Deciphering Leo Tolstoy...

[eyemaker]

Lately I have finished one of Tolstoy's literary work... The Anna Karenina. ;) Have you ever read that? I love the story...The way Tolstoy narrates the scenario. I'm very eager to know more about him... Can you?? By the way I'm a new member. I feel some ecstatic happiness registering here!!! Yahooo!:idea:

[Etienne]

Tolstoy is a personal favorite. I'm not sure what you mean by "deciphering" Tolstoy, as there is no hidden messages here or anything, it is what it is. Which means extraordinary literature. I think War and Peace does stand out from his other works as the greatest work, but everything he wrote (except his didactic works, which however interesting and innovative at the time, are boring, as he repeats himself all the time). Don't be afraid to read any of his two other major works or his shorter novels and stories, I'll tell you now, they are all great!

If you want to know a bit about Tolstoy... he became a great writer with War and peace and Anna Karenina (I'll just name his major works), then he came to a spiritual crisis and became some kind of mystic. People started to gather around him and he became a real celebrity, and it is said that Russia had two Tsars, and Tolstoy was the first. He never sought this influence but it did allow him to talk against the government and the Church (who excommunicated him in the end) but he was somewhat untouchable. He was the creator of "passive resistance" philosophy (which didn't give good results in Russia) later used by Gandhi, who was Tolstoy disciple.

[Dori]

Tolstoy is indeed a very interesting person. He is also a personal favorite of mine. I found it very interesting when M. Gorky said: “Tolstoy and God are like two bears in the same den.”

If I'm not mistaken, the people who gathered around Tolstoy when he became more of a preacher were called the Tolstoyans (or Tolstoians). They were a group of Christian pacifists that followed the teachings of Jesus Christ as a spiritually-guided being, not necessarily as the Son of God. Apparently, due to their beliefs, the Tolstoyans are either vegetarian or vegan in their diets.

Here are some helpful links:
Leo Tolstoy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy)
The Tolstoyans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolstoyan)

And, from what I can tell, a good biography:
A. N. Wilson, Tolstoy: A Biography. (http://www.amazon.com/Tolstoy-Biography-N-Wilson/dp/0393321223/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197296935&sr=8-2)

There are three more in stock, so you best hurry. :D

[Quark]

Lately I have finished one of Tolstoy's literary work... The Anna Karenina. ;) Have you ever read that? I love the story...The way Tolstoy narrates the scenario. I'm very eager to know more about him... Can you?? By the way I'm a new member. I feel some ecstatic happiness registering here!!! Yahooo!:idea:

Hey, welcome to LitNet eyemaker (I won't ask about the name). I know there are quite a few Tolstoy fans on LitNet, and you shouldn't have any problem getting information. What did you think of Anna Karenina, though? Did you agree with Levin's conclusions at the end? Was Vronsky a good villain?

[bazarov]

I really don't understand this poll.
Ana Karenina is really a great novel, I enjoyed it even more than War and Peace, which is also great. But, I was slightly disappointed with Childhood, Boyhood, Youth.

[ex ponto]

... him to talk against the government and the Church (who excommunicated him in the end)

There are some strange things about his death. I've read somewhere that just before he died he asked for a priest (a monk) who later wasn't allowed to approach him by some people that surounded Tolstoy. As his wife wasn't also.
And I've heard he had a Dostoyevsky's book with him on that last journey of his.
I don't know whether all this is true.

[Logos]

Yes, Tolstoy (http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/) had a 'remarkable' conversion in his last years.

His friend Vladimir Chertkov has written eloquently of his last days, you can read it here :)
http://www.linguadex.com/tolstoy/introduction.htm

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[ex ponto]

Thanks! Very interesting book.