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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
A collection of powerful insightful stories. Of these, the title story stands out for it's humane treatment of death, but the remainder are of equally high calibre (though one can't help getting annoyed at the near Manichean prudishness of the Kreutzer Sonata).
Nunca tinha lido Tolstoy, precisei vir pra Ucrânia para ler um livro dos russos.
Na edição que eu tenho os contos/histórias são: Family happiness, The death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata e The devil.
Confesso que iniciar a leitura com Family Happiness foi, literalmente, uma alegria. Eu morri lendo The Death (só me empolguei no final da leitura), ressuscitei com a Sonata e estou procurando até agora o Devil da última história.
De qualquer maneira, me apaixonei pela escrita de Tolstoy. Foi um bom jeito de adentrar o universo desse autor. Tenho mais um livro dele pra ler ainda esse ano.
Mal posso esperar pra começar
Na edição que eu tenho os contos/histórias são: Family happiness, The death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata e The devil.
Confesso que iniciar a leitura com Family Happiness foi, literalmente, uma alegria. Eu morri lendo The Death (só me empolguei no final da leitura), ressuscitei com a Sonata e estou procurando até agora o Devil da última história.
De qualquer maneira, me apaixonei pela escrita de Tolstoy. Foi um bom jeito de adentrar o universo desse autor. Tenho mais um livro dele pra ler ainda esse ano.
Mal posso esperar pra começar
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh dear.....After reading this, in simple terms, is that this was a well written book that I did not enjoy reading; however, I must admit that I think that was the point. Maybe? I think so anyways, so I'm going to go with that. In this collection of 4 different short stories although all very different from each other, were similar to one another. And I can't stop myself from saying that what annoyed me the most was that in each story, the character unable to be open with one's feelings with their partner. Because at the end of the day, although those conversations would have been unpleasant, because of the lack of communication, there were still very unpleasant conversations, but as a result of those aspects which could have been resolved if the characters just humbled themselves to be in a position of humility and uncomfortableness. And yet again, I think this was the point of these stories. Whether on purpose or not, these tales in my opinion can serve as a cautionary tale of what can happen when you're not able to not be open to a partner, but to another family member, a good friend, and even to yourself. Because as was confirmed in my mind when at the end reading the foreword that the little nuances of repressed sexuality, that I think many of the men in this story, not all, were perhaps bisexual, and what the causes of this repression can add onto with these others elements of unable to be one with your feelings.
In the end, this was by no means a terrible book, and I think I was able to get something out of it, but, and I mean this in a nice way, that I never want to read any of these stories again. And it's not that I'm unwilling to read sad books, rather it's more to do with the fact that the energy that this book gave off I don't want to put myself though again. I have actually, although not stated on this website, read War & Peace, which I want to read again at some point in my life. I only bring this up to say that I feel that Leo really shines more in this longer works which allows for more conversation in his ideals, rather than these short pieces of agony. The last thing I want to say on this is to repeat myself and say that these stories are cautionary tales that I think can in a way still apply to the modern day. That sometimes it's better to say something that will make you feel uncomfortable and make someone upset, rather than let it fester and have it grow so big that at the end your mental health grows weak to the point where we forget what love is and become insane. Not to say that this happens overnight, but rather slowly over time and it gets to a point where its too late.
In the end, this was by no means a terrible book, and I think I was able to get something out of it, but, and I mean this in a nice way, that I never want to read any of these stories again. And it's not that I'm unwilling to read sad books, rather it's more to do with the fact that the energy that this book gave off I don't want to put myself though again. I have actually, although not stated on this website, read War & Peace, which I want to read again at some point in my life. I only bring this up to say that I feel that Leo really shines more in this longer works which allows for more conversation in his ideals, rather than these short pieces of agony. The last thing I want to say on this is to repeat myself and say that these stories are cautionary tales that I think can in a way still apply to the modern day. That sometimes it's better to say something that will make you feel uncomfortable and make someone upset, rather than let it fester and have it grow so big that at the end your mental health grows weak to the point where we forget what love is and become insane. Not to say that this happens overnight, but rather slowly over time and it gets to a point where its too late.
Family Happiness (1859) 3.5-4 stars
I enjoyed this one, though it wasn't amazing. About a couple falling in love, getting married, growing apart, and then finding a new relationship with each other later on. A practice run for Anna Karenina.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) 5 stars
One of my all-time favorite books. The most important, most true, most amazing thing I have ever read. I wish I had read it sooner and often.
Death is one of the most important things humans must confront, but most of us don't until and unless we must. Instead, we are caught by surprise. When I had to confront it the first time (with the death of my father) I couldn't believe how unprepared our society had left me. There is a lot of information that would make us able to handle it with more grace and less pain. The Death of Ivan Ilych perfectly captures the ironic surprise of the most important event of our lives which we all know will happen but surprises us nonetheless.
The Kreutzer Sonata (1889) 3 stars
This book doesn’t stand the test of time well, but it’s interesting and entertaining. It also made me think about the principle of Christian celibacy in a different way.
Hadji Murad (1912) - in progress
I enjoyed this one, though it wasn't amazing. About a couple falling in love, getting married, growing apart, and then finding a new relationship with each other later on. A practice run for Anna Karenina.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) 5 stars
One of my all-time favorite books. The most important, most true, most amazing thing I have ever read. I wish I had read it sooner and often.
Death is one of the most important things humans must confront, but most of us don't until and unless we must. Instead, we are caught by surprise. When I had to confront it the first time (with the death of my father) I couldn't believe how unprepared our society had left me. There is a lot of information that would make us able to handle it with more grace and less pain. The Death of Ivan Ilych perfectly captures the ironic surprise of the most important event of our lives which we all know will happen but surprises us nonetheless.
The Kreutzer Sonata (1889) 3 stars
This book doesn’t stand the test of time well, but it’s interesting and entertaining. It also made me think about the principle of Christian celibacy in a different way.
Hadji Murad (1912) - in progress
dark
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
I was gifted this book several years ago, immediately after reading and absolutely falling in love with Anna Karenina. Anna Karenina will always be my favorite, but I did really enjoy these stories as well, which captured much of the philosophical spirit and smooth, easy writing that I associate with Tolstoy.
The thing that is always the most intriguing to me about Tolstoy is how artfully he describes characters' feelings, perspectives and understandings of the world. To this end, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" was a chilling masterpiece, digging into the psychological state of a tragic character in a fascinating and terrifying way. I also particularly enjoyed "The Kreutzer Sonata," which followed an even more unlikable character. I may not agree with Tolstoy's views about romantic relationships, but I certainly enjoy reading about these twisted, horrible ones.
It's not just the characters, it's that I always find moments in Tolstoy's work where he captures so perfectly and eloquently an emotional state that I've experienced before, but had trouble putting into words or even identifying. Two such moments stood out to me especially in "The Kreutzer Sonata":
in one, a character describes the almost disturbing power of music to bend our emotions to its will, in the other, he explains the "ecstasy" of a fit of anger and despair. I'll leave them here.
"Music makes me forget myself, my real position; it transports me to some other position not my own. Under the influence of music, it seems to me that I feel what I do not really feel, that I understand what I do not understand, that I can do what I cannot do. I explain it by the fact that music acts like yawning, like laughter: I am not sleepy, but I yawn when I see someone yawning; there is nothing for me to laugh at, but I laugh when I hear people laughing."
"An old conversation I had had with Trukhachevski's brother came to my mind, and in a kind of ecstasy I rent my heart with that conversation, making it refer to Trukhachevski and my wife."
The thing that is always the most intriguing to me about Tolstoy is how artfully he describes characters' feelings, perspectives and understandings of the world. To this end, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" was a chilling masterpiece, digging into the psychological state of a tragic character in a fascinating and terrifying way. I also particularly enjoyed "The Kreutzer Sonata," which followed an even more unlikable character. I may not agree with Tolstoy's views about romantic relationships, but I certainly enjoy reading about these twisted, horrible ones.
It's not just the characters, it's that I always find moments in Tolstoy's work where he captures so perfectly and eloquently an emotional state that I've experienced before, but had trouble putting into words or even identifying. Two such moments stood out to me especially in "The Kreutzer Sonata":
in one, a character describes the almost disturbing power of music to bend our emotions to its will, in the other, he explains the "ecstasy" of a fit of anger and despair. I'll leave them here.
"Music makes me forget myself, my real position; it transports me to some other position not my own. Under the influence of music, it seems to me that I feel what I do not really feel, that I understand what I do not understand, that I can do what I cannot do. I explain it by the fact that music acts like yawning, like laughter: I am not sleepy, but I yawn when I see someone yawning; there is nothing for me to laugh at, but I laugh when I hear people laughing."
"An old conversation I had had with Trukhachevski's brother came to my mind, and in a kind of ecstasy I rent my heart with that conversation, making it refer to Trukhachevski and my wife."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Murder
First book of the year to finish. Tolstoy continues to show why he is one of my favorite. All four of these stories were fantastic reads. As usual, I was able to connect with each of them. The first story, Family Happiness, is typical Tolstoy love story which he is the best at. It is also very honest about how the first year of marriage goes. This was also the most cheerful of the stories. The second story, The Death Ivan Ilyich, is just a well written story. It shows how man can live wrongly even when thinking he is living rightly. The third story, Kreutzer Sonata, took me longest to get through but it was my favorite. It was a lot more like a philosophy story than anything. The purpose seemed to be for Tolstoy to show what he thinks of lust and marriage. The final story, The Devil, took me the shortest time and it was the most convicting. It was like reading myself in the story and how often I deal with sin. I will say did not like either of the endings but this probably has to do with my own personal struggles. Overall, these stories show Tolstoy's brilliance as a story teller and philosopher. I highly recommend reading these short stories.
Tolstoy wrote with deep psychological insight, detailed description, and wit. My favorite of these three shorts was, I think, The Cossacks. The ending was abrupt and twisted my gut. It was realistic, but he made it hurt.
Family Happiness: 4.25/5
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: 4.5/5
The Kreutzer Sonata: 4/5
The Devil: 4.25/5
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: 4.5/5
The Kreutzer Sonata: 4/5
The Devil: 4.25/5
Quick listen on Hoopla. Now I’ll read slowly for book club next month.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes