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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Raid & The Woodfelling ☆☆☆
I'm grouping these two together as they felt rather similar to me. In both the nameless narrator (I can't tell if they're meant to be the same person at different times or different people entirely) sets out early with the army he's following and just describes the places he sees, and goes into detail describing the personalities and lives of a few other people. In both a young, innocent soldier dies tragically, and both end on a somber note with someone singing.
They were... okay? Out of the two of these I liked The Raid better. If I recall correctly these were two very early stories of his, so I never expected them to be the best. They weren't bad, but they weren't great either. It felt like Tolstoy was attempting to imitate A Sportsman's Sketches, which had greatly influenced him, except in a military setting rather than in rural Russia, and he didn't really reach the same level as what he was (presumably) trying to imitate.
Three Deaths ☆☆☆½
I don't really have much to say of this one. I certainly liked it a bit better than the previous two stories. Two people and a tree die — the noblewoman's death is portrayed as ignoble, the peasant's noble, and the tree's par for the course. I felt the story was a bit unfair to the noblewoman, since the whole message of the story is that death comes to us all, so one shouldn't fear it (Tolstoy LOVES to harp on this theme, it seems), and so the noblewoman who fears dying is portrayed as being a bit silly. But I think it's natural to fear death, so it's not practical for Tolstoy to expect everyone who faces it to act like the peasant and just accept it as the way things are. Sure, maybe that's ideal, since it'd probably make the process of dying less painful for all involved, the way he castigates the noblewoman and those like her is really unfair, imo. Still, even though I disagree with this part of the message, the story itself was interesting.
Polikushka ☆☆☆☆☆
This one was so, so good. Poor Polikey! He really didn't deserve what happened to him, and I do feel he could've turned his life around. I also love that Tolstoy focused more on the peasants/serfs in this one, with noble-people being more in the background than usual, since in War and Peace the endless stream of Princes and Counts got a bit tiresome after a while. The bits where the peasants went against each other, even though they were all being exploited by the upper classes, especially the scene at the end where Dutlov's nephew escapes conscription by conscripting another peasant, and the peasant's anger at them contrasted by the Dutlovs' jubilance, gave the story a really interesting aspect of social commentary. The main theme of this story seems to be that money causes a lot of evil in the world.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich ☆☆☆☆☆
This one was also reaalllyy good! I loved the way the story showed Ivan's changing reactions to his illness as it progressed, it felt realistic. As a hypochondriac, I related to him at times. The theme of accepting death as inevitable and not resisting it comes back up again here, with the peasant Gerasim being Ivan's only comfort as he's dying, since Gerasim (and Ivan's young son) are the only ones to really admit that he is dying, while the other characters make him miserable by trying to convince both him and themselves that he'll be okay, since they're too afraid to face death directly. Another theme that he seems to be obsessed with that comes up again in this story is the falsity of the upper/middle classes of Russia, and the noble simplicity of the peasants or the young who are able to be more honest.
After the Ball ☆☆☆☆
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The story and social commentary itself was interesting enough to merit 4 stars, but I felt like the writing was the weakest here. It just felt so... written, not like it was organic, if that makes sense, especially since the frame is that Ivan Vasilyevich is telling this anecdote at a party, yet the anecdote was written in typical Victorian-novel style, which made it feel very stilted and unnatural. No one would tell a story on the fly like that. Again, the plot and themes of the story were fine and interesting, but the way it was written kind of dampened my enjoyment of it.
The Forged Coupon ☆☆☆☆½
This one probably had the most intense plot, what with all the murders, and was more focused on the lower classes and the injustices they face. The ending bits of the book have been criticized for being unrealistic, and though I agree and was surprised by the sudden religious turn of the story, I generally agreed with the basic messages (like one should take care of the poor, and that killing is wrong in all circumstances) and didn't mind that it was rather unrealistic. Though I'm not religious and never have been, I found myself agreeing with the idea put forth by the story that many religious institutions are corrupt and barely religious themselves, and that those who are religious should take their faith into their own hands more and use it for good. The way seemingly small events cascaded into larger ones, for good or bad, also made the story really interesting.
I'm grouping these two together as they felt rather similar to me. In both the nameless narrator (I can't tell if they're meant to be the same person at different times or different people entirely) sets out early with the army he's following and just describes the places he sees, and goes into detail describing the personalities and lives of a few other people. In both a young, innocent soldier dies tragically, and both end on a somber note with someone singing.
They were... okay? Out of the two of these I liked The Raid better. If I recall correctly these were two very early stories of his, so I never expected them to be the best. They weren't bad, but they weren't great either. It felt like Tolstoy was attempting to imitate A Sportsman's Sketches, which had greatly influenced him, except in a military setting rather than in rural Russia, and he didn't really reach the same level as what he was (presumably) trying to imitate.
Three Deaths ☆☆☆½
I don't really have much to say of this one. I certainly liked it a bit better than the previous two stories. Two people and a tree die — the noblewoman's death is portrayed as ignoble, the peasant's noble, and the tree's par for the course. I felt the story was a bit unfair to the noblewoman, since the whole message of the story is that death comes to us all, so one shouldn't fear it (Tolstoy LOVES to harp on this theme, it seems), and so the noblewoman who fears dying is portrayed as being a bit silly. But I think it's natural to fear death, so it's not practical for Tolstoy to expect everyone who faces it to act like the peasant and just accept it as the way things are. Sure, maybe that's ideal, since it'd probably make the process of dying less painful for all involved, the way he castigates the noblewoman and those like her is really unfair, imo. Still, even though I disagree with this part of the message, the story itself was interesting.
Polikushka ☆☆☆☆☆
This one was so, so good. Poor Polikey! He really didn't deserve what happened to him, and I do feel he could've turned his life around. I also love that Tolstoy focused more on the peasants/serfs in this one, with noble-people being more in the background than usual, since in War and Peace the endless stream of Princes and Counts got a bit tiresome after a while. The bits where the peasants went against each other, even though they were all being exploited by the upper classes, especially the scene at the end where Dutlov's nephew escapes conscription by conscripting another peasant, and the peasant's anger at them contrasted by the Dutlovs' jubilance, gave the story a really interesting aspect of social commentary. The main theme of this story seems to be that money causes a lot of evil in the world.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich ☆☆☆☆☆
This one was also reaalllyy good! I loved the way the story showed Ivan's changing reactions to his illness as it progressed, it felt realistic. As a hypochondriac, I related to him at times. The theme of accepting death as inevitable and not resisting it comes back up again here, with the peasant Gerasim being Ivan's only comfort as he's dying, since Gerasim (and Ivan's young son) are the only ones to really admit that he is dying, while the other characters make him miserable by trying to convince both him and themselves that he'll be okay, since they're too afraid to face death directly. Another theme that he seems to be obsessed with that comes up again in this story is the falsity of the upper/middle classes of Russia, and the noble simplicity of the peasants or the young who are able to be more honest.
After the Ball ☆☆☆☆
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The story and social commentary itself was interesting enough to merit 4 stars, but I felt like the writing was the weakest here. It just felt so... written, not like it was organic, if that makes sense, especially since the frame is that Ivan Vasilyevich is telling this anecdote at a party, yet the anecdote was written in typical Victorian-novel style, which made it feel very stilted and unnatural. No one would tell a story on the fly like that. Again, the plot and themes of the story were fine and interesting, but the way it was written kind of dampened my enjoyment of it.
The Forged Coupon ☆☆☆☆½
This one probably had the most intense plot, what with all the murders, and was more focused on the lower classes and the injustices they face. The ending bits of the book have been criticized for being unrealistic, and though I agree and was surprised by the sudden religious turn of the story, I generally agreed with the basic messages (like one should take care of the poor, and that killing is wrong in all circumstances) and didn't mind that it was rather unrealistic. Though I'm not religious and never have been, I found myself agreeing with the idea put forth by the story that many religious institutions are corrupt and barely religious themselves, and that those who are religious should take their faith into their own hands more and use it for good. The way seemingly small events cascaded into larger ones, for good or bad, also made the story really interesting.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"The whole interest of his life was concentrated in the world of his work. And that interest completly absorbed him. The awarness of his power, the power he had to ruin anyone he chose to ruin, the importance and even the outward dignity of his entrances into the courtroom and his meetings with subordinates, his successes with both superiors and subordinates, and - above all - the mastery with which, as he felt, he carried out his duties
- all this gave him pleasure, and alongside chats with his colleagues, dinners, and whist, it was what filled up his life. So, on the whole, the life of Ivan Ilyich went on as he felt it ought to, that is, pleasantly and decorously."
Chapter 2, p 169
"The greatest torment Ivan Ilyich suffered was the lie - the lie which everybody accepted for some reason, which said that he was merely ill, not dying, and that all he had to do was keep calm and take the treatment, and then something very good would come of if."
Chapter 7, p 192
"And an image came to his mind, of a stone hurtling downwards with ever-increasing speed. Life, a series of ever-increasing sufferings, was hurtling faster and faster down to its end, towards the most appaling torment. 'I'm falling.' He shuddered, shifted himself, tried to resist - but he already knew that resistance was impossible. With eyes exausted by gazing at what lay before him, yet unable to stop gazing, he now looked at the back of the divan and waited - waited for that terrible fall, the impact, the destruction. 'To resist is impossible,' he said to himself. 'But if I only knew what it's all for! I can't even know that. One might explain it by saying that I hadn't lived as I ought. But it's absolutely impossible to admit that,' so he told himself, recalling all the correctness,
rightness, and propriety of his life. 'No, to admit that would be impossible,' he said to himself, drawing his lips into an ironic smile, as though someone could see that smile and be taken by in by it. 'There is no explanation! Torment, death... What for?'"
Chapter 10, p 204
- all this gave him pleasure, and alongside chats with his colleagues, dinners, and whist, it was what filled up his life. So, on the whole, the life of Ivan Ilyich went on as he felt it ought to, that is, pleasantly and decorously."
Chapter 2, p 169
"The greatest torment Ivan Ilyich suffered was the lie - the lie which everybody accepted for some reason, which said that he was merely ill, not dying, and that all he had to do was keep calm and take the treatment, and then something very good would come of if."
Chapter 7, p 192
"And an image came to his mind, of a stone hurtling downwards with ever-increasing speed. Life, a series of ever-increasing sufferings, was hurtling faster and faster down to its end, towards the most appaling torment. 'I'm falling.' He shuddered, shifted himself, tried to resist - but he already knew that resistance was impossible. With eyes exausted by gazing at what lay before him, yet unable to stop gazing, he now looked at the back of the divan and waited - waited for that terrible fall, the impact, the destruction. 'To resist is impossible,' he said to himself. 'But if I only knew what it's all for! I can't even know that. One might explain it by saying that I hadn't lived as I ought. But it's absolutely impossible to admit that,' so he told himself, recalling all the correctness,
rightness, and propriety of his life. 'No, to admit that would be impossible,' he said to himself, drawing his lips into an ironic smile, as though someone could see that smile and be taken by in by it. 'There is no explanation! Torment, death... What for?'"
Chapter 10, p 204
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thoroughly enjoyed Family Happiness and Master and Man, but was not as crazy about the Kreutzer Sonata—I found it very slow. Overall, this was a great find by Tolstoy and I enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt
I went into this book because I really enjoyed Anna Karenina, and I expected it to be a little like it. But as I went further in, I found it completely different. There was a lack of those romantic and light hearted moments as present in the former, instead, there was more the heavy themes of Death, Russian Poverty, Money, Robbery, Men, Matrimony and so on. But what made it so splendid was just the way Tolstoy seemed to so realistically and entertainingly write the events that are taking place. My favourites were definitely The Death Of Ivan Ilyich, Polikushka, and The Forged Coupon. It took me so long to read this book because the first two stories (The Raid, and The Woodfelling) were quite boring to me. But as I went in, and started Polikushka, which is the story where a man with a reputation of a thief gets given a mission to prove himself, I found the manner in which it was written extremely perfect. Tolstoy showed the life of his characters just enough, and throughout these stories I never felt as if it was too scrutinising, but instead I felt a longing to know more. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is one of the first story that made me cry so much. It is so beautiful and yet so depressing. The Forged Coupon, is also a brilliant story in the sense that you never expect something you think so small to effect so many people. The way God and christianity was also used (to reach a point of spirituality) was splendid in the sense of how it was used by the public back then (as a means of religion, but not so deep as to be called spiritual). These small details was what made me really enjoy these stories, and is how I now expect War and Peace to be little like.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Like all short story collections, some are better than others. One was so bad I put this book down for months. But that’s also the joy of short stories; if you don’t like it, it’s over soon and they’re all different. Some of them are very good. Some are a bit preachy (Tolstoy wrote many post-conversion). Nevertheless, Tolstoy certainly has a way of capturing characters and the human condition. A true master.