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Chrissie's Reviews > Resurrection
Resurrection
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by
Chrissie's review
bookshelves: classics, soviet-union, bio, 2017-read, audible-uk, russia, religion, politics
Jun 27, 2014
bookshelves: classics, soviet-union, bio, 2017-read, audible-uk, russia, religion, politics
So what is this book, Tolstoy's last novel (published in 1899), about? Five things:
1. The brutality and injustice of both the legal and prison system.
2. The grimness of life for the peasantry in Russia in the early decades of the 1800s.
3. Land ownership.
4. Religion.
5. The importance of compassion and empathy for others.
The book is clearly written as a polemic! As such it was too preachy for my taste. Knowing that Tolstoy at midlife transformed himself from a dissipate aristocrat into a penitent, saintly celibate, and pacifist and vegetarian too, had me a bit worried when I picked up the book. My worries were confirmed. Being his last novel, he voices loud and clear his life philosophy, focusing particularly on the topics listed above.
Land should not be owned; Tolstoy followed the theories of American political economist and philosopher Henry George. The clergy as well as the legal institution of society are corrupt. Tolstoy's view is that we are all sinners and thus we have no right to judge others. Rather than reforming the legal and penal system, it should be done away with. (Alternatives are not discussed!) The end concludes with passages from the Gospel of Mathew. With these passages as our guide humanity and society can be improved�..and resurrection of goodness attained.
Often in the book we are filled in on subsidiary characters� diverse circumstances and earlier life events. These episodes are TOLD, rather than shown. It is hard to become engaged; Tolstoy is again using these characters to deliver a message!
Life of the peasantry is grimly portrayed, but at the same time we do see acts of kindness and goodness. It is the detailed description of the harshness of that life that I appreciated; it is so real, so grippingly and so honestly portrayed. Facial expressions. Housing conditions. Bawdiness and conviviality. The living conditions are vividly portrayed. This is exactly what I want from historical fiction.
This story is based on a real event; a man got a servant girl pregnant and then deserted her. Nothing unusual in that! Then years later he served on the jury at her trial. She had become a prostitute. Guilt and misgivings wracked him and so he tried to marry her. She died before marriage. In this novel Tolstoy draws a similar story, but not quite the same. Similarities can also be drawn between the novel’s central character and Tolstoy himself. The central character‘s internal turmoil reflects the battle between good and evil in our souls, the conflict between egotism versus morals and ideals. For me this conflict immediately had me thinking that we were seeing into Tolstoy’s own personal turmoil. These parts I appreciated while they lasted, but then the book falls back again into a lecture of sorts.
The two central characters are Prince Dimitri Ivanovitch Nekhludov and Maslova, a.k.a. Katusha. Nekhludov’s portrait is drawn with more depth and complexity than Katusha’s, I think because Tolstoy is thinking of his own life. Her character is less developed than his. That she will (view spoiler), but it is a bit simplistically drawn.
After having read this, I want to read a full biography on Tolstoy and have chosen:Tolstoy: A Biography by A.N. Wilson.
The audiobook narration by Neville Jason was very good. Perfect speed and easy to follow. He does use special intonations for the different characters, but this is not pushed to the extreme and doesn’t become overly theatrical.
***
My rating of other books by Tolstoy:
Anna Karenina 3 stars
The Cossacks 3 stars
The Death of Ivan Ilych 1 star
Other related books:
The Wives: The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants 4 stars
The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Last Year 3 stars
1. The brutality and injustice of both the legal and prison system.
2. The grimness of life for the peasantry in Russia in the early decades of the 1800s.
3. Land ownership.
4. Religion.
5. The importance of compassion and empathy for others.
The book is clearly written as a polemic! As such it was too preachy for my taste. Knowing that Tolstoy at midlife transformed himself from a dissipate aristocrat into a penitent, saintly celibate, and pacifist and vegetarian too, had me a bit worried when I picked up the book. My worries were confirmed. Being his last novel, he voices loud and clear his life philosophy, focusing particularly on the topics listed above.
Land should not be owned; Tolstoy followed the theories of American political economist and philosopher Henry George. The clergy as well as the legal institution of society are corrupt. Tolstoy's view is that we are all sinners and thus we have no right to judge others. Rather than reforming the legal and penal system, it should be done away with. (Alternatives are not discussed!) The end concludes with passages from the Gospel of Mathew. With these passages as our guide humanity and society can be improved�..and resurrection of goodness attained.
Often in the book we are filled in on subsidiary characters� diverse circumstances and earlier life events. These episodes are TOLD, rather than shown. It is hard to become engaged; Tolstoy is again using these characters to deliver a message!
Life of the peasantry is grimly portrayed, but at the same time we do see acts of kindness and goodness. It is the detailed description of the harshness of that life that I appreciated; it is so real, so grippingly and so honestly portrayed. Facial expressions. Housing conditions. Bawdiness and conviviality. The living conditions are vividly portrayed. This is exactly what I want from historical fiction.
This story is based on a real event; a man got a servant girl pregnant and then deserted her. Nothing unusual in that! Then years later he served on the jury at her trial. She had become a prostitute. Guilt and misgivings wracked him and so he tried to marry her. She died before marriage. In this novel Tolstoy draws a similar story, but not quite the same. Similarities can also be drawn between the novel’s central character and Tolstoy himself. The central character‘s internal turmoil reflects the battle between good and evil in our souls, the conflict between egotism versus morals and ideals. For me this conflict immediately had me thinking that we were seeing into Tolstoy’s own personal turmoil. These parts I appreciated while they lasted, but then the book falls back again into a lecture of sorts.
The two central characters are Prince Dimitri Ivanovitch Nekhludov and Maslova, a.k.a. Katusha. Nekhludov’s portrait is drawn with more depth and complexity than Katusha’s, I think because Tolstoy is thinking of his own life. Her character is less developed than his. That she will (view spoiler), but it is a bit simplistically drawn.
After having read this, I want to read a full biography on Tolstoy and have chosen:Tolstoy: A Biography by A.N. Wilson.
The audiobook narration by Neville Jason was very good. Perfect speed and easy to follow. He does use special intonations for the different characters, but this is not pushed to the extreme and doesn’t become overly theatrical.
***
My rating of other books by Tolstoy:
Anna Karenina 3 stars
The Cossacks 3 stars
The Death of Ivan Ilych 1 star
Other related books:
The Wives: The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants 4 stars
The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Last Year 3 stars
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Reading Progress
June 27, 2014
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 27, 2014
– Shelved
June 27, 2014
– Shelved as:
classics
June 27, 2014
– Shelved as:
soviet-union
June 27, 2014
– Shelved as:
bio
January 17, 2017
– Shelved as:
wishlist-f
January 27, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 30, 2017
– Shelved as:
wishlist-f
May 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
own-unlistened
May 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
2017-read
May 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
audible-uk
May 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
russia
June 12, 2017
–
Started Reading
June 15, 2017
– Shelved as:
religion
June 15, 2017
– Shelved as:
politics
June 15, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)
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by
Margo
(new)
Jun 16, 2017 08:04AM
nice review Chrissie
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Thanks, Margo. I do like writing reviews because that way I don't forget the book so quickly.....and it helps me figure out why I have reacted as I have to them. Writing puts everything into place.
Yes, the too preachy was what I was afraid of recommending you the book. Because of this I told you that I hoped you would like it till the end. I, for example, didn't like that much the last part with the passages of the Gospel. It was too much religion and too preachy also for me. But I'm glad you liked it. I know that 3 stars is a good rating for you.
dely, for me, Tolstoy just does not match up with Dostoyevsky! Glad I could help those of you who have not read it.
Sandy, nope that I have not read, but I don't think I want to either. Did you like it a lot?
Chrissie wrote: "dely, for me, Tolstoy just does not match up with Dostoyevsky! "For me neither.
Sandy wrote: "No, Chrissie, I didn't like it at all. It was a painful thing to listen to, but I gave it four stars because it was so convincing. I did wonder if it was somewhat autobiographical, though. The main..."Sandy, I have read enough about Tolstoy to state that the torment we see is a reflection of himself.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "dely, for me, Tolstoy just does not match up with Dostoyevsky! "For me neither."
For me D's characters are much more complicated. I don't want simplification and text book solutions.
Chrissie wrote: "For me D's characters are much more complicated. I don't want simplification and text book solutions. "I think it's because like Dostoyevsky there's only him. It's not that others simplify, they aren't able to look into people and to write about it like him.
Sandy wrote: "Thank you for telling me, Chrissie. You have saved me some precious reading time. I do not really want to read a biography of Tolstoy! :-) "Then you definitely shouldn't. I will be reading it soon. I just want to see if I get something new.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "For me D's characters are much more complicated. I don't want simplification and text book solutions. "
I think it's because like Dostoyevsky there's only him. It's not that other..."
Well I also prefer Chekhov and Turgenev over Tolstoy. Dostoyevsky is my favorite.
This is helpful. I've wondered about this novel. But you know, Tolstoy was preachy even before his religious conversion. War and Peace could have been reduced by a quarter if he did away from the preachiness. His short novels are really more succint and focused. I prefer the shorter Tolstoy works. Except Anna Karinina. That to me is the greatest of Tolstoy novels. I should read that again one of these years.
I think The Cossacks is my favorite and it is one of his short ones. I reread Anna Karenina in 2014 and I my rating decreased from five to three stars.
I read The Cossacks a couple of years ago. It was a fun read but I didn't think it had that much depth, not as much as I'm used to from the 19th century Russian writers. How come you decreased Anna K?
My review addresses this question: /review/show...Manny, my reviews are only personal! I am only one of the many who react to a book. I don't think GR is the place for any of us to think we have the ability to "correctly judge books".
