Childhood, Boyhood, Youth

Rating:
Summary: Growing up, Russian style
Review: I thought that this was a lovely novel, a deeply reflective work in which Tolstoy concentrates on the life of the character Nikolai Irtenyev from his early childhood to his days as an aspiring student.

It's told in picaresque style, and reminded me a lot of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" (had Proust been influenced by Tolstoy at all?). As an example:

"It was almost dark in the room, and very hot; there was a mingled smell of mint, eau-de-cologne, camomile and Hoffman's drops. The smell struck me so forcibly that, not only when I happen to smell it but even when I recall it, my imagination instantly carries me back to that darkly stifling room and reproduces every minute detail of that terrible moment."

The novel is full of such fine descriptive passages - the approach of a thunderstorm being the one that sticks in my mind.

But the main strength of this work is, I thought, that Tolstoy does a good job of describing the sweetnesses of childhood but does not cover up the agonies of growing up. This is no sugary, romantic account. Childhood and adolescence are portrayed as immensely trying times, both for Nikolai himself and for his family and friends. All the emotions, anger, misunderstandings and disorientation are detailed by Tolstoy.

Fine Stuff.

G Rodgers

Rating:
Summary: Correction
Review: In my previous review I mistakenly called the Russian editor Katkov. The correct name is N. Nekrasov. Sorry :)

Rating:
Summary: Nascent Mastery
Review: One of my favorite novels is "Anna Karenina"; this trilogy starts off as strongly. In the first volume, "Childhood," the immediacy of experience is palpable, the vividness of sensations is high, the emotionality is less diluted by philosophical wonderings. Tolstoy's writing is evocative, clear, and engaging in this book. His writing becomes increasingly abstract with each volume in the series. As his protagonist moves through adolescence, his uncertainties, moodiness, and fickle nature bogged down the narrative, I thought. Of course, this reflects the state of mind of the young man, but in comparison with the brightness of the first volume, made for some tedious reading. The books do, however, show how masterful Tolstoy was from the beginning of his career.

Rating:
Summary: Nascent Mastery
Review: One of my favorite novels is "Anna Karenina"; this trilogy starts off as strongly. In the first volume, "Childhood," the immediacy of experience is palpable, the vividness of sensations is high, the emotionality is less diluted by philosophical wonderings. Tolstoy's writing is evocative, clear, and engaging in this book. His writing becomes increasingly abstract with each volume in the series. As his protagonist moves through adolescence, his uncertainties, moodiness, and fickle nature bogged down the narrative, I thought. Of course, this reflects the state of mind of the young man, but in comparison with the brightness of the first volume, made for some tedious reading. The books do, however, show how masterful Tolstoy was from the beginning of his career.

Rating:
Summary: Great introduction to Tolstoy and his first ideas on love
Review: This is Tolstoy's first trilogy, his first ever attempt at fiction. Semi-autobiographical and full of precious recollections of those great little things in life we all cherish so much, it is already a magnificent introduction to Tolstoy's great insightful mind and his striving for love and goodness through his characters. One Russian critic called "Childhood, Boyhood and Youth" the poetry of one's childhood. It truly is. Among the numerous little occurrences and funny stories, you can deeply feel the purpose of the book: love is everything that matters in this world and without love, our existence loses its meaning and our aspirations are dead. You can see it especially in Mother's letter and the character of Natalia Savishna. If you decide to read this wonderful book, make sure you picked the right translation. There are two slightly different versions of this work, thanks to the Russian editor Katkov, who made a lot of changes to the original without Tolstoy's consent. This "bad" version is represented in C.J. Hogarth's translation (Everyman's Library). Coupled with plain poor translating, it made reading the text unbearably dry and boring. Don't buy this translation! You will not find original Tolstoy there! After this book was published for the first time by Katkov, Tolstoy wrote a letter to him, where he complained about the changes. I have read both versions and I can say: the difference is significant. The most spicy, candid and beautiful moments are just not there. I would recommend translations by Prof. Leo Wiener or Rosemary Edmonds, although I haven't read much of the latter. As long as it begins as "Childhood" and NOT "The History of My Childhood", it should be alright. This book is not as consistent and in-depth as Tolstoy's later works, but for a 24-year-old officer, who had just begun to express himself on paper, this is a really magnificent work, easy to read and full of emotions. This is why I am giving it five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Less known than War and Peace but equally great
Review: This was Leo Tolstoy's first novel. He wrote it when he was 23, long before writing his second novel, the great "War and Peace". Many of Tolstoy's later trademarks are already apparent in this fictional autobiography: his concern with education, his simple and elegant language, his absolute honesty, his critical eye for upper-class affectation, his search for good, and above all the richness of his characters.

This little book is a recollection of childhood memories, more or less weaved together. Each piece of the book is a gem, from the parts talking about the strict german tutor to the description of Tolstoy's (his fictional alter ego to be precise) clumsiness in social occasions. The only problem with this book is that it's too short. Luckylly, Tolstoy fixed that with "War and Peace", my favorite book. This one comes close, and in my opinion it's much better than "Anna Karenina". A word on translations: I read Rosemary Edmonds's version and I can recommend it. I've browsed some very annoying translations of Tolstoy.

Rating:
Summary: Early Tolstoy
Review: When this book first hit the stores in Russia about 150 years ago, folks didn't think too much of it, seeing it merely as a minor work by one who had read Dickens. Tolstoy himself claimed that no one taught him more about the art of fiction than Dickens, and the literary circles of Russia were Dickens-fanatics, Russia recieving his works only after England.

But beyond being similiar to David Copperfield, this book has moments in it that match parts of Karenin and War and Peace in beauty and texture if not in scope. What's amazing about Tolstoy is that his earliest work (this and his early war sketches) seem as artistically mature as his later, epic masterpieces. The death-obsession and intense philosophical and spiritual doubts that plagued Tolstoy later in life did not all of a sudden erupt while writing Anna Karenin; but rather they were always there in one form or another... an echo of adolescent sadness.

Rating:
Summary: Early Tolstoy
Review: When this book first hit the stores in Russia about 150 years ago, folks didn't think too much of it, seeing it merely as a minor work by one who had read Dickens. Tolstoy himself claimed that no one taught him more about the art of fiction than Dickens, and the literary circles of Russia were Dickens-fanatics, Russia recieving his works only after England.

But beyond being similiar to David Copperfield, this book has moments in it that match parts of Karenin and War and Peace in beauty and texture if not in scope. What's amazing about Tolstoy is that his earliest work (this and his early war sketches) seem as artistically mature as his later, epic masterpieces. The death-obsession and intense philosophical and spiritual doubts that plagued Tolstoy later in life did not all of a sudden erupt while writing Anna Karenin; but rather they were always there in one form or another... an echo of adolescent sadness.

Rating:
Summary: Childhood, Boyhood, Youth - A Faceless yet Timeless Classic
Review: Work comes before pleasure, in most cases that is. In this particular case - they both arrive and leave hand in hand. For my most recent book report we were given a choice of books to read - classical works from the minds of literatures finest minds. That did not mean they had to be old or dusty, just well versed and full of ideas and emotions which get you thinking. However in aid of a change - helped along by Mr Madden's request for more classical works of literature I chose this. One of Tolstoy's earliest and certainly one of his finest pieces, and certainly worthy of an appraisal in NBR. It's not the usual Star Trek - its ten times better ( I never thought I would say or write that! ). I agree entirely - indeed to fully appreciate and to understand English, you must have a tolerance and knowledge of all types of genre, what is specified within them and how they relate and use the language- This is particulae genre is just another of my favorites.

Many people refer to this book as Tolstoy's first trilogy. I tend to disagree. He had set out to cover his life in as much intricate depth as was humanly possible, and he truly did. The three separate sections - Childhood, Booyhood, Youth - are merely boundries to differents times in his childhood - and to a further extent, a helping hand to help the reader notice that his writing and grammatical maturity grows as the book goes on. This is his one and only autobiography - were although most of his books are completely based on fact - this books seems to have almost rebelled and taken a distinctive stand as a mixture of fact and fiction. Precise recollections of the little things in life everyone loves and needs. For was it not Tolstoy himself who said - 'You can argue and change the big things in life, that can be done - its the little ones which you can't change, which make life up itself.' Or that could have been Homer Simpson - either way, it fits in very well here. It provides an imaginative insight to Tolstoy's great mind and his thriving for love and goodness through his factual characters. A Russian critic called it the reviving of one's childhood - all I can say to that is 'Well done, you read the title!'.

Among the many occurrences and funny escapades, you can deeply feel the purpose of the book - love. He emphasises it is everything that matters in the universe and without love our existence loses its meaning and our hopes, are yearnings and aspirations are dead. You can see this passion and love especially in Mother's ( refering to his mother this way throughout the book ) letter and in the wonderous character of Natalia Savishna. Tolstoy goes into great depth as to the tragedy of his mother death - his fathers life as a business man, and his dearest friends and brothers. Many of his friends happen to be adults in the employment of his father - and he learns to despise the boundries of class and wealth which separate him from them in the end. The book is full of his ideas of right and wrong, his frustration which he is not afraid to release and the bravery to admit he was once a child too, that is, he was ignorant, rude and certainly later in the book behaved like some modern day teenagers. He seems to have a love for poetry and the arts, quoting some phrases which he had said later in life - but perhaps had thought of early as a teenager. 'Art is bringing people together' - the simplest yet most informing quote he made was referred to in this book - and indeed it provides more of an insight to his masterful, complex and inlfuencial mind.

If you want to read this book insure you pick the right ( that is the good ) translation. There are two slightly different versions of this book, one of which is was by the Russian editor Katkov,. He made a a great deal of adaptments to Tolstoy's original without consent. This version is C.J. Hogarth's translation . Coupled with poor translating it made reading the text boring, it took the life and love from the book which Tolstoy had so tenderly mingled into it. It is not the Tolstoy many have come to love writing there. After this book was published by Katkov Tolstoy wrote a letter to him in which he complained about the changes. I have both read and heard about both versions the difference is significant. The most grand, intimate, loving and beautiful moments are not there. I would suggest the paper back translations by Rosemary Edmonds. As long as it begins as "Childhood" and not "The History of My Childhood" all will be well, and you will be able to appreciate both Tolstoy and his works for what they truly are. This book is not as in-depth as Tolstoy's later works - perhaps due to the fact that when describing childhood - simplicity ( not in word choice or description ) is the best policy to follow. For a young man who had just begun to express himself, his morals, his universe on paper this is a really magnificent piece, bursting at the seams with factual knowledge, ideas, emotions, views and the wonder that is Tolstoy.