Tolstoy’s Resurrection

Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this one back in 2002, I think. As I recall, this was one of my favorite of Tolstoy’s books. Being his last published fictional work (again, as I recall), which was published so that all the sales proceeds would go to support the “Spirit Fighters,” a group of Christians that were then persecuted under the Tzar, the books is highly critical of Russian society and especially the Russian Orthodox Church. I recall loving it.

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Tolstoy’s Famous War & Peace

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was thinking about this book recently. I read it twice a number of years back. First time I read it was immediately after college, so back in 2001. I remember being fascinated by Tolstoy, W&P, and all things Russian; I still am, but to a lesser degree. As to W&P, I still love this book and think that, Lord willing, I will end up reading it a few more times before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

As to the book itself, who needs to speak of its stunning panoramic view of early 19th-century Russian life? Who needs to talk up the master story-teller, Leo Tolstoy? No one. This book and its author are rightly famous. One thing that I will mention, however, is Tolstoy’s ability to capture a moment and a feeling so succinctly. This impressive skill is hard for me to describe, but I was taken aback by it not many pages into my first reading of this work. Tolstoy was able, in not many words, to summarize and communicate the impact of an action upon the emotions of everyone in the room. Part of Tolstoy’s genius in communication, I think, is that the reader recognizes that he has himself been in similar situations and has felt the same way Tolstoy’s characters do. I’ve already taken more words to describe this than Tolstoy does actually to do it. So, enough said.

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