Tolstoy (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

Lev Tolstoy produced, in WAR AND PEACE and ANNA KARENINA, two of the world’s greatest novels. Yet he lived a turbulent and largely unhappy life, despite inherited wealth, literary success, and international fame. Orphaned at age nine, he became the ward of relatives until he inherited his portion of his father’s estate. An irregular student, womanizer, and gambler, Tolstoy spent a brief time in the army during the Crimean War. His experience in war and his travels prompted him to begin writing, though he produced nothing of distinction until after his marriage to Sofya Bers, whose family lived near Tolstoy’s estate at Yasnaya Polyana.

Marriage and family, Wilson believes, helped unleash the creative energy that produced Tolstoy’s greatest works. Deprived of intimate family life as a youth, he longed for a supportive wife and large family. In addition to bearing his thirteen children, Sofya served as his copyist, editor, secretary, and business manager. In a critical examination of the works, Wilson argues that Tolstoy’s fiction grew primarily out of personal experiences.

The completion of ANNA KARENINA, Wilson believes, left Tolstoy burned out as a writer. He set about a serious study of the New Testament in an effort to refashion Christianity into a religion rooted in Christ’s ethical teachings and excluding dogma, miracles, and mysteries. Spending his time and energy increasingly on humanitarian concerns such as famine relief and freeing peasants from persecution, he attracted a large following. Ironically, as his teachings on ethics (for nonviolence and pacifism, against government and property) attracted numbers of followers from abroad, he alienated almost all of his family.

Wilson narrates his compelling story in a vivid, sometimes informal style, studded with numerous literary allusions. His perspective on Russia and his placing Tolstoy’s life within its Russian background are enlightening, for he clarifies the governmental, societal, and religious milieus of nineteenth century czarist Russia.

Sources for Further Study

Booklist. LXXXIV, August, 1988, p. 1884.

The Economist. CCCVIII, July 23, 1988, p. 75.

Kirkus Reviews. LVI, June 15, 1988, p. 891.

Library Journal. CXIII, August, 1988, p. 161.

New Statesman. CXV, June 3, 1988, p. 25.

The New York Times. CXXXVIII, August 10, 1988, p. 14.

The New York Times Book Review. XCIII, August 28, 1988, p. 1.

Newsweek. CXII, September 12, 1988, p. 75.

The Observer. May 22, 1988, p. 43.

Publishers Weekly. CCXXXIII, June 24, 1988, p. 98.

Time. CXXXII, August 15, 1988, p. 63.

The Times Literary Supplement. May 20, 1988, p. 550.