So...what do you think happens???

I'm new to this forum, and since The Cossacks is my favourite book i thought it might be appropriate that my first discussion was on The Cossacks!

I'm a huge Tolstoy fan (never read War and Peace, but i've read pretty much everything else by him), but The Cossacks is just a cut above everything else i've ever read. No other book dragged me in as much as this one, and by the end i felt like i was living the book, and felt real compassion for the characters. (Stop reading if you haven't already read the book - several major spoilers coming right your way!!) Which is why i was so devastated when Lukashka was injured in the battle right at the end (typical of Tolstoy!! He always kills off the best characters) But we never actually find out whether Lukashka really dies or not, we just know that when the story ends he is in a critical condition. Which leads me to my question: Do you think Lukashka dies, or recovers from his wounds?

Personally, i'd like to think he survives and marries Maryanka - but, i don't think Tolstoy would have had it that way! :bawling:

Maybe Tolstoy is making the point that Dmitri will never know what happens to Lukashka, and so neither should the reader. Of course, we all want this bravest of Cossacks to survive. And perhaps it is better not to know what happens! Then we can imagine him living on in our hearts forever.