There you are jettisoned, as it were, upon a desert island- that classic conundrum. If you could have the full works of Shakespeare or Tolstoy to read and reread for all your remaining years, who do you choose?
There you are jettisoned, as it were, upon a desert island- that classic conundrum. If you could have the full works of Shakespeare or Tolstoy to read and reread for all your remaining years, who do you choose?
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
I think the breadth of Shakespeare puts him above Tolstoy in this matter.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
Yet there is Tolstoy's depth.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
I would not like to be without Shakespeare in this populous world, but on a desert Island there'd be no one to impress/bore with pertinant quotes!
ay up
And then yet, there is Shakespeare's depth.Originally Posted by ZTay
Vladimir: (sententious.) To every man his little cross. (He sighs.) Till he dies. (Afterthought.) And is forgotten.
I suppose there will probably be just enough devil's advocates to validate your poll, but I would be more intrigued with Dostoevsky vs. Tolstoy, Chaucer vs. Milton, Dante vs. Cervantes, or any number of alternate pairings. Pitting Shakespeare against anyone else just doesn't interest me, personally.
It's not even a contest for me.
I'm off to Stratford next week and visiting Shakespeare's grave! Cool!
Tolstoy, no question.
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
Neither would be anywhere near my first choice to bring to a desert island.
But, if those were my only options, I'd go with Tolstoy. Mostly because I enjoy prose more than drama or poetry. And for Anna Karenina. Shakespeare might ultimately be more entertaining, though.
Shakespeare, without a moment's hesitation.
Exit, pursued by a bear.
While being stranded on a desert island would give me the time and motivation to read War and Peace I have to say I am going to have to go with Shakespeare on this one.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
There is a huge bias in this question as I will say quite confidently that 9/10 members have read at least one Shakespere play, while the statistics for having read one of Tolstoy's novels is far and far less
The vile 'late Tolstoys', Resurrection etc. I could do without such religious drivel anywhere, let alone on a desert island. If I was asked which one book I would take with me, then I might consider War and Peace but still I would prefer King Lear any day (although both extremely great works).
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
I'm not sure I'd say "far less" because Tolstoy is about as widely read as a novelist gets without being Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling. (Anna Karenina was in the Oprah Book Club after all)
Although, it is true that anyone who has a secondary education in the English speaking world has read Shakespeare, or at the least they know the plot of Romeo and Juliet.
"If the national mental illness of the United States is megalomania, that of Canada is paranoid schizophrenia."
- Margaret Atwood
Shakespeare wins the day, and why not? For me the main inspiration of the question was the sharp contrast of their styles. Shakespeare being lighter than air, smoother than honey and sweeter than sugar- and Tolstoy being something like a 400 lb cabbage. Should anyone think that a slight to Tolstoy, just remember I thought enough of him to pit him against Shakespeare. Interesting answers all around, thanks!
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
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