It's hard when you discover that your hero has feet of clay. I have the highest regard for Tolstoi as a writer. I read War and Peace when I was around 16. I was a bit disappointed in it, because Pierre (a self portrait of Tolstoi himself) never seemed to quite get a grip on the perennial Russian question: What is to be done ? Notwithstanding it was a wonderful novel. and other works of his were also fine. But around 10 years later I read a book about his relationship with his wife, Sophia. Their relationship was still somewhat shrouded in obscurity. Things have changed in that regard, but it was a real eyeopener for me. I realized he was simply crazy. Yeah, that's right crazy. He wanted to give all his money away to his disciples and leave nothing for his wife or his 11 children. Does it surprise you his wife objected ? When she went to his estate after they were first married she discovers he's had a child with one of his serf girls and the girl is part of the staff that comes to clean the house. Then he wants to be Christlike and give up all his worldly goods. His religious views (which I won't go into ) are certainly not Orthodox or at all conventional and although he considers himself a Christian the more conservative Christians doubt that he really is a Christian. As does the government, but they are so in awe of him they feel it necessary to be very careful One of his most idiotic ideas was that sex even between husband and wife should not occur. To the objection that the human race would die out, his response was : when you reach perfection you stop, Period. He and his wife were very jealous of each other, He had her read his diaries where she learned of his wild youth, a subject she did not really want to know in its gory details. And on and on it goes. He was both a literary genius and a religious crackpot. His personal life was a mess. His children divided: usually the girls siding with him and the boys with their mother. And at the end of his life he ran away from home and died in a railway station. I had always sided with Tolstoi against his wife, until I realized that she was sane about life and he wasn't. And his views were moving targets; his ideas kept changing (or developing if you like) and life with him and for those around him always tense. The only thing you can say in his defense is that he was sincere. But sincerity is not really enough. Your ideas have to be sound and his were not.
Great video Matthew! I just started reading Saint Augustine’s Confessions. I love Tolstoy, flaws and all 😊 I’m reading Resurrection by Tolstoy next month 👍
Hi Mathew, I am a new subscriber plus this is probably the FIRST time that I have posted an actual “comment” on another’s blog/Reading Club site. I just finished reading “Anna KARENINA” and I was searching for commentary on that book when I came across your site. I only knew “of” Tolstoy; therefore, when I came acrosss ANNA KARENINIA at the bookstore for a discount price, I picked it up. What I found sooo odd, after I completed this book and listened to a few reviews of it, was how Tolstoy aligned his own “real- life “ feelings with one or even several of his Characters. For example, Levin’s thoughts regarding a sense of the meaninglessness of life which often touched on the issue of suicide completely/100% aligned with feelings Tolstoy had at approximately 50 years of age. Discovering this Auto-Biographical tendency that Tolstoy dropped into many of his characters caused me to retro-actively dislike the character of Levin. Don’t you find this a strange tendency?? For you, does it take away from his works? As you stated, you get a strong sense of self-absorption on steroids:))).
This would be an excellent book choice for my birthday list in December Mathew. This is Ken, your new subscriber. I am now going to view your other podcasts especially Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Turgenev. Enjoy the sunshine Mathew.
I know this is mostly tolstoy centred, which I came for. However, since you mentioned Voltaire’s story of a good Brahman, I have discovered it on my bookshelf, where it has been sitting unread. I intend to read it. Thx. :)
"The meaningless absurdity of life is the only incontestable knowledge accessable to man ." Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy Tolstoy began W&P at age 35.He published his first vol of his semi autobiographical work of fiction at age 24. "It is necessary to renounce a freedom which does not exist and to recognise a dependence of which we are not conscious." War and Peace
I’d never heard of Tolstoy‘s confessions before. From the title I thought you were either confessing to murdering Alyona Ivanovna, or you had just read Augustine’s confessions. Wrong on both account 😅 I just started War and Peace so this video was quite timely, but I’ll definitely add some of those other works to my list to read. BTW I made my first booktube video today which was a Tag video and I tagged you if you’re interested in doing it, I thought you would be in Spain so I didn’t think you’d be making videos but I can see your videos are back.
Hi Matthew, I hope you've been well. I find Toltoy too intimidating as a reader, I'd like to read more from him but worry too much of what he writes and grapples with is beyond me. But I love that you said nobody loves Tolstoy more than Tolstoy. But videos like these are encouraging for me to give him a decent go.
Sorry but i found that's a pretty poor reading of the work. I read it a few days ago and need to revisits certain deas so I got here looking for direction From the intellectual heights of the ego and the morals of the modernity of his day to the depts of suicide it is so much more relatable than Augustine. No properly ordered person with a belief in a compassionate,loving God can avoid this journey. His scepticism of the religious structures was way ahead of his time. But living with an unsolvable problem you know exists is superior to not recognising a thing as a problem.
