Bøger af Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828 - November 20, 1910) was a Russian writer who earned fame and global renown for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Writing during the late 19th century, Tolstoy lived during a literary period in which Realism flourished, and today his two novels are considered the apex of realist fiction. Dostoevsky himself declared Anna Karenina "flawless as a work of art," and it is invariably included among discussions of the greatest novels ever.

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A Confession is a short work on the subject of melancholia, philosophy and religion by the acclaimed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. It was written in 1879 to 1880, when Tolstoy was of late-middle age. The book is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question: "If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?." Without the answer to this, for him, life had become "impossible". The story begins with the Eastern fable of the dragon in the well. A man is chased by a beast into a well, at the bottom of which is a dragon. The man clings to a branch that is being gnawed on by two mice (one black, one white, representing night and day and the relentless march of time). The man is able to lick two drops of honey (representing Tolstoy's love of his family and his writing), but because death is inevitable, he no longer finds the honey sweet. Tolstoy goes on to describe four possible attitudes towards this dilemma. The first is ignorance. If one is oblivious to the fact that death is approaching, life becomes bearable. The problem with this for him personally is that he is not ignorant. Having become conscious of the reality of death, there is no going back. The second possibility is what Tolstoy describes as Epicureanism. Being fully aware that life is ephemeral, one can enjoy the time one has. Tolstoy's problem with this is essentially moral. He states that Epicureanism may work fine and well for the minority who can afford to live "the good life," but one would have to be morally empty to be able to ignore the fact that the vast majority of people do not have access to the wealth necessary to live this kind of life. Tolstoy next states that the most intellectually honest response to the situation would be suicide. In the face of the inevitability of death and assuming that God does not exist, why wait? Why pretend that this vale of tears means anything when one can just cut to the chase? For himself, however, Tolstoy admits he is too cowardly to follow through on the most logically consistent response. Finally, Tolstoy says that the fourth that he is taking is the one of just holding on, living despite the absurdity of it, because he is not willing or able to do anything else. So it seems utterly hopeless - at least without God. So Tolstoy turns to the question of God's existence. After despairing of his attempts to find answers in classic philosophical arguments for the existence of God (e.g. the Cosmological Argument, which reasons that God must exist based on the need to ascribe an original cause to the universe), Tolstoy turns to a more mystical, intuitive affirmation of God's presence. He states that as soon as he said "God is Life," life was once again suffused with meaning. This faith could be interpreted as a Kierkegaardian leap, or a disingenuous compromise, but Tolstoy actually seems to be describing a more Eastern approach to what God is. The identification of God with life suggests a more monistic (or panentheistic) metaphysics characteristic of Eastern religions, and this is why rational arguments ultimately fall short of establishing God's existence: by misidentifying God, philosophical arguments miss the point. Tolstoy's original title for this work indicates as much, and his own personal "conversion" is suggested by an epilogue that describes a dream he had some time after completing the body of the text, confirming that he had undergone a radical personal and spiritual transformation.

But this is unjust. I not only do not repudiate art and science, but, in the name of that which is true art and true science, I say that which I do say; merely in order that mankind may emerge from that savage state into which it will speedily fall, thanks to the erroneous teaching of our time, --only for this purpose do I say that which I say

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Resurrection is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1899.Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Nikita, a morally corrupt peasant, seduces a young orphan girl whom he later betrays in pursuit of a married woman. Without a sense of right and wrong, he commits adultery and murder in the name of passion, leaving behind him a tragic wake of loss that haunts his every move. The Power of Darkness is a play by Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy's Youth is a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's journey to youth and young adulthood. Told in meditative, bittersweet prose, Youth is the third in a trilogy published while Tolstoy was in his early twenties. Precocious, intelligent, and inexperienced, Nikolenka tries his best to adjust to the demands of aristocratic life.

Leo Tolstoy's Boyhood is a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's journey to youth and young adulthood. Told in meditative, bittersweet prose, Boyhood is the second in a trilogy published while Tolstoy was in his early twenties. Precocious, intelligent, and inexperienced, Nikolenka tries his best to adjust to the demands of aristocratic life.

Leo Tolstoy's first novel is a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's journey to youth and young adulthood. Told in meditative, bittersweet prose, Childhood is the first in a trilogy published while Tolstoy was in his early twenties. Precocious, intelligent, and inexperienced, Nikolenka tries his best to adjust to the demands of aristocratic life.

Resurrection, the last full-length novel written by Leo Tolstoy, was published in 1899 after ten years in the making. A humanitarian cause¿the pacifist Doukhobor sect, persecuted by the Russian government, needed funds to emigrate to Canadäprompted Tolstoy to finish the novel and dedicate its ensuing revenues to alleviate their plight. Ultimately, Tolstoy¿s actions were credited with helping hundreds of Doukhobors emigrate to Canada.The novel centers on the relationship between Nekhlúdoff, a Russian landlord, and Máslova, a prostitute whose life took a turn for the worse after Nekhlúdoff wronged her ten years prior to the novel¿s events. After Nekhlúdoff happens to sit in the jury for a trial in which Máslova is accused of poisoning a merchant, Nekhlúdoff begins to understand the harm he has inflicted upon Másloväand the harm that the Russian state and society inflicts upon the poor and marginalized¿as he embarks on a quest to alleviate Másloväs suffering.Nekhlúdoff¿s process of spiritual awakening in Resurrection serves as a framing for many of the novel¿s religious and political themes, such as the hypocrisy of State Christianity and the injustice of the penal system, which were also the subject of Tolstoy¿s nonfiction treatise on Christian anarchism, The Kingdom of God Is Within You. The novel also explores the ¿single tax¿ economic theory propounded by the American economist Henry George, which drives a major subplot in the novel concerning the management of Nekhlúdoff¿s estates.

The Kingdom of God Is Within You is the most influential work of Christian anarchism. It might be considered the founding work of that tradition if it didn¿t itself claim to merely be pointing out Christian anarchism as the plain meaning of the gospels.Tolstoy argues that institutional Christianity with its doctrines, church hierarchies, and ritual practices, is anti-Christian. Christ, he says, explicitly told his followers to reject doctrines, church institutions and hierarchies, and ritual practices, and instead to love truth, to honor God, and to treat all people as your family and as you would want to be treated.Tolstoy says that a Christian cannot participate in the political system, which is based on the use of violence to enforce the separation of people and the privileging of some people over others, and at the same time follow Jesus in his command to love your neighbor.

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian author best known for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina which are considered to be the greatest novels of realist fiction. Tolstoy is also regarded as worlds best novelist by many. In addition to writing novels, Tolstoy also authored short stories, essays and plays. Also a moral thinker and a social r

The Power of Darkness is a five-act drama that follows the downfall of the peasants Anísya and Nikíta as they succumb to a series of sordid temptations, from adultery and drunkenness to outright murder. Written in 1886 but suppressed by censors until 1902, the play is a realist portrayal of some of the darkest elements of Russian peasant life. Similar to some other late Tolstoy works, like Resurrection, the play¿s psychological exploration of human depravity is accompanied by a sharp social critique of the Russian Empire and its role in perpetuating poverty and ignorance among its lowest and most marginalized classes.

What Is Art? is an 1897 philosophical treatise by Leo Tolstoy that lays out his philosophy of aesthetics. Rejecting notions of aesthetics that center around beauty, Tolstoy instead posits that art is defined by its role in transmitting feelings between human beings. Furthermore, he argues that the quality of art is not assessed by the pleasure it gives, but whether the feelings the art evokes align with the meaning of life revealed by a given society¿s religious perception. In line with his spiritual views set out in The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy argues that the proper purpose of art is to transmit feelings of human unity and ¿to set up, in place of the existing reign of force, that kingdom of God, i.e. of love, which we all recognize to be the highest aim of human life.¿Tolstoy makes a number of unconventional aesthetic judgments in the course of the book, dismissing such works as Wagner¿s operas, Romeo and Juliet, and his own past works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina as ¿bad art.¿ In turn, he praises such works as Dickens¿ A Christmas Carol and Hugös Les Misérables as ¿examples of the highest art, flowing from the love of God and the love of man.¿

In this short novel, Tolstoy fictionalizes the final days of Hadji Murád, a legendary Avar separatist who fought against, and later with, Russia, as the Russian Empire was struggling to annex Chechnya and the surrounding land in the late 1840s.The novel opens with the narrator finding a thistle crushed in a blooming field, which reminds him of Hadji Murád and his tragic tale. As the narrator recounts the story, the reader is quickly thrust into the rich, colorful history of the Caucuses, and its people¿s fight against Russian imperialism.Hadji Murád is portrayed as a legendary and imposing, yet friendly and approachable figure. Despite his reputation, it seems that his best days are behind him; as the novel opens, Murád is fleeing Shamil, a powerful imam who has captured Murád¿s family. Murád finds himself thrust between the invading Russians on one side, and Shamil¿s vengeance on the other.As Murád and his tiny but loyal group of warriors try to forge alliances in their attempt to rescue Murád¿s family, they quickly find themselves politically outclassed. The Russians are Murád¿s enemies, yet only they can help him in his struggle against Shamil; and after years of losses incurred by Murád¿s guerrilla tactics, the Russians would like his help but cannot trust him. Shamil, on the other hand, is a deep link to the region¿s complex web of tribal blood feuds, vengeances, reprisals, and quarrels over honor. He¿s one of the few powers left standing between the Russians and their control of the Caucuses, but Murád, having crossed him, can¿t rescue his family from Shamil¿s clutches without the help of the Russians.Murád¿s impossible position, the contradiction between his legendary past and his limping, dignified, and ultimately powerless present, and the struggle against a mighty empire by a people torn by internecine conflict, form the major thematic threads of the novel.The novel was one of the last that Tolstoy finished before his death, and was only published posthumously in 1912. Tolstoy himself served in the Crimean War, and the war scenes portrayed in the novel echo his personal experiences. As the story progresses, Tolstoy characterizes various real-life historical personalities besides Hadji Murád and Shamil, including Emperor Nicholas I, Mikhail Loris-Melikov, and Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, making this a fascinating piece of historical fiction. Despite this being such a late entry in Tolstoy¿s corpus, it has been highly praised by critics both contemporary and modern, with the famous critic Harold Bloom going so far as to say that Hadji Murád is ¿my personal touchstone for the sublime of prose fiction, to me the best story in the world, or at least the best I have ever read.¿