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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
informative
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
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"I learnt then that the mere fact of giving utterance to a good intention often makes it difficult, nay, impossible, to carry that good intention into effect."
- Leo Tolstoy, Youth.
Youth, published in 1856, is Tolstoy's third novel(la) and the third of his autobiographical trilogy ([b:Childhood, Boyhood, Youth|226377|Childhood, Boyhood, Youth|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408406518s/226377.jpg|1685249]). Youth begins with the narrator's friedship with Dmitri (who the narrator meets through his brother Volodya). The arc of the story mostly starts and finishes with his entrance and exit examinations for University. He experiences religious, social, dreams, and education struggles; falls easily in and out of love; and begins to emerge as someone who is both independent of others, but still struggling to objectively rise above his class and social constraints.
The book is also "bookended" by the narrator talking about his “Rules of Life”. Writing down lists of his tasks, summarizing a statement of his life’s aim and the rules by which he intended "unswervingly to be guided", reminded me of my own youth. I still return at 44 to my own goals, lists, inner constraints. Many of these rules I set when I was 16, 21, 23 and looking back, many seem silly, presumptuous, and a bit absurd and sad. They do, however, also remind me of how ambitious I was, how wide-open the world looked, and just how little I understood of my own ignorance. Again, like the previous two books in this series, this one felt both at home and seemed also to reflect other books that later writers would write concerning their own growth. That said, it wasn't my favorite of the trilogy and obviously doesn't hold a candle to Tolstoy's later, great, ambitious novels.
- Leo Tolstoy, Youth.
Youth, published in 1856, is Tolstoy's third novel(la) and the third of his autobiographical trilogy ([b:Childhood, Boyhood, Youth|226377|Childhood, Boyhood, Youth|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408406518s/226377.jpg|1685249]). Youth begins with the narrator's friedship with Dmitri (who the narrator meets through his brother Volodya). The arc of the story mostly starts and finishes with his entrance and exit examinations for University. He experiences religious, social, dreams, and education struggles; falls easily in and out of love; and begins to emerge as someone who is both independent of others, but still struggling to objectively rise above his class and social constraints.
The book is also "bookended" by the narrator talking about his “Rules of Life”. Writing down lists of his tasks, summarizing a statement of his life’s aim and the rules by which he intended "unswervingly to be guided", reminded me of my own youth. I still return at 44 to my own goals, lists, inner constraints. Many of these rules I set when I was 16, 21, 23 and looking back, many seem silly, presumptuous, and a bit absurd and sad. They do, however, also remind me of how ambitious I was, how wide-open the world looked, and just how little I understood of my own ignorance. Again, like the previous two books in this series, this one felt both at home and seemed also to reflect other books that later writers would write concerning their own growth. That said, it wasn't my favorite of the trilogy and obviously doesn't hold a candle to Tolstoy's later, great, ambitious novels.