Leo Tolstoy

1828 - 1910 *

one of the greatest of all novelists; Russian author of realistic fiction.

Tolstoy's two novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina are regarded as some of the finest ever written. Tolstoy was a master of observing minor changes in consciousness and behaviour.

Tolstoy was born to prominent aristocrats, south of Moscow in Russia. He began his literary career while serving in the army. His two most significant works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina were written a few years later, after he had returned home to care for his estate.

Shortly after the publication of the latter text, Tolstoy's works became increasingly spiritual and moral in theme. These works helped shape the ideologies of important political and spiritual leaders, including Ghandi and Lenin.

          Source: Classics Network Editorial Team

Russian author, one of the greatest of all novelists. Tolstoy's major works include War and Peace (1863-69), characterized by Henry James as a "loose baggy monster", and Anna Karenina (1875-77), which stands alongside Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Fontane's Effi Briest as perhaps the most prominent 19th-century European novel of adultery. Tolstoi once said, "The one thing is necessary, in life as in art, is to tell the truth." Tolstoy's life in often seen to form two distinct parts: first comes the author of great novels, and later a prophet and moral reformer.

"In historical ev... [read entire biography]

          Source: Petri Liukkonen

These essays offer analysis of the author's life and works. Many of them have been submitted by users, and are assigned an Editorial Rating on a scale from one to five stars to assist you in evaluating their worth. See also: Note on Essays, Editorial Policy.

     

Anna Karinina's Transformation -- Anna Karinina follows Anna as her life falls apart and she descends from a position of privilege and beauty to one of despair and isolation, yet Anna remains a sympathetic character to the reader until the end.
By Nora Kleinman,	Editorial Rating:

     

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All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. -- Anna Karénina. Part i. Chap. i.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

There is one evident, indubitable manifestation of the Divinity, and that is the laws of right which are made known to the world through Revelation. -- Anna Karénina. Part viii. Chap. xix.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

Error is the force that welds men together; truth is communicated to men only by deeds of truth. -- My Religion. Chap. xii.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

The happiness of men consists in life. And life is in labor. -- What is to be done? Chap. xxxviii.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people. -- What is to be done? Chap. xl. Note.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God; and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgment and profession of the truth by each one of us. -- The Kingdom of God. Chap. xii.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

Art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen. -- What is Art? Chap. viii.

Leo, Count Tolstoy

Love . . . love . . . is a preference for one man or one woman to the exclusion of all others. . . -- The Kreutzer Sonata

Leo Tolstoy

It is generally agreed that love is a moral sentiment, a community of thought rather than of sense. If that is the case, this community of thought ought to find expression in words and conversation. -- The Kreutzer Sonata

Leo Tolstoy

If you deal carelessly with bees you will injure them,and will yourself be injured. And so with men. It cannot be otherwise, because natural love is the fundamental law of human life. -- Resurrection

Leo Tolstoy

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Tolstoy at Encarta Encyclopedia

Tolstoy at Britannica Encyclopedia

Tolstoy at Xrefer.com