thoughtful book, full of ideas, insights, and perceptions that are very much Gustafson's own.' 'Gustafson's grasp of the Tolstoy canon . . . is truly impressive, and his sensitive, and detailed reading of individual works convincingly establishes the ongoing dialectic between experience,. theological reflection, and artistic creation.... Our appreciation of Tolstoy's fiction and of the Russian theological tradition is greatly enriched by this study. It is possibly one of the very best pieces of 'theology and literature' this reviewer has yet encountered.' 'Professor Gustafson's exceptional combination of literary, linguistic and theological erudition makes his latest work a landmark in the history of post-war Tolstoyan scholarship.' '... a radically new reading, one that may mark a new stage in studies of Tolstoy in the West.' Richard F. Gustafson is Professor of Russian at Barnard College, Columbia University.

Genres: Russia

504 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1986

Reviews

[John]

I'll forgive Gustafson's ponderous, and unnecessary, discussions of Tolstoy's epistemology, which shouldn't have claimed more than two or three pages rather than 35-40 pages of what seem obligatorily overwrought exposition of the bleeding obvious.

But apart from these pages, which require only 30 or 40 seconds or so to skip, Gustafson's book is among the most enlightening works of literary criticism I've ever read. Right up there with Eric Auerbach. But then again Russian writers of the 19th century interest me.

Gustafson assesses Tolstoy's writings as "autopsychological" - and rightly so. Following Belinsky, as Sir Isaiah Berlin explains, Russian novelists - and poets - adopted the perspective that the value of a literary work lay in its social utility. A writer either addressed the current pressing social, economic, cultural concerns of the reading public or the reading public dismissed the work altogether and its author as an odious moral degenerate. Hence, the Russian novel of the 19th century.

In a way most Russian novelists of the period addressed the same set of ethical and political questions. Including Tolstoy. Exhibitionist that he was, Tolstoy lived out his life, his objections to Russian society and culture, and his rejection of the corrections that other writers proposed, in public through his pen. Gustafson narrates the trajectory of Tolstoy's life and Tolstoy's shaping of his life, his responses to his time and place, his affirmations and commitments as he lived out his life in a very tumultous era.

Of course, Tolstoy believed that he had discovered the only way to live a life worth living - for anyone claiming to be human, that is. And he proclaimed his gospel in tens of thousands of pages.
[The editors of the new collected works plan to publish them in at least 100 volumes.]

My sense of Tolstoy, the consumate narcissist, makes me wonder if he didn't really establish a religion of sorts in order to become its prophet. He became a cultural figure of such overweening importance that not even the Tsar dared rebuke him overmuch. But perhaps trascending even the autocrat of all the Russias was his real project. Certainly he didn't need the money his books earned, but the celibrity - by any and all means. After all he even devised a way to draw the attention of the entire world to that little speck of a train station where he passed his final days. And the drama of his refusal to admit his wife into his presence as he took leave of this world - it made front page news the world over.

But ignoring all that, Tolstoy has much of value to say to us today - and Gustafson presents that material in an exemplary manner. I, for one, plan to read his book again.

[S]

Gustafson's book is absolutely wonderful and is necessary reading for any Tolstoyan and highly recommended for readers of Tolstoy interested in increasing their understanding of his works. It is important, however, to be aware that Gustafson's understanding of Tolstoy's work looks entirely through the lens of Eastern Orthodox theology and entirely disregards the fact that Tolstoy was an iconoclast and a staunch rebel against this very Orthodoxy.

[Jeanette Devereux]

HEAVY WORK AND VERY VERY PROFOUND, NEED A GOOD MIND AND REAL PATIENCE AS VERY DEEP. I AM A READER OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY AS WELL.
LOVE THIS BOOK AND COVER IS NICE.

[Jeanette Devereux]

Excellent very mind bending....
..read war and peace as well...... wow he nan write