Rating: 
Summary: Beyond War and Peace + Anna Karennina
Review: Although Tolstoy's grander and subsequently longer novles are what modern readers best charaterize him for, this collection of lively tales drawn from a exuberant writer's own life certainly has its sparkle. Family Happiness traces the path to a seemingly failed love-marriage from a unique perspective--describing the inevitable growing-up process of romance. Kreutzer Sonata, brilliantly structured, tells the story of an obsessive man trapped in his own hatred towards love which directly results from his failed marriage. In the Cossacks, the readers are able to catch a vivid glimpse of Tolstoy's own military years: young, passionate, idealistic, spirited--seeking an escape from the banality of the aristocratic lifestyle in the heart of the mountains. In Hadji Murad the most lenghy of the 4 stories, Tolstoy portrays a Chechen warrior whose prowess and valor are ultimately striken down by an empire that overlooks the beauty of differences (um...sounds familiar? sounds recent? more like a current event to me) Precious insights in to Tolstoy's master mind for the impatient readers who only seek a taste of his literature, and of course a bonus beyond War and Peace + Anna karennina for Tolstoy fans like myself.
Rating:
Summary: Madness, but genius
Review: Ibsen once described Tostoy as a supremely great writer, when he wasn't being mad. On the evidence of "The Kreutzer Sonata", Tolstoy was a supremely great writer EVEN when he was mad.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not really about murder, just about the lack of love
Review: It is difficult to relate to the main character, not just for what he did, but because his reasons are no longer applicable in the way people live today and engage into relationships. Nevertheless, its insight about how a marriage could very easily become a living hell while both parties pretend that nothing is going on, may very well be reflected in today's average person experience.
Rating: 
Summary: PENGUIN GIVES AWAY THE CLIMAX ON BACK COVER
Review: It's unforgiveable that Penguin gives away the climax of "Kreutzer Sonata" on the back cover of the book. Also, who wants to read an inept critique, such as the one on the back cover, in advance of reading the story. The stories themselves are not Tolstoy at his best. Much better spending one's time reading "Anna Karenina" or "War and Peace" in the Maude translations. These late period stories are like bad Dostoyevski, the author well past his prime.
Rating:
Summary: PENGUIN GIVES AWAY THE CLIMAX ON BACK COVER
Review: It's unforgiveable that Penguin gives away the climax of "Kreutzer Sonata" on the back cover of the book. Also, who wants to read an inept critique, such as the one on the back cover, in advance of reading the story. The stories themselves are not Tolstoy at his best. Much better spending one's time reading "Anna Karenina" or "War and Peace" in the Maude translations. These late period stories are like bad Dostoyevski, the author well past his prime.
Rating: 
Summary: Tolstoy was an idiot
Review: Let me caveat this review: I only have read the title story, and my review is based entirely on that.This story was truly awful. It is an overlong, relentlessly endless, uber-puritanical tirade. Tolstoy was, at least at this point in his life, an unbelievable prude, and this is a master treatise on prudery. If you think that sex is evil, always, every time, even within the bounds of marriage, this story is for you. Otherwise, there's not much here. The 'story' such as it is, is paper thin, despite the awfully large number of words it takes him to tell it. Finally, if you are a Beethoven fan, and were interested in this story because of the piece in the title (as I was), forget it. The sonata itself gets only scant mention in one place, and was hardly worth titling the story after.
Rating:
Summary: Tolstoy was an idiot
Review: Let me caveat this review: I only have read the title story, and my review is based entirely on that. This story was truly awful. It is an overlong, relentlessly endless, uber-puritanical tirade. Tolstoy was, at least at this point in his life, an unbelievable prude, and this is a master treatise on prudery. If you think that sex is evil, always, every time, even within the bounds of marriage, this story is for you. Otherwise, there's not much here. The 'story' such as it is, is paper thin, despite the awfully large number of words it takes him to tell it. Finally, if you are a Beethoven fan, and were interested in this story because of the piece in the title (as I was), forget it. The sonata itself gets only scant mention in one place, and was hardly worth titling the story after.
Rating:
Summary: For Tolstoy a quick read
Review: The Kreutzer Sonata is a fascinating study of an abusive marriage--Russian nobility style. I found it interesting if only for that, in addition to which it's only about 100 pages long, so for Tolstoy this is a quick read. I read something funny in Tolstoy's own comments about this work. He mentions he read the manuscript to his family before it was published, and that it was very well received by everybody. Then I read some years later that his wife was upset he had written it since it could have been construed as a commentary on their own marriage. Anyway, I hope this wasn't an autobiographical work; otherwise, I can see why he turned religious in his later years.
Rating: 
Summary: Late period Tolstoy in cynical mood
Review: The stories contained in this volume ('The Kreutzer Sonata', 'The Devil', 'The Forged Coupon' and 'After the Ball') are from Tolstoy's late period and are markedly different in tone from the great works of his early period, 'The Cossacks' and 'War and Peace'. Those early works are characterised by Tolstoy's enormous compassion and lust for life, while even the more troubled 'Anna Karenina' is infused with the author's magnanimous wisdom, despite the grave self-doubts that were plaguing him at the time of writing. 'The Kreutzer Sonata' marks a sea-change in mood for this greatest of all novelists. All of the stories here are stained with the cynicism that overtook Tolstoy in his advancing years, and the almost overwhelming sense of guilt at what he saw as the dissolute and wasted life he had led, and the hollowness of relations between men and women. The sheer joie de vivre of Natasha Rostov in 'War and Peace' contrasts severely with the nihilism of Pozdnyshev in 'The Kreutzer Sonata', while the misfortunes of almost every character in 'The Forged Coupon' do not point to a happy or optimistic author. These are interesting stories however, which at times equal Tolstoy at his most illuminating - though even Tolstoy some way off his best is more than a match for most. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Late period Tolstoy in cynical mood
Review: The stories contained in this volume (`The Kreutzer Sonata', `The Devil', `The Forged Coupon' and `After the Ball') are from Tolstoy's late period and are markedly different in tone from the great works of his early period, `The Cossacks' and `War and Peace'. Those early works are characterised by Tolstoy's enormous compassion and lust for life, while even the more troubled `Anna Karenina' is infused with the author's magnanimous wisdom, despite the grave self-doubts that were plaguing him at the time of writing. `The Kreutzer Sonata' marks a sea-change in mood for this greatest of all novelists. All of the stories here are stained with the cynicism that overtook Tolstoy in his advancing years, and the almost overwhelming sense of guilt at what he saw as the dissolute and wasted life he had led, and the hollowness of relations between men and women. The sheer joie de vivre of Natasha Rostov in `War and Peace' contrasts severely with the nihilism of Pozdnyshev in `The Kreutzer Sonata', while the misfortunes of almost every character in `The Forged Coupon' do not point to a happy or optimistic author. These are interesting stories however, which at times equal Tolstoy at his most illuminating - though even Tolstoy some way off his best is more than a match for most. Highly recommended.
|
