Leo Tolstoy: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Leo Tolstoy is one of the greatest novelists ever to have lived, whose books have stood the test of time to remain widely recognised as literary masterpieces today. This Very Short Introduction explores his celebrated novels and nonfiction writings to reveal the core themes and thought at the heart of Tolstoy's work.

• Introduces the life and work of Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest novelists ever to have lived
• Explores Tolstoy's celebrated novels and nonfiction writings to reveal the core themes and thought at the heart of his work
• Considers Tolstoy's different roles as a writer, thinker, and activist
• Traces the influence of Tolstoy's work on modern literature, and highlights those aspects of his work that are still relevant today
• Addresses the eternal questions of love, death, war, peace, faith, and activism found in Tolstoy's writings
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over nine million copies sold worldwide

About the Author(s)

Liza Knapp, Professor, Department of Slavic Languages, Columbia University

Liza Knapp is a Professor of Slavic Languages at Columbia University; before coming to Columbia in 2004, she taught for a decade in the Slavic Department at the University of California at Berkeley. She teaches and writes widesly on the subjects of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and is the author of Anna Karenina and Others: Tolstoy's Labyrinth of Plots (2016), and The Annihilation of Inertia: Dostoevsky and Metaphysics (1996). Knapp is also the co-editor of the MLA Approaches to Teaching Anna Karenina (2003), and the editor of Dostoevsky's The Idiot: A Critical Companion (1998).

Table of Contents

1:From "Ant Brothers" to loving all as brothers and sisters
2:Tolstoy on War and on Peace
3:Tolstoy on love
4:Tolstoy on death
5:What Tolstoy believed
6:What then must we do?
7:Tolstoy's art and Tolstoy's devices
Further reading
Index

Reviews

"... excellent short biograph[y]." - Donna Tussing Orwin, Slavonic and East European Review

"Knapp has succeeded in writing a worthwhile introduction to Tolstoy, perfectly suited to the classroom or, for that matter, anyone with some curiosity and two hours of quiet. Even Tolstoy scholars will appreciate her insights and, more importantly, her ability to connect seemingly divergent aspects of this notoriously unstable genius." - Martin Denver, Russian Review

"A superb short work." - Paradigm Explorer

"Liza Knapp has given us the ideal introduction to Tolstoy a marvellous synthesis and critique that takes his ideas and philosophy as seriously as his novels. Brilliantly written and useful." - Jay Parini, author of The Last Station

"Dazzling. Compelling. Moving! Knapp brilliantly illuminates the inseparability of Tolstoys art and thought and how a cherished childhood game inspired both." - Robin Feuer Miller, Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature, Brandeis University