Now, I've read a smattering of Tolstoy - several of the short stories and War and Peace - and from the first I found myself indifferent. It's not that I find him boring. I read, engaged, but am not really affected. It's obviously good writing. No doubts there. At times Tolstoy is philosophically profound too. Still, I just finish with a shrug. So, what's wrong with me?
(I generally like Russian literature by the way. Dostoevsky is one of my favourite novelists, Gogol makes me laugh, Chekhov plays appeal to me . . . )