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Tolstoy: A Russian Life
In November 1910, Count Lev Tolstoy died at a remote Russian railway station. At the time of his death, he was the most famous man in Russia, with a growing international following, and more revered than the tsar. Born into an aristocratic family, Tolstoy had spent his life rebelling against not only conventional ideas about literature and art but also traditional education, family life, organized religion, and the state.
In this, the first biography of Tolstoy in more than twenty years, Rosamund Bartlett draws extensively on key Russian sources, including much fascinating material made available since the collapse of the Soviet Union. She sheds light on Tolstoy’s remarkable journey from callow youth to writer to prophet; discusses his troubled relationship with his wife, Sonya; and vividly evokes the Russian landscapes Tolstoy so loved and the turbulent times in which he lived. Above all, Bartett givesus an eloquent portrait of the brilliant, maddening, and contrary man who has once again been discovered by a new generation of readers.
In this, the first biography of Tolstoy in more than twenty years, Rosamund Bartlett draws extensively on key Russian sources, including much fascinating material made available since the collapse of the Soviet Union. She sheds light on Tolstoy’s remarkable journey from callow youth to writer to prophet; discusses his troubled relationship with his wife, Sonya; and vividly evokes the Russian landscapes Tolstoy so loved and the turbulent times in which he lived. Above all, Bartett givesus an eloquent portrait of the brilliant, maddening, and contrary man who has once again been discovered by a new generation of readers.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
187 people are currently reading
2261 people want to read
About the author
Rosamund Bartlett
35 books32 followersRosamund Bartlett is a cultural historian with expertise in Russian literature, music, and art. She has a particular interest in European Modernism, opera, and the intersection between politics, history and the arts, and has lectured on these subjects at universities and public institutions around the world. Her books include Wagner and Russia and Tolstoy: A Russian Life. She has also written a biography of Chekhov, and published translations of his short stories and letters. Her new translation of Anna Karenina was published in 2014.
She is a Trustee of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, for which is she currently overseeing the Early Chekhov Translation Project and the Anton Chekhov’s Garden project, which was launched with a show garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 2-8 July 2018
She is a Trustee of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, for which is she currently overseeing the Early Chekhov Translation Project and the Anton Chekhov’s Garden project, which was launched with a show garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 2-8 July 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
March 20, 2014
Bartlett’s heroic and lean retelling of the life of Lev is a powerhouse of bios. Despite its concision and tendency to rush over the most interesting parts (the writing of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, his final decade), this offering allows the reader to inhabit the mercurial, complex, pious, staggering mind of Lev T. For those seeking an even shorter précis—born, happy kid, gambler, warfare, wrote, found God, helped peasants, wrote more, revolutionary views, too many kids, a cult, unhappy marriage, died at 82. For those seeking a little relish to that précis, Bartlett’s 2010 bio brings Lev to the page as an historical figure (his living breathing Tolstoyness is not really evoked—is this possible of such a towering literary icon?), from his first publication Childhood, to his last protest essay ‘I Cannot Be Silent’ in 1908. Lev is still considered an aristo writer who became a religious kook in his final years. His two masterpieces are, frankly, a footnote to Lev’s real work as a tireless campaigner of education and devotion to saving the starving peasantry. Lev believed in simple honest toil and simple honest living to a Calvinist degree, although simple toil and honest living wrapped in love and kindness. His work in these fields makes mincemeat of those two piddling masterpieces (and that third overlooked perfect novel Resurrection) and opened this reader up to a new realm of Tolstoy worship (despite the outmoded creaks and massive hypocrises in his views). Fascinating to note is that Lev and Dostoevsky never met once—the closest was sharing a lecture theatre at a lecture given by a pretentious student, which Lev left after the first round of quotations.
May 30, 2021
I found myself saying to a colleague the other day - 'If there really was a God, he would probably resemble Leo Tolstoy.' Blasphemous, I know.
After reading War & Peace and some of his short works, the only way to explain the insight with which Tolstoy talks about humanity and its flaws, failures and growth, and the way in which his words seem to cut across centuries and be relevant to human condition right now, was to assign him with superhuman or even godlike qualities.
Yet, as I read Bartlett's biography of Tolstoy, I realized how flawed this man really was. Now that Tolstoy is more 'real' and less 'godlike' to me, his importance to me has increased. Tolstoy was a giant in more ways than one. And his life was an epic no less than his Anna Karenina or War and Peace.
Bartlett covers a three dimensional view of Tolstoy starting from his ancestors' histories. It was overwhelming to find out that all my beloved characters from War and Peace were to a large extent inspired by real people important to Tolstoy - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are all based on his family, and their rise and fall.
After reading the biography, I realized that Pierre Bezukhov, one of my favourite characters from War and Peace, though not explicitly stated, is Leo Tolstoy himself. It turns out he was not always as insightful as he eventually became. Like Pierre, he was immature and awkward. Bartlett's description of Tolstoy's eventual 'growing up' is so similar to Pierre Bezukhov's journey in the book.
My favourite parts of the biography are the tranquil descriptions of Tolstoy's childhood at Yasnaya Polyana, the last truly happy years of his life. Bartlett takes us on a journey where we see Tolstoy grow from an entitled adolescent and young adult to a 'god' to his people - inspiring decades of revolutionaries and writers, a perpetual trouble maker for the monarchy. And so much more than a writer. Bartlett immerses us into his dissatisfaction with merely being a writer of fiction which he felt didn't serve any purpose to society (how wrong he was). We see his struggles with religion, the church and the education system; his constant search for meaning that seemed to evade him; and his guilt at his status compared to the injustice surrounding him. Yet there are many things that make him less than perfect - his insensitivity to his wife, misogyny and tempestuous relationships with other writers or friends.
In the end, what I take away is an understanding and admiration that is now even more enhanced. Not just a remarkable writer, but also a remarkable, albeit a deeply flawed, man.
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Literarianism
After reading War & Peace and some of his short works, the only way to explain the insight with which Tolstoy talks about humanity and its flaws, failures and growth, and the way in which his words seem to cut across centuries and be relevant to human condition right now, was to assign him with superhuman or even godlike qualities.
Yet, as I read Bartlett's biography of Tolstoy, I realized how flawed this man really was. Now that Tolstoy is more 'real' and less 'godlike' to me, his importance to me has increased. Tolstoy was a giant in more ways than one. And his life was an epic no less than his Anna Karenina or War and Peace.
Bartlett covers a three dimensional view of Tolstoy starting from his ancestors' histories. It was overwhelming to find out that all my beloved characters from War and Peace were to a large extent inspired by real people important to Tolstoy - the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are all based on his family, and their rise and fall.
After reading the biography, I realized that Pierre Bezukhov, one of my favourite characters from War and Peace, though not explicitly stated, is Leo Tolstoy himself. It turns out he was not always as insightful as he eventually became. Like Pierre, he was immature and awkward. Bartlett's description of Tolstoy's eventual 'growing up' is so similar to Pierre Bezukhov's journey in the book.
My favourite parts of the biography are the tranquil descriptions of Tolstoy's childhood at Yasnaya Polyana, the last truly happy years of his life. Bartlett takes us on a journey where we see Tolstoy grow from an entitled adolescent and young adult to a 'god' to his people - inspiring decades of revolutionaries and writers, a perpetual trouble maker for the monarchy. And so much more than a writer. Bartlett immerses us into his dissatisfaction with merely being a writer of fiction which he felt didn't serve any purpose to society (how wrong he was). We see his struggles with religion, the church and the education system; his constant search for meaning that seemed to evade him; and his guilt at his status compared to the injustice surrounding him. Yet there are many things that make him less than perfect - his insensitivity to his wife, misogyny and tempestuous relationships with other writers or friends.
In the end, what I take away is an understanding and admiration that is now even more enhanced. Not just a remarkable writer, but also a remarkable, albeit a deeply flawed, man.
Visit my Bookstagram for more book reviews:
Literarianism
June 27, 2022
Rosamund Bartlett’s Tolstoy: A Russian Life is an excellent perspective into Leo Tolstoy. One that I found both well researched, and well organized. Bartlett does a wonderful job dissecting the many aspects that influenced Tolstoy’s philosophical and religious shifts, which I found particularly interesting.
May 22, 2022
Segunda biografia do Conde Liev Tolstoi o grande representante da alma russa como foi referido por vários autores.
Além do que tinha lido na biografia de Bertrand Russel fiquei a conhecer em grande pormenor toda a vida do colosso e gigante da literatura russa .
Tolstoi não foi apenas um grande escritor.
Foi um pensador, um filósofo, um criador duma nova religião - o tolstoismo.
A sua mulher com a qual teve 13 filhos teve que lidar com esta força da natureza com uma coragem e determinação inexcedíveis.
Fiquei com curiosidade de ler a biografia de Sofia Tolstoiana.
A propósito da vida de Tolstoi como da de JJ Rousseau apetece-me dizer: “De boas intenções está o inferno cheio”.
Rousseau morreu antes da Revolução francesa.
Tolstoi antes da Revolução russa .
Ambos eram pacifistas mas acabaram por ficar para a história como inspiradores de revoluções.
A biógrafa Rosamund Bartlett escreve bem e numa linguagem fácil e fluida.
Só assim se aguenta uma 2.ª dose da vida do escritor durante mais 600 e tal páginas .
Pena a tradução em português do Brasil .
É muito mau !!!!!
Além do que tinha lido na biografia de Bertrand Russel fiquei a conhecer em grande pormenor toda a vida do colosso e gigante da literatura russa .
Tolstoi não foi apenas um grande escritor.
Foi um pensador, um filósofo, um criador duma nova religião - o tolstoismo.
A sua mulher com a qual teve 13 filhos teve que lidar com esta força da natureza com uma coragem e determinação inexcedíveis.
Fiquei com curiosidade de ler a biografia de Sofia Tolstoiana.
A propósito da vida de Tolstoi como da de JJ Rousseau apetece-me dizer: “De boas intenções está o inferno cheio”.
Rousseau morreu antes da Revolução francesa.
Tolstoi antes da Revolução russa .
Ambos eram pacifistas mas acabaram por ficar para a história como inspiradores de revoluções.
A biógrafa Rosamund Bartlett escreve bem e numa linguagem fácil e fluida.
Só assim se aguenta uma 2.ª dose da vida do escritor durante mais 600 e tal páginas .
Pena a tradução em português do Brasil .
É muito mau !!!!!
May 13, 2012
While Bartlett had access to material previously unavailable, her exhaustive biography, while praiseworthy, does not compare with Henri Troyat’s superb “Tolstoy.” The problem is that she never engages the spirit of Tolstoy as does Troyat, though she presents a comprehensive portrait of the master’s life. Particularly interesting are the details of the mechanics of Tolstoy’s creation of his masterpieces, especially the many versions of Anna Karenina that preceded the final novel. From a tale of an unfaithful wife, the story evolved with the creation of the Levin character to a comparison of marriages. This also allowed Tolstoy to digress on favorite topics such as the education of the serfs, hunting, agricultural husbandry and so forth. Tolstoy’s enthusiasm governed his life with his religious and political views increasingly prominent, to the point that tracts on these subjects dueled with literary output for his attention. His theories influenced not only Russians but such thinkers as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Chekhov was an early admirer but came to criticize Tolstoy’s tendency to harangue on subjects of which he knew little. Over time, Tolstoy developed ascetic inclinations, embracing vegetarianism and pacifism, and renouncing luxury and sexuality (though he sired 13 children, he abased himself for giving in to his needs). Needless to say, this caused problems in his marriage which ultimately degenerated, as his disciples such as Chertkov became more important to him than family. His desire was to become a “holy fool” –a wandering saint who gave away all he had to the poor in imitation of Christ. His religious views were unorthodox (he was eventually excommunicated from the Orthodox church) based upon the acts and teachings of Jesus rather than church hierarchy.
Bartlett handles all of the above more than adequately. However, her tendency in the text to reference “coming events” leads to a lot of unnecessary and irritating repetition. Similarly, she invests each new character with a mini-biography, which occasionally contributes to the reader’s understanding of the culture, but more often simply causes a diversion. To pick a nit, she will often name a character with his/her formal name, then refer to that person by a nickname, but rather than conforming to that usage, she veers back and forth, causing the reader to check to be sure the Maria she is talking of is the same Masha of a previous page.
Bartlett handles all of the above more than adequately. However, her tendency in the text to reference “coming events” leads to a lot of unnecessary and irritating repetition. Similarly, she invests each new character with a mini-biography, which occasionally contributes to the reader’s understanding of the culture, but more often simply causes a diversion. To pick a nit, she will often name a character with his/her formal name, then refer to that person by a nickname, but rather than conforming to that usage, she veers back and forth, causing the reader to check to be sure the Maria she is talking of is the same Masha of a previous page.
June 17, 2022
✨”Tolstoy´s life is rich and fascinating but also deeply mythologized, and he himself contributed to the process of mythologization.”✨
.
No ano passado quando li as palavras de Zweig acerca de Yasnaya Polyana e da campa simples de Lev, naquele canto nos bosques onde o seu irmão Nikolay lhe disse que o segredo da felicidade humana tinha sido escrito, que senti uma vontade indescritível de ler a sua biografia. Conhecer a lenda que era mas também o homem, com os seus inúmeros defeitos. 🤍
Lev Tolstoy disse que em 100 anos ninguém o leria. Como se enganou redondamente. Se o mais pequeno camponês numa remota aldeia tinha que estar na fila de espera para ler o único volume de “Guerra e Paz” da biblioteca local. ❣️O homem que foi inclusivamente considerado o czar da Rússia, que deu origem ao Tolstoyanismo, que revolucionou a literatura Russa e ocidental. Nunca visitei a Rússia mas através das suas palavras, é como se já lá estivesse estado.🤍
Tosltoy era uma personalidade muito complicada, que ressentia os seus amigos chegados e inclusivamente a sua família. De ideias muito fincadas, mas com os seus conflitos inerentemente morais, pela vida de pecado que viveu na adolescência e ainda na vida adulta, com ideais que se propagavam muito à frente no seu tempo. Sonya e os seus filhos não lidaram com o lado mais fácil do seu temperamento, com o lado humano por detrás da divindade que ele era aos olhos do povo russo. O aristocrata que não queria ser aristocrata, o literato e samaritano que ajudava os mais necessitados. O gigante que desafiou a Igreja e o czarismo.
Adorei conhecer fatos do seu noivado com Sonya, do adultério da sua irmã Masha, do seu tio americano “diky” refletidos em partes de Anna Karenina, de traços das suas tias e avós maternos em Guerra e Paz, de um episódio da sua vida de que se arrependeu em Resurreição, a sua experiência militar em Cossacos, a morte de Turguenev em A morte de Ivan Ilitich. E a lista continua. Será tão interessante revisitar estes livros tendo esta perceção do homem por trás da escrita.🤍
Esta foi , sem dúvida, uma biografia muito completa, com direito a retratos, fotografias e citações de cartas. Adorei esta viagem, conhecer a lenda que é este escritor, dos favoritos da vida. Mas , acima de tudo, denotar que uma personalidade tão humana, que não tinha medo de mudar, de arriscar, de pôr tudo quanto era de si pelos seus ideias, só aumentou a minha idolatria por ele. ❣️
✨“Not only did the word ´can´t´not exist in his vocabulary, but he was always went at a cracking pace, just like the fast trot he maintained on horseback.”✨
.
No ano passado quando li as palavras de Zweig acerca de Yasnaya Polyana e da campa simples de Lev, naquele canto nos bosques onde o seu irmão Nikolay lhe disse que o segredo da felicidade humana tinha sido escrito, que senti uma vontade indescritível de ler a sua biografia. Conhecer a lenda que era mas também o homem, com os seus inúmeros defeitos. 🤍
Lev Tolstoy disse que em 100 anos ninguém o leria. Como se enganou redondamente. Se o mais pequeno camponês numa remota aldeia tinha que estar na fila de espera para ler o único volume de “Guerra e Paz” da biblioteca local. ❣️O homem que foi inclusivamente considerado o czar da Rússia, que deu origem ao Tolstoyanismo, que revolucionou a literatura Russa e ocidental. Nunca visitei a Rússia mas através das suas palavras, é como se já lá estivesse estado.🤍
Tosltoy era uma personalidade muito complicada, que ressentia os seus amigos chegados e inclusivamente a sua família. De ideias muito fincadas, mas com os seus conflitos inerentemente morais, pela vida de pecado que viveu na adolescência e ainda na vida adulta, com ideais que se propagavam muito à frente no seu tempo. Sonya e os seus filhos não lidaram com o lado mais fácil do seu temperamento, com o lado humano por detrás da divindade que ele era aos olhos do povo russo. O aristocrata que não queria ser aristocrata, o literato e samaritano que ajudava os mais necessitados. O gigante que desafiou a Igreja e o czarismo.
Adorei conhecer fatos do seu noivado com Sonya, do adultério da sua irmã Masha, do seu tio americano “diky” refletidos em partes de Anna Karenina, de traços das suas tias e avós maternos em Guerra e Paz, de um episódio da sua vida de que se arrependeu em Resurreição, a sua experiência militar em Cossacos, a morte de Turguenev em A morte de Ivan Ilitich. E a lista continua. Será tão interessante revisitar estes livros tendo esta perceção do homem por trás da escrita.🤍
Esta foi , sem dúvida, uma biografia muito completa, com direito a retratos, fotografias e citações de cartas. Adorei esta viagem, conhecer a lenda que é este escritor, dos favoritos da vida. Mas , acima de tudo, denotar que uma personalidade tão humana, que não tinha medo de mudar, de arriscar, de pôr tudo quanto era de si pelos seus ideias, só aumentou a minha idolatria por ele. ❣️
✨“Not only did the word ´can´t´not exist in his vocabulary, but he was always went at a cracking pace, just like the fast trot he maintained on horseback.”✨
February 3, 2021
3,5 stars.
Rosamund Bartlett has no doubt done a ton of research for her biography on Tolstoy. But this may be the reason why despite a good start I eventually felt lukewarm about it. The person, the giant somehow gets lost in all the dates, facts and philosophical and religious mini-movements.
I did love the chapters about Tolstoys childhood, youth and the writing of his best-known novels (AK & W&P of course). But the majority of what happened after that - his religious, spiritual and political development failed to really capture my interest. Some of it was probably due to the fact that Bartlett's writing style is a bit dull, and if she isn't describing something interesting in its own right it becomes tedious.
Another reason might be that she failed to bring Tolstoy alive for me. I have read biographies on authors whos work means far less to me than Tolstoy's novels and felt closer to them. People want different things from their biographies but I, for the most part, want to see the person behind the art - what inspired him, what ailed him, how did he like his breakfast and other odd facts. Just like Tolstoy's characters become alive through gestures and habits I was expecting him to be brought to me this way through Bartlett's words. There were descriptions on domestic life and his work habits but far too little and only in the first half of the book.
Still, I would recommend it for anyone interested in Tolstoys work and life as despite its shortcomings it is a well above average biography.
Rosamund Bartlett has no doubt done a ton of research for her biography on Tolstoy. But this may be the reason why despite a good start I eventually felt lukewarm about it. The person, the giant somehow gets lost in all the dates, facts and philosophical and religious mini-movements.
I did love the chapters about Tolstoys childhood, youth and the writing of his best-known novels (AK & W&P of course). But the majority of what happened after that - his religious, spiritual and political development failed to really capture my interest. Some of it was probably due to the fact that Bartlett's writing style is a bit dull, and if she isn't describing something interesting in its own right it becomes tedious.
Another reason might be that she failed to bring Tolstoy alive for me. I have read biographies on authors whos work means far less to me than Tolstoy's novels and felt closer to them. People want different things from their biographies but I, for the most part, want to see the person behind the art - what inspired him, what ailed him, how did he like his breakfast and other odd facts. Just like Tolstoy's characters become alive through gestures and habits I was expecting him to be brought to me this way through Bartlett's words. There were descriptions on domestic life and his work habits but far too little and only in the first half of the book.
Still, I would recommend it for anyone interested in Tolstoys work and life as despite its shortcomings it is a well above average biography.
June 17, 2014
There is in Tolstoy's life a spark of hope in humanity to embrace love in its most unconditional form, full of profound understanding, respect and compassion to all creatures, to all forms of life, universal in its meaning and bestowal of godliness, the most ardent trait any human being can tapped within himself, usually hidden from sight and kept aloof by the selfish desires brought about by the worldly aspects of life.
His life exemplifies the possibility of any ordinary life conditioned by society and molded at birth for individual survival to overcome one's selfish needs and be transformed to become the redeemer of one's own life for the sake of the salvation of the whole. This is even more pronounced despite the obvious contradictions that exist between his life and his teachings of universal love, as it shows in general context the plight of any ordinary human being and his lifetime of resistance against the call of the flesh. This is an arduous journey of any man at the point of awakening to bring himself out of the darkness of his soul into the light of love in its purest and most humble form.
In spite of the purity of this love emanating from Tolstoy in his pursuit of the truth, love in its essence seems to disappear, appearing beleaguered with conflicting notions as his life is filled with somewhat contradicting actions from an ordinary point of view, losing love's universal meaning ideally known to man. It is the kind of love that appears incomprehensibly blurred by one's extensive search for meaning, a kind of love immersed in existential despair that searches for an inner peace through the severe voluntary isolation imposed in oneself, a kind of love that finds the true path from the detachment of oneself from the blind whole, a reclusive form of life that opens the consciousness to a love that connects one to all.
The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy's very influential book that covers his own interpretation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a testament of his profound understanding of this form of encompassing love, revealing his Divine discernment of the Truth, a higher level of thinking that taps the true Christian principles and the sacredness of its meaning that believes and embraces non-violence in utter surrender. ☾☯
His life exemplifies the possibility of any ordinary life conditioned by society and molded at birth for individual survival to overcome one's selfish needs and be transformed to become the redeemer of one's own life for the sake of the salvation of the whole. This is even more pronounced despite the obvious contradictions that exist between his life and his teachings of universal love, as it shows in general context the plight of any ordinary human being and his lifetime of resistance against the call of the flesh. This is an arduous journey of any man at the point of awakening to bring himself out of the darkness of his soul into the light of love in its purest and most humble form.
In spite of the purity of this love emanating from Tolstoy in his pursuit of the truth, love in its essence seems to disappear, appearing beleaguered with conflicting notions as his life is filled with somewhat contradicting actions from an ordinary point of view, losing love's universal meaning ideally known to man. It is the kind of love that appears incomprehensibly blurred by one's extensive search for meaning, a kind of love immersed in existential despair that searches for an inner peace through the severe voluntary isolation imposed in oneself, a kind of love that finds the true path from the detachment of oneself from the blind whole, a reclusive form of life that opens the consciousness to a love that connects one to all.
The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy's very influential book that covers his own interpretation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a testament of his profound understanding of this form of encompassing love, revealing his Divine discernment of the Truth, a higher level of thinking that taps the true Christian principles and the sacredness of its meaning that believes and embraces non-violence in utter surrender. ☾☯
Read
March 15, 2012I started reading Bartlett's biography of Tolstoy just as soon as I finished Isaiah Berlin's "Russian Thinkers," because of the fascinating material and insights that Sir Isaiah presented in two essays published in that collection. The notes on the dust jacket promised me a work of [inevitably] "majesterial sweep and scope," whatever that is, as well as the most vivid evocation of Tolstoy in prose - ever. Well, I'm not transfixed.
I will say that so far - after 200 pages -that Bartlett has written quite a useful, comprehensive, workman-like account of Tolstoy's life - so far. And right now I have two impressions, one about Bartlett and one about Tolstoy.
About Tolstoy. I've had to do with about as many narcissistically inflated personalities as I can tolerate in this life. I don't spend any time with such persons if I can avoid them at all. So I don't really care about the man - someone whom I hope never to encounter in any future existence. I'll just stick with his fiction, after this one biography.
About Bartlett. As I read this book, I sometime experience her work as the contents of a series of notecards, arranged in chronological sequence of the material, tinkered together with very thin connective tissue. If I didn't know better - because Bartlett has devoted years and years to the study of Tolstoy - I would say that the author of this biography is rather bored with the subject. Well, maybe not bored, but certainly not sufficiently involved to become Tolstoy. Certainly not in the mold of Anne Wroe's "Becoming Shelly," or Acryod's "Dickens" or several other I could mention.
But still, Bartlett's book is quite solid, I'm sure. And I'll finish it, of course, only to search for another volume of Sir Isaiah's essays.
I will say that so far - after 200 pages -that Bartlett has written quite a useful, comprehensive, workman-like account of Tolstoy's life - so far. And right now I have two impressions, one about Bartlett and one about Tolstoy.
About Tolstoy. I've had to do with about as many narcissistically inflated personalities as I can tolerate in this life. I don't spend any time with such persons if I can avoid them at all. So I don't really care about the man - someone whom I hope never to encounter in any future existence. I'll just stick with his fiction, after this one biography.
About Bartlett. As I read this book, I sometime experience her work as the contents of a series of notecards, arranged in chronological sequence of the material, tinkered together with very thin connective tissue. If I didn't know better - because Bartlett has devoted years and years to the study of Tolstoy - I would say that the author of this biography is rather bored with the subject. Well, maybe not bored, but certainly not sufficiently involved to become Tolstoy. Certainly not in the mold of Anne Wroe's "Becoming Shelly," or Acryod's "Dickens" or several other I could mention.
But still, Bartlett's book is quite solid, I'm sure. And I'll finish it, of course, only to search for another volume of Sir Isaiah's essays.
April 2, 2019
Fastidiously researched, this is most certainly the work of someone who is deeply knowledgeable about Russian culture and history. And the subject, Tolstoy, is one of the most interesting people who ever lived. But I gave it three stars because a) I didn't like her prose, which I found monotonous and dull. Even vapid, at times; b) because I don't think she truly admires Tolstoy's work, and it shows, because she is brief whenever she's discussing his books.
November 10, 2021
I became curious about Tolstoy’s life after reading a biography on Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the father of anarchism, and discovering that he’d met Tolstoy, who was also an anarchist and a vegetarian. Like most people, I used to think of Tolstoy as a sort of a bearded Jane Austen – a writer of grand love stories. But he was more than that and it’s partly the USSR’s fault (according to this biography) that we don’t know this: Tolstoy was in fact highly subversive in his lifetime because of his views on religion and war, protected from government persecution because of his noble background and popularity, but also a danger to communism (it’s generally agreed he’d have faced a firing line if he’d still been alive after the October Revolution of 1917.)
There were three phases to Tolstoy’s life. The first phase, his youth, was marked by growing up in his family’s estate Yasnaya Polyana (a place so important to him that his family went to great lengths to preserve it after his death), sowing his wild oats as a young man (his first attempt at writing came while recuperating in a clinic for venereal diseases), then experiencing the Crimean war and becoming the first modern war correspondent by publishing impactful accounts of it.
The second phase began with his marriage to Sophia Behrs, their family life in Yasnaya Polyana and Moscow, and the fame that came with the publishing of masterpieces like “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”. The third phase started with his turn away from literary fame to dedicate himself to creating educational material for Russia’s serfs (he thought this was what he’d be remembered for), renouncing Russian Orthodoxy for a form of grassroots Christianity based on his studies of the scriptures (which went on to become a social movement known as Tolstoyanism), and finally his renunciation of all material wealth, in keeping with his anarchist and religious views.
There is so much that could be said about Tolstoy’s life – it was jam-packed with genius, egoism, soul searching and controversy. This biography made me want to read more about his life and read everything he has published, especially the more subversive works from his later years. His wife Sophia should be rightfully credited for all the editing work she did throughout their marriage, but there’s no doubt that Tolstoy was a towering figure and perhaps the greatest writer the world has ever seen. This biography makes the claim that the Russian Revolution couldn’t have happened without his taking down of the Romanov Dinasty and Orthodox Church (he was the first person in Russia to have a civil burial after being excommunicated by the Church) but his philosophy also deeply affected the 25-year-old Gandhi, with its doctrine that revolution could happen through non-violence. For better or for worse, Tolstoy changed millions of lives.
My favourite moment in the biography, however, is from Tolstoy’s childhood. One of his favourite things was to get into bed with his grandmother at night, in a room only lit with a few candles, and listen to stories told by a blind serf. I’d like to think it was in these nights, just before falling asleep, that Tolstoy fell in love with storytelling.
There were three phases to Tolstoy’s life. The first phase, his youth, was marked by growing up in his family’s estate Yasnaya Polyana (a place so important to him that his family went to great lengths to preserve it after his death), sowing his wild oats as a young man (his first attempt at writing came while recuperating in a clinic for venereal diseases), then experiencing the Crimean war and becoming the first modern war correspondent by publishing impactful accounts of it.
The second phase began with his marriage to Sophia Behrs, their family life in Yasnaya Polyana and Moscow, and the fame that came with the publishing of masterpieces like “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”. The third phase started with his turn away from literary fame to dedicate himself to creating educational material for Russia’s serfs (he thought this was what he’d be remembered for), renouncing Russian Orthodoxy for a form of grassroots Christianity based on his studies of the scriptures (which went on to become a social movement known as Tolstoyanism), and finally his renunciation of all material wealth, in keeping with his anarchist and religious views.
There is so much that could be said about Tolstoy’s life – it was jam-packed with genius, egoism, soul searching and controversy. This biography made me want to read more about his life and read everything he has published, especially the more subversive works from his later years. His wife Sophia should be rightfully credited for all the editing work she did throughout their marriage, but there’s no doubt that Tolstoy was a towering figure and perhaps the greatest writer the world has ever seen. This biography makes the claim that the Russian Revolution couldn’t have happened without his taking down of the Romanov Dinasty and Orthodox Church (he was the first person in Russia to have a civil burial after being excommunicated by the Church) but his philosophy also deeply affected the 25-year-old Gandhi, with its doctrine that revolution could happen through non-violence. For better or for worse, Tolstoy changed millions of lives.
My favourite moment in the biography, however, is from Tolstoy’s childhood. One of his favourite things was to get into bed with his grandmother at night, in a room only lit with a few candles, and listen to stories told by a blind serf. I’d like to think it was in these nights, just before falling asleep, that Tolstoy fell in love with storytelling.
October 14, 2025
The more I read Tolstoy, his fiction, his nonfiction, I wondered about the person who created these powerful characters, these compelling ideas. Bartlett does a wonderful job of peeling back the layers of who Tolstoy was throughout his life. From aristocrat, to novelist to theologian, Tolstoy's intelligence shines through. I am particularly fascinated by his movement deeper into Christianity, that removes the miracles in the gospel and instead focuses on the teachings of Jesus directly. It is interesting to hear stories of Tolstoy struggle with the world he exists in (he once didn't speak to anyone for 2 days cause his son's supported capital punishment). He was an emotional, sensitive, and deeply thoughtful person. He was also particularly cruel to his wife, and had a strong narcissistic streak. All sides of Tolstoy are explored within here, it is a great book for anyone who is interested in learning more about him.
October 29, 2022
Workmanlike. Lots of facts. Less on Tolstoy’s literary and intellectual debts or even his writings and ideas.
January 27, 2013
I really like the dedicated research on Tolstoy provided by Bartlett. The beginning chapters provided a bad taste for the person, writer, and larger-than-life (Romanticized) ruler. Tolstoy and his wife produced fourteen children. According to Bartlett, his wife's feelings could be forgiven. This wife sold Tolstoy's writings for income. This wife raised fourteen children on her own, took care of the house on her own, and probably felt great resentment towards her husband. Tolstoy became just like his father in this sense.
This biography is unrealistic. In a sense, I feel Bartlett makes Tolstoy out to greater than he really was due to such a noble birth. Tolstoy did not think highly of women's equal rights and he put his own needs and desires above providing income for his large family.
Bartlett provides insight into the parents marriage. While the Father worked out of town or settled his Father's estate,the Mother would sit in one certain area of the house waiting for his return. This co-dependent behavior does not really provide a positive image of what a good marriage should consist of.
I strongly believe had this been a male biographer, justice would have been served more towards explaining Tolstoy's character more in depth along with more insight. I did not feel a close connection to Tolstoy as a person. I found him to be sexist, self-serving, and unappreciative of women. As I read, I did wonder if Tolstoy may have suffered from a mental illness. I wish there research had been provided on the darker side of Tolstoy. Somebody else may have a completely different perspective of Tolstoy. I am more of a British and American literature scholar who strongly supports the equal rights of women.
I am also the great-granddaughter of a couple who raised fourteen children prior the Great Depression. My great-grandfather did not walk away from his responsibilities to his home-life. I believe this is where I am not able to relate to Tolstoy. I don't find abandoning an entire family to be an admirable characteristic. Bartlett does not need to provide forgiveness for his wife. The marriage was between Tolstoy and his wife. If she was okay with waiting around for her husband to return home, then that should remain their business. The wife seemed to be a resourceful person as she sold his stories for profit under his name. When her man did not step up to the plate, she did. Behind every great man is a great woman. This is what I will remember from Bartlett.
This biography is unrealistic. In a sense, I feel Bartlett makes Tolstoy out to greater than he really was due to such a noble birth. Tolstoy did not think highly of women's equal rights and he put his own needs and desires above providing income for his large family.
Bartlett provides insight into the parents marriage. While the Father worked out of town or settled his Father's estate,the Mother would sit in one certain area of the house waiting for his return. This co-dependent behavior does not really provide a positive image of what a good marriage should consist of.
I strongly believe had this been a male biographer, justice would have been served more towards explaining Tolstoy's character more in depth along with more insight. I did not feel a close connection to Tolstoy as a person. I found him to be sexist, self-serving, and unappreciative of women. As I read, I did wonder if Tolstoy may have suffered from a mental illness. I wish there research had been provided on the darker side of Tolstoy. Somebody else may have a completely different perspective of Tolstoy. I am more of a British and American literature scholar who strongly supports the equal rights of women.
I am also the great-granddaughter of a couple who raised fourteen children prior the Great Depression. My great-grandfather did not walk away from his responsibilities to his home-life. I believe this is where I am not able to relate to Tolstoy. I don't find abandoning an entire family to be an admirable characteristic. Bartlett does not need to provide forgiveness for his wife. The marriage was between Tolstoy and his wife. If she was okay with waiting around for her husband to return home, then that should remain their business. The wife seemed to be a resourceful person as she sold his stories for profit under his name. When her man did not step up to the plate, she did. Behind every great man is a great woman. This is what I will remember from Bartlett.
September 15, 2012
Recently there seems to be a lot of interest in Tolstoy. Did it begin with the Last The Last Station which garnered two Academy Award nominations? This is the second of two full scale biographies published this year. It follows a volume on Tolstoy's death, a biography of Sophia and a republication of her diaries, and a fictional title paying homage to the Tolstoy ouvre.
Author, Rosamund Bartlett, starts with Tolstoy's adventuresome forbearers who provide him not just the status of nobility, but also content for stories and novels. Tolstoy is a callow youth, he gambles and flirts. After a stint in the army, he settles into married life on his inherited estate. The happiest years for both him and his long suffering wife are the early marriage years that produced "War and Peace". After this, she describes a Tolstoy who seems to be a war with himself and others as he set impossible standards of austerity.
Bartlett shows how Tolstoy's influence affected those who lived by and those who suffered for his philosophy. Sometimes these circles overlap. One of the most intriguing characters in his orbit was Vladimar Cherktov. He can be cast as a villain (as in The Last Station or in Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography) or, as he appears here as a dedicated and brave apostle. His connections at court may have been pivotal in protecting his sage while some followers were imprisoned or banished. Bartlett notes Cherktov's similar look to Alexander III and cites Sonya's diary noting his voice is similar to that of Alexander II, suggesting a possible royal parent for him. I don't know if this is new scholarship, but it is new to me, and explains Cherktov's charmed life, and perhaps his ventures outside the court society.
There is a good summary of the Tolstoy movement after his death, including the last days of the Tsar and the various communist regimes. It says a bit about some of the Tolstoy children and grandchildren, a lot about Yasnaya Polyana.
There is a lot here, but the writing is academic so there are few page turning episodes. If you have no interest in Tolstoy, this book won't inspire it. If you are interested, there is a lot here for you. I read a review copy, and was glad to see so many photos... all are pertinent and just what the reader wants to see. There is a good index, which is important with such a large number of named people and places.
Author, Rosamund Bartlett, starts with Tolstoy's adventuresome forbearers who provide him not just the status of nobility, but also content for stories and novels. Tolstoy is a callow youth, he gambles and flirts. After a stint in the army, he settles into married life on his inherited estate. The happiest years for both him and his long suffering wife are the early marriage years that produced "War and Peace". After this, she describes a Tolstoy who seems to be a war with himself and others as he set impossible standards of austerity.
Bartlett shows how Tolstoy's influence affected those who lived by and those who suffered for his philosophy. Sometimes these circles overlap. One of the most intriguing characters in his orbit was Vladimar Cherktov. He can be cast as a villain (as in The Last Station or in Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography) or, as he appears here as a dedicated and brave apostle. His connections at court may have been pivotal in protecting his sage while some followers were imprisoned or banished. Bartlett notes Cherktov's similar look to Alexander III and cites Sonya's diary noting his voice is similar to that of Alexander II, suggesting a possible royal parent for him. I don't know if this is new scholarship, but it is new to me, and explains Cherktov's charmed life, and perhaps his ventures outside the court society.
There is a good summary of the Tolstoy movement after his death, including the last days of the Tsar and the various communist regimes. It says a bit about some of the Tolstoy children and grandchildren, a lot about Yasnaya Polyana.
There is a lot here, but the writing is academic so there are few page turning episodes. If you have no interest in Tolstoy, this book won't inspire it. If you are interested, there is a lot here for you. I read a review copy, and was glad to see so many photos... all are pertinent and just what the reader wants to see. There is a good index, which is important with such a large number of named people and places.
December 20, 2018
Just noting a few incohesive personal thoughts here on this bigography of Tolstoy - First of all, as an admirer of Tolstoy's writing, I found it facinating to learn about Tolstoy the man - his ancestry, his brief military career, his musical and literary preferences, his historical place in pre-revolutionary Russia, and his personal life - particularly at the time of writing War and Peace and Anna Karenina - as well as the real life inspirations for his characters and their moral dilemmas. Second, the humanity of Lev Tolstoy was endearing, and by that I mean the way that his life failed to live up to his own spiritual and philosophical standards in sometimes comical ways. Overall, I was struck by his passionate intellectual curiosity and the often harsh effect that it had on his personal relationships. Tolstoy's belief in non-violent resistance and its influence on Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. was new information as well. Finally, it was interesting for me to learn that the picture I had in my mind of Tolstoy renouncing all of his material possessions and dying at a train station as an atheist was only filled with a small amount of truth. It was facinating to learn of the complicated faith and belief system that Tolstoy struggled his whole life to define and practice and also to understand the practices of the Russian Orthodox Church during Tolstoy's lifetime and their unhealthy relationship with the Tsarist government under Nicholas II. It was surprising to me to learn that Tolstoy had only left his material possessions behind in totality less than a month before his death (excluding his will,) that he was not traveling alone when he arrived at the Astapovo train station, but was in fact traveling with a personal physician and his beloved daughter, and was well cared before his death by other family members and friends who attended him at the home of the station master. I was further intrigued by the history given in this biography of Tolstoy's writings and the way that they were censored and presented to the public during the period of communism in Russia. Such a fascinating book. I want to go back and read all of my favorite Tolstoy works now with the truth of his life story as their background. And of course, a visit to Yasnaya Polyana would be nice.
April 25, 2018
Biografia útil e interessante. Começa sem muita fluência, ao narrar as histórias dos antepassados aristocráticos de Tolstói, mas vai ficando melhor à medida que acompanha o envelhecimento do biografado. O singularíssimo desenvolvimento intelectual e espiritual de Lev Tolstói é exposto com clareza e verossimilhança. E é evidente o empenho da autora em considerar também a perspectiva de Sônia Tolstaia, a mulher com quem Tolstói manteve, por décadas, um casamento conturbado -- às vezes quase assumindo o papel de advogada de Sônia perante o leitor. O epílogo, que trata da influência póstuma de Tolstói na sua Rússia natal durante a era soviética, é um dos pontos altos do livro.
Tolstói é ou parece ser um autor inabarcável. Sua arte e seu pensamento, sobretudo se considerados em conjunto, talvez sejam complexos demais para ser plenamente digeridos por quem quer que seja. O leitor seriamente interessado fará bem em ler várias biografias diferentes. Esta merece ser incluída entre elas.
A edição brasileira deste livro é prejudicada por erros de tradução ou revisão e numerosas impropriedades de estilo. Em várias passagens, o leitor se vê tentando reconstituir imaginativamente o original em inglês, a fim de entender plenamente o sentido do texto que lê em (mau) português. Caso o leitor domine a língua inglesa e tenha acesso ao original, fará melhor em lê-lo diretamente.
Tolstói é ou parece ser um autor inabarcável. Sua arte e seu pensamento, sobretudo se considerados em conjunto, talvez sejam complexos demais para ser plenamente digeridos por quem quer que seja. O leitor seriamente interessado fará bem em ler várias biografias diferentes. Esta merece ser incluída entre elas.
A edição brasileira deste livro é prejudicada por erros de tradução ou revisão e numerosas impropriedades de estilo. Em várias passagens, o leitor se vê tentando reconstituir imaginativamente o original em inglês, a fim de entender plenamente o sentido do texto que lê em (mau) português. Caso o leitor domine a língua inglesa e tenha acesso ao original, fará melhor em lê-lo diretamente.
October 14, 2018
Büyük Rus yazar ve düşünür Leo Tolstoy üzerine yazılmış hacimli (544 sayfa) bir biyografi. Kitapta, Tolstoy'un en önemli romanları Savaş ve Barış, Anna Karanina ve Diriliş'in kaleme alınma süreçlerinden serflik ve toprak sahipliğine ilişkin düşüncelerine, sanat ve edebiyatı algılayışından din (daha doğrusu Kilise ve kurumsallaştırılmış din) ve devlete olan eleştirel yaklaşımına ve ölümünden sonra 1917 Bolşevik İhtilali'ne olan etkisine kadar çok farklı konular başarıyla ele alınmış.
Kitabın belki de en özel tarafı, Tolstoy'un mütefekkir yanının edebi boyutunu ne denli aştığını ustalıkla ele alması...Henüz sağlığında, "Tolstoycular" olarak bilinen yarı mistik ve ahlakçı kaydadeğer sayıda Rus ve yabancı takipçisinin varlığı da bu fikri altyapısının ne kadar etkileyici olduğunu ortaya koyuyor.
Velhasıl, en yakınındakiler tarafından dahi tam olarak anlaşılamadığı için 82 yaşında evini terkederek yollarda hayatını kaybeden bir düşünce adamının etrafında, 19. yüzyıl Rus siyasi, toplumsal ve edebi hayatının güzel bir hikayesi olmuş. "Must-read" desem abartmış olmam...
Kitabın belki de en özel tarafı, Tolstoy'un mütefekkir yanının edebi boyutunu ne denli aştığını ustalıkla ele alması...Henüz sağlığında, "Tolstoycular" olarak bilinen yarı mistik ve ahlakçı kaydadeğer sayıda Rus ve yabancı takipçisinin varlığı da bu fikri altyapısının ne kadar etkileyici olduğunu ortaya koyuyor.
Velhasıl, en yakınındakiler tarafından dahi tam olarak anlaşılamadığı için 82 yaşında evini terkederek yollarda hayatını kaybeden bir düşünce adamının etrafında, 19. yüzyıl Rus siyasi, toplumsal ve edebi hayatının güzel bir hikayesi olmuş. "Must-read" desem abartmış olmam...
January 25, 2018
Tolstoy was a weird fucking guy. When he was 10 he violently threw himself out a window to shock his stuffy aunt, he loved Rousseau so much that he wore a medallion with his picture in it around his neck instead of a cross, he shaved off his eyebrows when he was 18 and wore onsie that he made himself, that secret message talking thing he has levin do to pick up kitty in Anna Karenina is actually how he picked up his wife in real life, he learned to ride a bicycle at 66 years old and of course he also wrote some of the most gorgeous novels ever written.
October 1, 2020
Bartlett's biography is greatly detailed, and much-appreciated as an update to previous bios of Tolstoy (Maude, Gustafson). My only criticisms have to do with the author's conventional and at times unsympathetic psychologizing.
June 25, 2024
4.5/5
October 19, 2012
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) remodeled the modern novel with "War and Peace," making it as much a work of history as of literature. Historians may find fault with this or that detail, but in his handling of such crucial events as the battle of Borodino -- where Napoleon won the Pyrrhic victory that virtually doomed his invasion of Russia -- Tolstoy prevails as the colossal chronicler of the clash between major characters and events.
Then Tolstoy remodeled the modern novel again with "Anna Karenina," a searing portrayal of marriage and estrangement and love that brought new psychological depth to narrative prose. Opposed not only to adultery but to women's rights, Tolstoy -- himself the father of an illegitimate child -- nevertheless understood the passion and anguish of his heroine.
For these two novels alone, Tolstoy would deserve multiple biographies probing his contradictions and contrarian behavior. A nobleman (he was Count Tolstoy) proud of his ancestry, he identified with his peasants and invented a one-piece costume for himself patterned on their clothing. A fervent hunter, he reluctantly relinquished his sport because it conflicted with his humanitarian beliefs. An army officer, he later transformed himself into a teacher of peasant children and the author of primers designed for peasant children. A habitual gambler, he racked up enormous losses. Tolstoy was also a self-absorbed writer who quarreled with nearly everyone (even staunch supporters like Ivan Turgenev), and a rather boorish husband who kept his wife constantly pregnant (even as she copied out his manuscripts and contributed telling details to his famous novels). And the list could go on -- as it does in Rosamund Bartlett's absorbing and pitch-perfect biography.
As Bartlett points out, there are actually few really good biographies of Tolstoy written in English. The most recent notable one, she says, is A.N. Wilson's, published in 1988. But Bartlett, besides writing well, is also a translator of Russian and author of a well-received biography of Chekhov. As such, she is able to situate Tolstoy in his milieu, a strategy that results in a breathtaking exploration of his unique position in pre-revolutionary Russia. There was simply no one like him, willing to take on every aspect of Russian life and demanding reform.
Bartlett does not ignore the quirks and even the inhumanity of Tolstoy the man, who had a personality -- Rebecca West once declared -- akin to those found among the lower criminal classes. He played the imperial despot even as he decried the outdated and decadent czarist regime. But Bartlett is not in the business of name-calling. Rather, she lets the man and his work and his 19th-century Russia emerge in compelling and authoritative detail.
Then Tolstoy remodeled the modern novel again with "Anna Karenina," a searing portrayal of marriage and estrangement and love that brought new psychological depth to narrative prose. Opposed not only to adultery but to women's rights, Tolstoy -- himself the father of an illegitimate child -- nevertheless understood the passion and anguish of his heroine.
For these two novels alone, Tolstoy would deserve multiple biographies probing his contradictions and contrarian behavior. A nobleman (he was Count Tolstoy) proud of his ancestry, he identified with his peasants and invented a one-piece costume for himself patterned on their clothing. A fervent hunter, he reluctantly relinquished his sport because it conflicted with his humanitarian beliefs. An army officer, he later transformed himself into a teacher of peasant children and the author of primers designed for peasant children. A habitual gambler, he racked up enormous losses. Tolstoy was also a self-absorbed writer who quarreled with nearly everyone (even staunch supporters like Ivan Turgenev), and a rather boorish husband who kept his wife constantly pregnant (even as she copied out his manuscripts and contributed telling details to his famous novels). And the list could go on -- as it does in Rosamund Bartlett's absorbing and pitch-perfect biography.
As Bartlett points out, there are actually few really good biographies of Tolstoy written in English. The most recent notable one, she says, is A.N. Wilson's, published in 1988. But Bartlett, besides writing well, is also a translator of Russian and author of a well-received biography of Chekhov. As such, she is able to situate Tolstoy in his milieu, a strategy that results in a breathtaking exploration of his unique position in pre-revolutionary Russia. There was simply no one like him, willing to take on every aspect of Russian life and demanding reform.
Bartlett does not ignore the quirks and even the inhumanity of Tolstoy the man, who had a personality -- Rebecca West once declared -- akin to those found among the lower criminal classes. He played the imperial despot even as he decried the outdated and decadent czarist regime. But Bartlett is not in the business of name-calling. Rather, she lets the man and his work and his 19th-century Russia emerge in compelling and authoritative detail.
August 3, 2015
Bartlett, Rosamund. Tolstoy: A Russian Life
This book is not an exegesis of War and Peace or Anna Karenina, but a meticulously detailed life of Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, the man. A glance at Bartlett’s Select Bibliography runs to 9 pages of small print, embracing Tolstoy’s correspondence, diaries and family memoirs. The novels themselves are overshadowed by the sheer volume of letters and political and moral treatises to which the author devoted the majority of his latter years. Tolstoy was not just a writer of novels, although for most of his readers it is by them that he is remembered today, but a social and moral reformer. From his aristocratic background he gradually renounced all worldly pleasures and saw his masterpieces as trivial and worthless. He wanted to make the world a better place and by doing this peacefully though his own example he gained the respect of thousands in many lands, especially in the West, but also aroused the anger of the Russian Orthodox church and the ruling class. From his native Yasnaya Polyana, a relatively small estate some 300 miles south-east of Moscow, he reached out to hundreds of thousands, becoming intimate with Englishmen, Europeans, Americans and Japanese, many of whom travelled miles just to shake him by the hand.
Although packed with detailed analyses of Tolstoy’s clashes with authority, resulting finally in his excommunication from the Church, and his being dubbed a devil incarnate by the influential Father Ioann for teaching that Christ was not divine. As Rosamund Bartlett explains, ‘Father Ioann was seen as the pastor of the people, whereas Tolstoy was worshipped more by the intelligentsia.’ Both aspired to an ascetic ideal, both were strict vegetarians and puritans, setting the example by their own lives. When Tolstoy fell seriously ill in 1902 the Holy Synod, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Censorship Committee feared that his death would spark a revolution. Many of Tolstoy’s works were too much for government and clergy, but he pressed on and had them published abroad. Thus he harangued the clergy in the Free Word Press in 1903: ‘You know that what you teach about the creation of the world, about the inspiration of the Bible by God, and much else is not true. How then can you teach it to little children and to ignorant adults who look to you for true enlightenment?’
Bartlett’s comprehensive study is both highly readable and informative, replete with illustrations of the family and friends of a man whose life became as close as possible to that of Christ in following the Jesuitical path of poverty, service and humility, but sheered of any doctrinal trimmings.
November 27, 2011
As a history major in undergrad, I have some familiarity with history books such as this one. Many of them are painfully dry and dishearteningly long. Thankfully, since I was reading this for fun and not with the threat of a test to push me through, Bartlett's tome, while long (which is to be expected given the subject matter), proved to be pretty readable.
That is not to say, of course, that it was a speedy read. It was not, at least not for me. However, Bartlett is a good writer and she conveyed information in a logical order, something one does not always find in such books. Plus, Tolstoy's a pretty interesting guy to read about, even if he was a bit of a jerk (ex. his treatment of his wife, who was pregnant all the time from their marriage until she pretty much couldn't have kids anymore). Did you know his belief in nonviolent resistance was an inspiration to Gandhi? And that he was a huge proponent of vegetarianism?
Looking at this in terms of how useful it would be for a paper, I would give it pretty high marks, since, as previously mentioned, it is both well-written and a wealth of information. The one drawback I see is the construction of the chapters, many of which cover a couple different aspects of his life. For example, one chapter is entitled "Student, Teacher, Father" and another is "Landowner, Gambler, Officer, Writer." Honestly, I think it would have been better to break these up into their own chapters, since there tended to be a pretty obvious switch from one of the subjects to the next. This would serve two purposes: shortening the chapters and making it easier to locate what you're looking for in the text. Really long chapters are both depressing to a student and make it really hard to go back and locate that one quote that is crucial to proving your thesis.
Despite that, I would consider this a pretty awesome choice for your learning-about-Tolstoy needs, be they self-motivated or required for class.
That is not to say, of course, that it was a speedy read. It was not, at least not for me. However, Bartlett is a good writer and she conveyed information in a logical order, something one does not always find in such books. Plus, Tolstoy's a pretty interesting guy to read about, even if he was a bit of a jerk (ex. his treatment of his wife, who was pregnant all the time from their marriage until she pretty much couldn't have kids anymore). Did you know his belief in nonviolent resistance was an inspiration to Gandhi? And that he was a huge proponent of vegetarianism?
Looking at this in terms of how useful it would be for a paper, I would give it pretty high marks, since, as previously mentioned, it is both well-written and a wealth of information. The one drawback I see is the construction of the chapters, many of which cover a couple different aspects of his life. For example, one chapter is entitled "Student, Teacher, Father" and another is "Landowner, Gambler, Officer, Writer." Honestly, I think it would have been better to break these up into their own chapters, since there tended to be a pretty obvious switch from one of the subjects to the next. This would serve two purposes: shortening the chapters and making it easier to locate what you're looking for in the text. Really long chapters are both depressing to a student and make it really hard to go back and locate that one quote that is crucial to proving your thesis.
Despite that, I would consider this a pretty awesome choice for your learning-about-Tolstoy needs, be they self-motivated or required for class.
September 14, 2016
Tolstoy the man is much bigger and more complex than the writer of "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina". In fact, the later Tolstoy showed indifference toward his own works, much to the dismay of Turgenev and others. By the time Tolstoy finished "Anna Karenina", he had already moved toward a new realm of religious and political efforts, going from devout to apostate, from literary depiction to active involvement in denouncing the government and the Church.
This biography is relatively lean and concise given the massive materials in Tolstoy's life. One can not help but feel sympathy for Sonya, his wife, mother of 13 children (begged for conception but rejected by Lev T), household manager and manuscript copist, who was essentially deserted emotionally. Sonya had married an aristocrat, a polymath, a Russian farmer, a domestic tyrant, a Christ-like figure, and many more, all in one oversized person of Lev Tolstoy. Her suffering was over-determined; she could not have anchored on such quick and complete changes in Tolstoy's interest and life.
A few minor details are interesting: Tolstoy's light-reading favorite of Trollope (particularly the "Prime Minister" where the choice of the heroin is different from Anna Karenina), the various persons in his life that were prototypes in his novels.
This is a very comprehensive and useful biography of Tolstoy, a genius and a man of Olympian influence in world literature.
This biography is relatively lean and concise given the massive materials in Tolstoy's life. One can not help but feel sympathy for Sonya, his wife, mother of 13 children (begged for conception but rejected by Lev T), household manager and manuscript copist, who was essentially deserted emotionally. Sonya had married an aristocrat, a polymath, a Russian farmer, a domestic tyrant, a Christ-like figure, and many more, all in one oversized person of Lev Tolstoy. Her suffering was over-determined; she could not have anchored on such quick and complete changes in Tolstoy's interest and life.
A few minor details are interesting: Tolstoy's light-reading favorite of Trollope (particularly the "Prime Minister" where the choice of the heroin is different from Anna Karenina), the various persons in his life that were prototypes in his novels.
This is a very comprehensive and useful biography of Tolstoy, a genius and a man of Olympian influence in world literature.
August 29, 2012
Tolstoy has an honored military career, creates schools and new teaching methods to educate the Russian peasnatry, writes two of the greatest novels ever, courageously opposes the Czar and the Russian Orthodox Church, becomes a vegetarian and an anti-vivisectionist, gives away his lands to his peasants, renounces all money and materialism, learns to ride a bicycle at age 65, advocates non-violence and pacifism, takes up the causes of various outcaste peoples, defines how to live a religious, spiritual life outside of the established Church, gets excommunicated, and eventually is hailed as a living saint by people all over the world.
Still, there are two things I will remember the most from this altogether excellent book. First, Tolstoy kept a journal of daily activities that included rules for improving himself. One of the entries read get up by five in the morning every day, eat moderately and nothing sweet, read Gogol, walk for an hour a day and "visit a brothel only twice a month." Second, upon the death of his 18-month old child Pyotr, Tolstoy admitted that the death of any other of the five elder children in the family "would have been harder" and that "this screaming baby" had not been a source of any delight for him. Yet people call me a poor husband and a bad father.
Still, there are two things I will remember the most from this altogether excellent book. First, Tolstoy kept a journal of daily activities that included rules for improving himself. One of the entries read get up by five in the morning every day, eat moderately and nothing sweet, read Gogol, walk for an hour a day and "visit a brothel only twice a month." Second, upon the death of his 18-month old child Pyotr, Tolstoy admitted that the death of any other of the five elder children in the family "would have been harder" and that "this screaming baby" had not been a source of any delight for him. Yet people call me a poor husband and a bad father.
February 27, 2022
Tolstoy must have been astonishingly hard to live with though, admittedly, his wife was also a dilly. He announced whole new ways of living at the drop of a hat. He argued violently and endlessly with anyone who disagreed with any point of his new views, losing many friends and family contacts along the way. He fought with journalists, religious leaders, and government officials. Then he would announce a new set of views.
He was eventually under permanent covert surveillance by the police, excommunicated by the church, and most of his writings after Anna Karenina (1878) were banned by the Russian censors.
On the plus side, his ideas on nonviolence in The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894) inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and he helped to organize and fund the flight to Canada of the Dukhobors from religious persecution in Russia. He helped many charitable works and good causes.
Yet he couldn’t even concede the point when someone agreed with him. He was egotistical enough to believe that only he could conceive of his own views. He died at a railway station at age eighty, having fought with his wife and run away from home. A confounding individual, difficult to understand.
He was eventually under permanent covert surveillance by the police, excommunicated by the church, and most of his writings after Anna Karenina (1878) were banned by the Russian censors.
On the plus side, his ideas on nonviolence in The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894) inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and he helped to organize and fund the flight to Canada of the Dukhobors from religious persecution in Russia. He helped many charitable works and good causes.
Yet he couldn’t even concede the point when someone agreed with him. He was egotistical enough to believe that only he could conceive of his own views. He died at a railway station at age eighty, having fought with his wife and run away from home. A confounding individual, difficult to understand.
January 18, 2022
Excellent, but not perfect, biography of the "lion", the greatest Russian writer, Liev Tolstoy.
It's not perfect because, though there are plenty of detail about the "lion"'s personal life, we don't have much insight into the making of his many masterpieces- especially "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "The Death of Ivan Ilytch".
All in all, Tolstoy emerges from this account as a deeply complex and interesting human being, a man who embraced all the contradictions present in the "Russian spirit" (whatever that is), had many different "lives", which helped to give his literary work that distinct feel we know and love so much. Also, we understand better his special type of "Christianity", so different from "official" Christianity, yet much closer to the original spirit of that religion (ie, the original teachings of Jesus).
Was Tolstoy a "true" Christian? I don't know.
Did he WANT to be one? Undoubtedly.
More important than he actually managing to become a true Christian, was his fierce, deep understand of the "basics" of this religion- and this I say not being a Christian myself.
It's not perfect because, though there are plenty of detail about the "lion"'s personal life, we don't have much insight into the making of his many masterpieces- especially "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "The Death of Ivan Ilytch".
All in all, Tolstoy emerges from this account as a deeply complex and interesting human being, a man who embraced all the contradictions present in the "Russian spirit" (whatever that is), had many different "lives", which helped to give his literary work that distinct feel we know and love so much. Also, we understand better his special type of "Christianity", so different from "official" Christianity, yet much closer to the original spirit of that religion (ie, the original teachings of Jesus).
Was Tolstoy a "true" Christian? I don't know.
Did he WANT to be one? Undoubtedly.
More important than he actually managing to become a true Christian, was his fierce, deep understand of the "basics" of this religion- and this I say not being a Christian myself.
April 8, 2012
I was planning on giving the book four stars up until the chapters that followed his death. Bartlett then pivots the focus of her tale, and describes the arduous task undertaken right after his death to compile a Collected Works, and how the new Soviet government controlled the perceptions of Tolstoy after his death. Bartlett describes how Tolstoy was repositioned as primarily an author of fictions, rather than the revolutionary philosopher he was during most of his lifetime. I too always thought of him first and foremost as the author of Anna Karenina and War and Peace, and had almost no idea about his radical views on vegetarianism, education, the Russian Orthodox Church, and anti-violence, to name a few. So the book wonderfully transformed how I thought about him and gave me a new appreciation of his novels. I'm not sure I've been inspired to read his more didactic works, but those later ideas will certainly color how I view his earlier novels.
February 18, 2014
Numa palavra: excelente.
Pontos negativos: edição brasileira descuidada (vários erros de datas, provavelmente por inversão de digitação: 1987 no lugar de 1897, etc).
Afora isso, o tradutor escolhe o termo estadunidense para se referir aos norte-americanos.
Eu divido as pessoas do mundo inteiro em dois grandes grupos: aquelas que têm chance de receber minha admiração e aquelas que usam o termo estadunidense para se referir aos norte-americanos.
Não sei se é o caso do tradutor, mas o termo estadunidense, em geral, denuncia o estado esponjoso de um cérebro corroído por uma ideologia canalha.
Pontos negativos: edição brasileira descuidada (vários erros de datas, provavelmente por inversão de digitação: 1987 no lugar de 1897, etc).
Afora isso, o tradutor escolhe o termo estadunidense para se referir aos norte-americanos.
Eu divido as pessoas do mundo inteiro em dois grandes grupos: aquelas que têm chance de receber minha admiração e aquelas que usam o termo estadunidense para se referir aos norte-americanos.
Não sei se é o caso do tradutor, mas o termo estadunidense, em geral, denuncia o estado esponjoso de um cérebro corroído por uma ideologia canalha.
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