Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism | Tolstoy, Leo - F. W. Farrar (essay date 1888)

F. W. Farrar (essay date 1888)

SOURCE: "Count Leo Tolstoi," in The Forum, Vol. VI, No. 2, October, 1888, pp. 109-24.

[In the following essay, Farrar assesses Tolstoy's religious convictions as sincere and worthy of consideration, but believes Tolstoy exaggerated the degree to which the Christian world has misinterpreted its own fundamental tenets.]

There are men who make a deeper impression upon their contemporaries by the force or charm of their personality than by their genius or other gifts; and such a man is Count Leo Tolstoi, though his genius and his gifts are undeniable. He has written much and well; yet his extraordinary popularity, not only in Russia but in France, England, and other countries, cannot be accounted for only by the excellence of his writings. It is especially during the last few years that he has attracted an unusual amount of interest and attention, and this has been due in large measure to that revolution in his...

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