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Hadji Murad

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 2,004 ratings · 139 reviews

He is considered one of the greatest novelists in any language in all of human history, but many of Leo Tolstoy's works remain obscure today. This short novel, published posthumously and recommended by Harold Bloom in his Western Canon, is the writer's fictionalized account of his service in the Russian army in Chechen in the 1850s and of a Chechen soldier, Hadji Murd, who...more

Paperback, 100 pages

Published November 1st 2006 by Cosimo Classics (first published 1912)

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Apr 28, 2008 Johnny Waco rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: imperialism

Published posthumously, Hadji Murad in some ways is a fascinating bookend to The Cossacks, one of Tolstoy's early novels. Both are set in the Caucasus, Russia's imperial frontier and home to various ethnic groups hostile to Russian rule. But while The Cossacks takes the view of a young, naive Russian officer living among ethnic Russian settlers, Hadji Murad tells the story of a Chechen rebel leader caught between fellow Chechens who want to kill him in a power struggle and the Russian colonizers...more

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May 11, 2007 Leo Africanus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Fortunately, Hadji Murat is a fraction of the size of 'War & Peace' or 'Anna Karenina' but despite the brevity it propels Tolstoy to the foreground of my literary perspective.

Hadji Murat chronicles the life of the eponymous hero who came to personify the resistance of the Caucasus to Russian imperialism. The work was published posthumously and reflects an anger and disillusionment with Czarism that perhaps explains why Tolstoy chose not to make the manuscript public.

What follows is an inten...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bellissimo romanzo breve, scritto da Tolstoj con scrittura limpida e con toni spesso lirici e toccanti, tra il 1896 e il 1902, pubblicato postumo nel 1912 su decisione dello stesso scrittore. Il titolo originario voluto da Tolstoj era “la lappola”, che è una pianta che cresce lungo i fiumi, ricoperta di peluria pungente, una pianta che, anche se calpestata, non si abbatte ma tenacemente resiste e si erge sul suo stelo, seppur duramente colpita. Chadzi Murat, contadino combattente ceceno la cui v...more Bellissimo romanzo breve, scritto da Tolstoj con scrittura limpida e con toni spesso lirici e toccanti, tra il 1896 e il 1902, pubblicato postumo nel 1912 su decisione dello stesso scrittore. Il titolo originario voluto da Tolstoj era “la lappola”, che è una pianta che cresce lungo i fiumi, ricoperta di peluria pungente, una pianta che, anche se calpestata, non si abbatte ma tenacemente resiste e si erge sul suo stelo, seppur duramente colpita. Chadzi Murat, contadino combattente ceceno la cui vita è stata costellata da eventi tragici che hanno colpito i suoi affetti più cari, può essere paragonato alla tenace erba che non si arrende. Egli per vendicare chi gli era caro, abbandona i suoi compagni nei combattimenti in corso sulle montagne del Caucaso per passare dalla parte dei russi. Questa decisione porta come conseguenza il suo isolamento: egli rimane solo, con i pochi fedeli seguaci che lo venerano per la lealtà e il coraggio, divenuto ormai un traditore per il suo popolo e visto comunque come un nemico dai russi ai quali si è affidato. Chadzi Murat è un guerriero coraggioso che combatte senza perdere mai la sua umanità e la sua grandezza d’animo, che anzi alla fine saranno proprio la causa della rovina. La sua figura si erge al di sopra degli ufficiali russi, del ministro russo della guerra, un ometto vestito all’ultima moda che prima di essere ricevuto in udienza dallo zar si specchia di nascosto aggiustandosi il ciuffo, e dello stesso zar Nicola I , del quale Tolstoj dà un’immagine del tutto negativa: un inetto che maschera la propria incapacità di governare con la crudeltà e la violenza fini a sé stesse. Soprattutto le parole dedicate da Tolstoj a quest’ultimo sono state la causa della censura che colpì il romanzo al momento della pubblicazione. Sono parole universali, valide in ogni tempo ed in ogni luogo, per descrivere gli effetti devastanti che il potere produce nell’uomo: “La continua, aperta, ripugnante adulazione degli uomini che lo circondavano l’aveva condotto al fatto che non vedeva ormai le proprie contraddizioni, che non conformava più le proprie azioni e le proprie parole alla realtà, alla logica e perfino al semplice buon senso, ma era pienamente convinto che tutte le sue disposizioni, per quanto fossero insensate, ingiuste e in disaccordo tra loro, diventassero sensate, e giuste, e in accordo tra loro solo perché le aveva date lui”.(less)

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Dec 04, 2012 Trelesa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hadji Murad is now my favorite Tolstoy character. He is a heroic, charismatic, rebel leader who is fiercely loyal to his family. He also elicits sympathy as he is trapped in an awful play of strategy in an effort to free his family and remain true to his convictions. Both Nicholas, the Tsar of Russia, and Shamil, the rebel leader want to use him to fight against each other. Neither are morally inspiring; both enjoy riches while many of those they lead can barely eke by, and both can be heartless...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Frederick Glaysher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: leo, tolstoy, hadji, murad

Leo Tolstoy. Hadji Murad. 1911. Reviewed September 30th, 2009 by Frederick Glaysher.[return][return]I recently downloaded and read from Google Books Tolstoy’s novella Hadji Murad. It’s one of the very last pieces of fiction he wrote, finishing it in 1904, published in 1911, the year of his death. The short novel of about 200 pages on an ereader has always been praised as an exquisitely crafted work of art. Tolstoy allows the structure and interplay of events to speak for themselves, eschewing ne...more Leo Tolstoy. Hadji Murad. 1911. Reviewed September 30th, 2009 by Frederick Glaysher.[return][return]I recently downloaded and read from Google Books Tolstoy’s novella Hadji Murad. It’s one of the very last pieces of fiction he wrote, finishing it in 1904, published in 1911, the year of his death. The short novel of about 200 pages on an ereader has always been praised as an exquisitely crafted work of art. Tolstoy allows the structure and interplay of events to speak for themselves, eschewing nearly all temptation to explain to the reader his intentions and meaning. For precisely this reason, the book may be an especially challenging one. Before stating what I think of Hadji Murad, I must touch on my very long relationship with Tolstoy.[return][return]As a young undergraduate at Eastern Michigan University in 1976, I used to read Tolstoy when I was supposed to be studying more important things. I would go to the library and comb through the many feet of his Collected Works, devouring many of the more obscure, less-read books by him. While taking classes in Shakespeare, Chaucer, and the romantic poets, I reveled in his works What Is Art?, “Essay on Shakespeare,” and The Kingdom of God Is Within You. I well realized these works were anathema to most of the ruling academic establishment, whom I was beginning to realize even as far back as then were sunk in doctrinaire nihilism. I thrilled to read a writer who believed literature could and should have a spiritual dimension, as do our lives, if we are at all awake and sensitive to the Divine.[return][return]From, What is Art?:[return][return]“Special importance has always been given by all men to that . . . which transmits feelings flowing from their religious perception, and this small part of art they have specifically called art, attaching to it the full meaning of the word. That was how men of old — Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle — looked on art. Thus did the Hebrew prophets and the ancient Christians regard art; thus it was, and still is, understood by the Mahommedans, and thus is it still understood by religious folk among our own peasantry.”[return][return]“The business of art lies just in this, — to make that understood and felt which, in the form of an argument, might be incomprehensible and inaccessible. Usually it seems to the recipient of a truly artistic impression that he knew the thing before but had been unable to express it.”[return][return]“Art is the transmission of feelings flowing from man’s religious perception.”[return][return]“So that good, great, universal, religious art may be incomprehensible to a small circle of spoilt people, but certainly not to any large number of plain men.”[return][return]How excited I was to discover Google Books now has, it seems, all that huge stretch of library shelf devoted to Tolstoy, available online. I eagerly downloaded all of it, including Hadji Murad, which I have thought of for years, sensing there was something in the book I needed to read, at the right time, now come, one of Tolstoy’s last artistic communications to the world.[return][return]As a young man Tolstoy had served in the Russian military in the Caucasus and in Crimea. His early stories and books reflect such experience. Late in life, he found himself recalling that time in the 1850s, while walking through a newly ploughed field in 1896, noticing a beautiful thistle that had been bent and broken by the plough. He tried to save it, but couldn’t, it was so damaged. The incident became a metaphor evoking the life of a local fighter Tolstoy had actually met, Hadji Murad, who was caught between the fanaticism of an Islamic war-lord named Shamil, who was intent on taking over Chechnya, and the Russians, who were extending their control into the area. Hadji Murad, as a man belonging to the more peaceful, local Sufi-like branch of Islam, known as Muridism, resisted the onslaught of Shamil’s jihad and fundamentalist fanaticism. Hoping to obtain troops from the Russians with which to fight off Shamil, Murad leads his band of men over to the Russians, ultimately being caught between the opposing forces. Tolstoy’s art lies in what he makes of and does with these facts of history. His perceiving sensibility and interpretation is subtle and attuned to the issues on all sides.[return][return]In the end, the Russians fail to provide Hadji Murad with the troops he needs to protect the Murid community from dominance by Shamil’s fanatics. He waits and waits while the incompetent and corrupt Russian political machine misunderstands what is involved and bungles the chance Murad has offered it. Tolstoy is especially insightful and scathing on the moral and spiritual corruption of the Russian elite and monarchy, contrasting its decline with the healthier vitality of Hadji Murad’s village simplicity, spiritual vigor, and self-less service to his community. Tolstoy’s art fully critiques both Western Christianity and the Islam of beheadings and the chopping off of hands. Murad’s values and beliefs, pure, unsullied, grounded in mystical prayer and communion, are crushed between the two. Finally despairing of Russian help, especially in time to rescue his own family, rendered pawns in Shamil’s intrigues, Murad decides to make a break from Russian confinement to save his family, an act misinterpreted by the Russian garrison which sends troops out after him, murdering his men and beheading him, no better than Shamil’s tactics. Tolstoy allows the tragedy of Hadji Murad to resonate with the accents of art and vision, challenging the reader to understand.[return][return]It seems to me, though, that few have understood. Perhaps we have a larger context today in which we can begin to perceive the profundity of Tolstoy’s art, what with the collapse of Utopia in Power and the terrorism of 9/11. Despite some of his cranky personal flaws, mostly the result of his intense search for truth, his support of the anarchist Kropotkin, and so on, he was a tremendous artist of incredible vision and foresight, part of the tragedy of his time.[return][return]The ecopy of Hadji Murad that I read is in the epub format, which promises to become the standard for ebooks. After more than a decade of using numerous formats, I hope it does become the dominant one. There were only four to six minor errors in the text that I could detect without comparing it to a hard-copy. That’s down to about what one would expect to find in most published books, copy-editors seldom being up to snuff anymore. Other minor but annoying problems of formatting seem to be solved by the epub format.[return][return]Hadji Murad was a pleasure to read on my Sony Reader. The stage seems set for Google and other ebook publishers to make tens of millions of books, the knowledge and art of humanity, available online. I, for one, shall appreciate it.[return][return]Frederick Glaysher[return]http://www.fglaysher.com (less)

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May 13, 2013 Colleen Clark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, central-asia-muslims-in-former-ussr

I was moved to buy this book because of the recent "Marathon" bombing in Boston, April 15 2013. I was already aware of this story. I have it also in a collection of Tolstoy's short fiction. I think it was also mentioned in reference to a movie about 10 years ago "Prisoner of the Mountains." I had the mistaken impression that the movie was made from the Tolstoy story. Apparently not, but the movie is also set in the Caucasus in the late 19th century and is about conflict between the imperial Russ...more I was moved to buy this book because of the recent "Marathon" bombing in Boston, April 15 2013. I was already aware of this story. I have it also in a collection of Tolstoy's short fiction. I think it was also mentioned in reference to a movie about 10 years ago "Prisoner of the Mountains." I had the mistaken impression that the movie was made from the Tolstoy story. Apparently not, but the movie is also set in the Caucasus in the late 19th century and is about conflict between the imperial Russians and the oppositional Muslims living in the mountains.

"Hadji Murad" is Tolstoy's last work, written after 1900 and not published in his lifetime. It is based on his own experience as a soldier in the Russian army fighting the Chechens in 1851. And I think also that it was based on true events. On the back of this edition is this text. "In 1851 Leo Tolstoy enlisted in the Russian army and was sent to the Caucasus to help defeat the Chechens. [In the long run, we know, the Chechens were not defeated viz furious war in Grozny 1999-2000 leading to the devastation of the city by the Russians.] During this (19th century) war a great Avar chieftain, Hadji Murad, broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to the Russians for safety....Tolstoy, witness to many of the events leading to Hadji Murad's death, set down this story with painstaking accuracy to preserve for future generations the horror, nobility, and destruction inherent in war."

As we know, human beings never learn permanently about war. This story ties into the recent bombing in Boston by the Tsarnaev brothers. Before WW II Stalin removed most of the Chechens from the Caucasus and sent them to Central Asia, especially Kazahstan and Kyrygyzstan. The Tsarnaevs ended up in Krygyzstan, where Dzohkar was born. So the biggest background of what happened in Boston is long-standing.

"Hadji Murad" doesn't illuminate directly the most recent events but does provide a long background. And of course, being a work by Leo Tolstoy it stands on its own two feet as great literature.(less)

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Jan 11, 2013 Realini rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a short story about the Chechen War and one of its heroes. Not of the recent conflicts, with a Russian dictator –Putin on one side and the Chechen rebels on the other.

I found that the Russian czar could be as ruthless as his descendant in the Kremlin. He was saying he didn’t want to condemn people to death and yet he ordered thousands of lashes, which meant not only death, but excruciating pain and torture.

Hagi Murad was a complex character, likable and yet cruel. He was very brave, but...more

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Nov 16, 2012 winda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Awalnya saya agak sangsi kalau Haji Murat ini buah karya Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy yang dari Rusia? Leo Tolstoy yang menulis Anna Karenina dan Peace and War menulis buku Haji Murat juga?! Soalnya nama Haji Murat sangat tidak Rusia dan lebih kepada Indonesia.
Namun, ketika membaca catatan punggung buku ini, saya tak lagi ragu

Haji Murat, sejak kecil dekat dengan para Khan (pemimpin para Tartar), kehidupan yang indah dan menyenangkan tiba-tiba porak-poranda ketika Gamzat mennggantikan kedudukan Kaz...more
Awalnya saya agak sangsi kalau Haji Murat ini buah karya Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy yang dari Rusia? Leo Tolstoy yang menulis Anna Karenina dan Peace and War menulis buku Haji Murat juga?! Soalnya nama Haji Murat sangat tidak Rusia dan lebih kepada Indonesia.
Namun, ketika membaca catatan punggung buku ini, saya tak lagi ragu

Haji Murat, sejak kecil dekat dengan para Khan (pemimpin para Tartar), kehidupan yang indah dan menyenangkan tiba-tiba porak-poranda ketika Gamzat mennggantikan kedudukan Kazi Mullah dan membunuh para Khan. Gamzat berhasil dibunuh oleh Haji Murat dan Kakanya Haji Murat, kemudian kedudukan Gamzat digantikan oleh Shamil. Shamil menyandra seluruh keluarga Haji Murat, yang membuatnya berstrategi untuk tunduk kepada kekuasaan Rusia, agar dapat membantunya menyelamatkan keluarganya dari Shamil sekaligus juga membantu Rusia mengatasi kekuasaan Shamil. Meskipun buku ini menceritakan sebuah pertempuran namun tidak mendominasi jalannya cerita, lebih kepada bagaimana kepribadian Haji Murat, bagaimana Haji Murat berstrategi,juga pergulatan batin Haji Murat; bagaimana kaisar Rusia dan perwiranya mengambil keputusan; bagaimana interaksi Haji Murat dengan para perwira Rusia, kisah para pengawal Haji Murat dan juga kisah perwira Rusia.

Dan buku ini Sukseeeessss membuat saya pusing (ga banget yaaa...). Mungkin karena banyaknya tokoh dengan nama khas Rusia yang membuat saya pening mengingatnya. Mungkin karena pengetahuan saya yang kurang tentang sejarah Rusia. Mungkin juga karena begitulah karya sastra, yang terkadang membuat saya membaca berulang kali untuk faham maksud ceritanya. Mungkin karena ini kali pertama saya membaca terjemahan karyanya Leo Tolstoy.

Akhirnyaaa berhasil menyelesaikan buku ini meski sembari diselingi buku lain. Dan bersiap melahap buku-buku karya Leo Tolstoy yang lain :D

Kutipan dalam buku ini yang menarik:

"Jilatan yang terus-menerus, terang-terangan, dan bertentangan dengan kenyataan dari orang-orang di sekitarnya itu menyebabkannya tak dapat melihat pertentangan-pertentangan, tidak dapat menyelaraskan tindakan-tindakan dan kata-katanya dengan kenyataan, dengan logika, atau bahkan dengan akal sehat sederhananya sekalipun; sebaliknya ia cukup yakin bahwa semua perintahnya,betapapun semua itu tidak berarti, tidak adil dan tidak sejalan satu sama lain, telah menjadi berarti, adildan sejalan satu sama lain, justru karena dia yang memberikan."

(less)

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Oct 23, 2012 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, russia-fic-lit, tolstoy

Inspired by Tolstoy's own military service in the Caucasus, this is a fictional portrayal of the real life Hadji Murad. Hadji Murad, a fierce and successful rebel commander, separates from other rebels, led by Imam Shamil, who take his family as hostages. Hadji Murad flees to their mutual enemy, the Russians, whom he promises to aid in exchange for help in freeing his family.

Hadji Murad is a stoic hero. He tells his story to Loris-Melikov who, as an example of the top down way the Russians are c...more Inspired by Tolstoy's own military service in the Caucasus, this is a fictional portrayal of the real life Hadji Murad. Hadji Murad, a fierce and successful rebel commander, separates from other rebels, led by Imam Shamil, who take his family as hostages. Hadji Murad flees to their mutual enemy, the Russians, whom he promises to aid in exchange for help in freeing his family.

Hadji Murad is a stoic hero. He tells his story to Loris-Melikov who, as an example of the top down way the Russians are conducting the war, has orders to write down Hadji Murad's life story. He learns of Hadji Murad's mother (now held captive with her two daughters-in-law and grandchildren) who lost a son due the poverty that forced her to be a wet nurse. She saved her next son's (Hadji Murad's) life by refusing to once again hire out, thereby incurring the wrath of her husband. Hadji Murad is portrayed as strong, devout, cagy, militarily successful and having strong family ties.

The characters are the heart of the book. The Emperor Nicholas I is depicted as a buffoon who, whether he makes snap decisions or rubber stamps others' ideas, gloats over his wonderful judgment. Members of the Russian aristocracy, both nouveau and established, come off poorly as do the Russian military officers who seem to enjoy the company of their famous prisoner (Hadji Murad) as much as their drinking and card games.

Imam Shamil is only a name and a story until the end. His character is revealed as he returns to his compound and is dazzled and held at bay by his youngest wife.

In the beginning it did not work well for me and had it not been a Tolstoy I wanted to read, I would have put it down. It is not easy to get oriented and the plot is too slowly revealed. The wonderful characterizations don't start until the middle. I read the Aylmer Maude translation, which seems to be considered the best.

In the last few months I read three novels from the New York Times 100 Best Books of 2010. All three of them had extraneous characters and sub plots, had gratuitously cute phrases and in general jumped around. I was struck by the difference between them and this classic where almost all its elements support the plot and the title character. (less)

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Jun 07, 2012 Andrew Paxman rated it 4 of 5 stars

This short and compelling biographical novel draws from the author’s youthful experiences of war in the 1850s Caucasus, where Chechens today continue to squirm beneath the Russian yolk. Tolstoy’s final novel, it exemplifies the 20th-century turn to economy of prose among late 19th-century realists. As one finds in Hardy or Zola, the tone is deterministic but lightened by the humanity of the characters and occasional humour. The titular hero, a Muslim rebel leader, is a fugitive bound to die; the...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Dwight added it

http://bookcents.blogspot.com/2010/07...

Tolstoy’s empathy for his characters makes them that much more engaging, drawing the reader into the story. A soldier’s innocent love for his superior’s wife feels to the reader as painful as the emotions the character experiences. As with most characters, there are “doubles” within the story. We see this young soldier’s innocent love echoed in and contrasted with another soldier’s lewd behavior toward a fellow soldier’s wife.

Tolstoy can be particularly br...more http://bookcents.blogspot.com/2010/07...

Tolstoy’s empathy for his characters makes them that much more engaging, drawing the reader into the story. A soldier’s innocent love for his superior’s wife feels to the reader as painful as the emotions the character experiences. As with most characters, there are “doubles” within the story. We see this young soldier’s innocent love echoed in and contrasted with another soldier’s lewd behavior toward a fellow soldier’s wife.

Tolstoy can be particularly brutal with Tsar Nicholas, portraying him as a weak, ignorant and petty tyrant driven more by flattery and lust than any consideration for his country. Despite his ineptness as a leader, Nicholas can still be ruthless, whether in ordering a student to be flogged enough to cause his death (despite the ban on capital punishment) or in his scorched earth policy in the Caucasus (which insures hardening his enemies). There are still some sympathetic moments, if you can classify them as such. Nicholas reaps a system that accepts no report other than success—in other words, reports bear no relationship to what happened in the field. If all you hear are flattery and success, it takes a certain level of talent to recognize and understand the true status of affairs.

Shamil, the other power opposing Hadji Murad, appears as a leader direct from Machiavelli’s The Prince, wielding cruelty and an iron fist out of necessity, not desire. Yet Tolstoy provides humor and humanness in Shamil’s situation as the iman’s youngest wife denies him her presence for the evening, inconveniencing him as much as he tortures others. While there is no doubt Tolstoy has disdain for the Russia under Nicholas, his contempt for Shamil’s world is apparent, even if much more subtly drawn.

Hadji Murad’s interview with Voronstov provides a foretaste of his relationship with the Russians, where both men talk past each other while, on another level, they understand each other completely:

The eyes of the two men met, and expressed to each other much that could not have been put into words and that was not at all what the interpreter said. Without words they told each other the whole truth. Vorontsov’s eyes said that he did not believe a single word Hadji Murad was saying and that he knew he was and always would be an enemy to everything Russian and had surrendered only because he was obliged to. Hadji Murad understood this and yet continued to give assurances of his fidelity. His eyes said, “That old man ought to be thinking of his death and not of war, but though he is old he is cunning, and I must be careful.” Vorontsov understood this also, but nevertheless spoke to Hadji Murad in the way he considered necessary for the success of the war.
Hadji Murad understands his quandary and the hopelessness of his situation yet he remains resolute in his undertakings. He knows Shamil’s offer to return and fight for the iman is a sham, but he also recalls the fable of a falcon that had been caught and tamed by men. Escaping captivity and desiring to live at home again, the falcon returns only to be pecked to death by the other falcons which would not allow him to stay with the marking of humans on him. “And they [Shamil’s men:] would peck me to death in the same way,” thought Hadji Murad. “Shall I remain here and conquer Caucasia for the Russian Tsar and earn renown, titles, riches?” While Murad knows he could achieve that, he never wavers in attempting to rescue his family.(less)

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Jun 08, 2009 Ririenz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiksi-sejarah

HAJI MURAT

Salah satu faktor penentu mengapa Aku memilih novel terjemahan ini ke dalam list bacaanku adalah siapa penerjemahnya. Mengapa? Karena Aku belajar dari “ Rashomon “ karya Akutagawa Ryunosuke yang ternyata isinya tidak se-”greget” reviewnya. Novel Haji Murat ( HM ) karya Leo Tolstoy ini diterjemahkan oleh Koesalah Soebagyo Toer. Meski hanya 189 halaman ternyata isinya tidak setipis fisiknya. Mungkin karena ada istilah-istilah dari daerah Kaukasia yang hampir tidak familier baik secara li...more HAJI MURAT

Salah satu faktor penentu mengapa Aku memilih novel terjemahan ini ke dalam list bacaanku adalah siapa penerjemahnya. Mengapa? Karena Aku belajar dari “ Rashomon “ karya Akutagawa Ryunosuke yang ternyata isinya tidak se-”greget” reviewnya. Novel Haji Murat ( HM ) karya Leo Tolstoy ini diterjemahkan oleh Koesalah Soebagyo Toer. Meski hanya 189 halaman ternyata isinya tidak setipis fisiknya. Mungkin karena ada istilah-istilah dari daerah Kaukasia yang hampir tidak familier baik secara lisan dan tulisan. Belum lagi kalimat-kalimat percakapan dalam bahasa Perancis yang sangat layak untuk disimak meski sudah ada terjemahannya.

Novel ini menceritakan kisah heroik seorang pejuang Chechnya bernama Haji Murat melawan tentara Rusia. Haji Murat adalah sosok ulama, nasionalis dan pejuang Chechnya yang rela berkorban demi perdamaian negerinya. Sebelum terjadi pertikaian intern di tubuh para pejuang Chechnya, Haji Murat adalah orang kepercayaan Shamil dan mempunyai pengaruh yang sangat luas dan kuat baik terhadap kawan maupun musuh-musuhnya. Tetapi karena ada pertikaian yang dipicu oleh dendam lama yang sudah mengakar dan tidak bisa ditolelir lagi maka Haji Murat dan Shamil mendaulatkan diri untuk beroposisi antara satu dengan lainnya. Akibat perpecahan ini membuat Haji Murat membelot dan menyerahkan diri kepada Tsar Agung Rusia. Haji Murat berjanji akan membantu tentara Rusia memadamkan pemberontakan di Chechnya asalkan pihak Rusia bisa menyelamatkan keluarga dari cengkraman Shamil. Awalnya kesepakatan dan komunikasi yang baik antar Haji Murat dan pihak Rusia berjalan sangat positif, tetapi lambat laun Haji Murat menjadi pesimis karena pihak Rusia sengaja mengulur-ulur waktu dan bersikap setengah hati terhadap keselamatan keluarganya. Karena nasib keluarganya yang semakin tidak jelas membuat Haji Murat beralih pikiran lagi. Ia dan keempat anak buah setianya kemudian bergerak sendiri tanpa izin pihak Rusia. Sedangkan pihak Rusia yang melihat aktifitas Haji Murat yang sudah di luar komandonya menganggap hal itu sebuah pembelotan. Akibatnya terjadi pertikaian tidak seimbang yang menewaskan Haji Murat beserta keempat abdi setianya.

Novel ini mengadaptasi konflik berkepanjangan yang tengah terjadi di negara-negara pecahan Uni Sovyet di kawasan Kaukasus dengan kelompok pejuang muslimnya. Dan tokoh-tokoh seperti Haji Murat, Shamil dan Tsar Nikolai bukanlah tokoh imajiner. Mereka benar-benar ada dan menjadi ikon perjuangan disana. Bahkan kejadian yang melatarbelakangi cerita itu adalah nyata dan itu adalah sejarah.Tolstoy meramu fakta-fakta sejarah dan imajinasinya ke dalam bahasa sastra yang gamblang tanpa merusak atau merubah essensinya. Ia mampu mengeksplor sisi humanisme dan sosialime seorang pahlawan besar ketika dihadapkan pada pilihan apakah keluarganya ataukah negaranya yang lebih penting. Dan Tolstoy dengan jujur mengungkapkan bahwa keadilan dan kemanusiaan lebih penting dari pada cinta tanah air.

~* Rienz *~
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Aug 28, 2011 Karlo Mikhail Mongaya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: excellent

The short novel over a hundred pages revolves around Hadji Murad, a Chechen general who arranged his surrender to the colonizing Russians after earning the ire of his warlord, the imam Shamil. Hadji Murad stays with the Russians in their garrisons with plans to use them to help him in his power struggle against Shamil.

But Hadji Murad’s enemy holds his family captive. Fearing for their life, he escapes from the Russians in a daring plan to save his family himself. Suspicious that Hadji Murad has...more The short novel over a hundred pages revolves around Hadji Murad, a Chechen general who arranged his surrender to the colonizing Russians after earning the ire of his warlord, the imam Shamil. Hadji Murad stays with the Russians in their garrisons with plans to use them to help him in his power struggle against Shamil.

But Hadji Murad’s enemy holds his family captive. Fearing for their life, he escapes from the Russians in a daring plan to save his family himself. Suspicious that Hadji Murad has been playing with them all along, the Russians pursues him. Surrounded on all sides, he makes a last stand.

In Hadji Murad, Tolstoy devotes much effort to show the conflict from the perspectives of all its participants in intricately woven scenes.

The artificial civility of the Russian officials and aristocrats who entertain Hadji Murad, with their parties, cards, champagne, and coquettish wives, are contrasted to the stoic air of a Chechen household with its severe religiosity and bound women.

Meanwhile, the cynicism and blind megalomania of Czar Nicholas I who gave decisions out of whim is contrasted to the ruthlessness of the Chechen warlord Shamil whose orders were not only enforced according to the Sharia but also for instrumentalist considerations.

The caprice of the Russian nobles is contrasted to the sad fate of those who serve under them with the death of a poor but hardworking peasant soldier in battle. He was sent to the Caucasus over a lazy brother who was kept out of conscription by their clan because because of his many children.

While Tolstoy finished writing Hadji Murad in 1904, the events described in it was supposed to have happened in 1851. However, one is given a sense that the story may as well have been set today.

Apart from good storytelling and vivid details, we also get insights into the war in general and historical conflict in the Caucasus, a conflict that has flared again of late.

We see the beginnings of modern counterinsurgency tactics in the Russian’s burning of enemy villages and agricultural fields as well as the felling of forests and the erecting of a system of forts designed to constrict the movement of the Chechens.

From Tolstoy’s Hadji Murad (less)

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Apr 23, 2010 Alison rated it 1 of 5 stars

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Feb 10, 2009 julieta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: siglo-xix, rusinskis

El héroe de la película es Hadji Murad. Eso queda claro desde el título del libro. Pero su historia es bien triste, no de final feliz y música enternecedora, sino a lo ruso, de la peor manera posible. Todo está mal. Empieza mal y termina peor.
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Habla de una guerra que sucedió entre Rusia y Chechenia.( Se ve que ya llevan rato con la pelea).
Aunque describe bien a los dos lados, no hay duda de qué lado está Tolstoy. Los Chechenos son los suyos. Hombres religiosos, que viven en la austeridad y uni...more

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Jun 01, 2011 kasia rated it 3 of 5 stars

You know, even when Tolstoy is mediocre, he's still pretty good. Hadji Murat reads almost like a sketch for a longer novel, a War and Peace of the Caucuses. One wishes he'd actually written it, instead of this somewhat disappointing, meandering yet brief work. Although the main focus is Hadji Murat, various other characters appear and occasionally resurface, as though the narrator's attention has temporarily strayed. Shifts in behavior happen over a few lines instead of the 40 pages you might ex...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Tyler Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: russian-literature, favorites, war-fiction

I have not read War and Peace but I understand that one of the reasons that it is universally admired is Tolstoy's narrative technique of entering the lives of a multitude of characters, from the lowliest soldier to the rulers of countries, and making their lives instantly full and real to the reader. Tolstoy achieves a composite picture that is more complete, and more satisfying, that could be achieved following only a few protagonists but the trade-off is that he had to produce a novel of daun...more I have not read War and Peace but I understand that one of the reasons that it is universally admired is Tolstoy's narrative technique of entering the lives of a multitude of characters, from the lowliest soldier to the rulers of countries, and making their lives instantly full and real to the reader. Tolstoy achieves a composite picture that is more complete, and more satisfying, that could be achieved following only a few protagonists but the trade-off is that he had to produce a novel of daunting size.

The one complaint I have heard from my friends who have read War and Peace is that at the end Tolstoy goes off on a long philosophical treatise; a blue print for how mankind must behave. This rankles the sensibilities of the 21st century reader who has come to believe novels are there to raise questions - not provide answers.

I say all of this about War and Peace (a novel I have not even read! I'm such a poser!) because I think Hadji Murat could be a better book. Firstly Hadji Murat effectively uses the same narrative style. As Richard Pevear writes in the introduction; "The composition is as inclusive as in War and Peace, if not more so, but it is rendered with an economy of means that is the final perfection of Tolstoy's art." In other words Tolstoy achieves in the one hundred and fifteen pages of Hadji Murat what it took him a thousand pages to do in War and Peace, and this is good news for those of with truncated attention spans.

More importantly, I think, is that Tolstay manages to maintain moral neutrality throughout Hadji Murat that gives the slim work a great weight. Pevear hints that this is the reason that Tolstoy would not allow Hadji Murat to be published during his lifetime - it goes against the carefully constructed moral philosophy he espoused. For those of us who like our fiction free of moral agendas, it makes for a better book.

I loved Hadji Murat and I can not think of a reader who approaches this story with even a modicum of effort who will not also love it.

A warning a about the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation: The introduction will spoil the plot, but it still well worth reading afterwards.
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Jan 21, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story could apply to the relationship between Russia and Chechnya today. Nothing has changed. Although the year is 1851 and the tale is told about a poor Chechnyan caught between his own people and the Russians, the same story could pretty much be told today. Hadji Murad has turned against the ruler of his own country and fled to help the Russians, who are both wary and delighted with this development. However, Hadji Murad whole family is being held captive and a letter has come to him sayi...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found Hadji Murad to be reminiscent of some of the great American western movies of the mid-twentieth century, which made me wonder how many western authors and movie-makers had been influenced by this book. The book had many aspects of the American western including political intrigue, blood feuds, frontier skirmishes, and a woman who understands the horrors of war and violence much more than the men do.

On the whole, I would say that this was a good read that was very interesting because of...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Helen Barr rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hadji Murad starts with a narrator in a midsummer field who notices 'a beautiful thistle plant of the crimson kind, which in our neighbourhood they call "Tartar".’ The tale of the brave soldier, Hadji Murad, follows. Hadji Murad has defected to the Russians because of a break with his leader, Shamil. The book reveals that he is a character of conviction and dignity. He is symbolic not only of the tribes' struggle for independence in the Caucasus, but of the ordinary Russian soldiers caught in a...more Hadji Murad starts with a narrator in a midsummer field who notices 'a beautiful thistle plant of the crimson kind, which in our neighbourhood they call "Tartar".’ The tale of the brave soldier, Hadji Murad, follows. Hadji Murad has defected to the Russians because of a break with his leader, Shamil. The book reveals that he is a character of conviction and dignity. He is symbolic not only of the tribes' struggle for independence in the Caucasus, but of the ordinary Russian soldiers caught in a long, confusing (maybe just confusing to me) and seemingly pointless conflict. Azar Nafisi who wrote Reading Lolita in Tehran, writes an interesting introduction to Hadji Murad. She notes how good literature such as Tolstoy’s is a story that is ‘still news’. I came away from this book wanting to find out more about the ethnic groups in the Caucasus and the history/present situation regarding the Russian influence in the area.

Tolstoy portrays the leaders on both sides of this conflict as careless and cruel. Tolstoy’s descriptions of his characters reveal their psychology and ethics. When describing Tsar Nicholas I, he suggests a discordance and indifference to the world and portrays him having a dull gaze. It is these insights into the characters and their relations to each other and the environment that I liked best. I feel that Tolstoy wants us to understand and visualise things (and he is very skilled at doing so). Nabakov says of Tolstoy, ‘Readers call Tolstoy a giant not because other writers are dwarfs but because he remains always of exactly our own stature, exactly keeping pace with us instead of passing by in the distance...’

Azar quotes Pierre in War and Peace who ‘had learned to see the great, the eternal, the infinite in everything, and therefore, in order to enjoy his comprehension of it, he naturally discarded the telescope through which he had been gazing over the heads of men, and joyfully surveyed the ever-changing, eternally great, unfathomable, and infinite life around him.’ In Hadji Murad you get caught up in the details of life of the soldiers and officers in the Caucaus mountains whilst your thoughts trail off into musings about the nature of people and conflict.

The book ends with the narrator turning his attention back to the here and now of the summer field, 'It was his death that I was reminded by the crushed thistle in the midst of the ploughed field.'
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Feb 01, 2012 Ben Eldridge rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

My first Tolstoy - and what a disappointment. In spite of the short length (somewhere around 130 pages), Tolstoy proceeds to ramble on and on, seemingly unable to stay with one thought or character for any respectable length of time. And the prose is BAD... I really cannot stress that enough. Narrative structure is a mess, and the prologue/epilogue framing devices are embarrassingly clunky. There are segments in which Tolstoy assumes his readers are idiots by repeating plot points, and summarisi...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mideast, classic-literature, european

Ah, Tolstoy, writer of fine literature. This interesting short novel on the Caucasus War is based on historical people and facts, and will immerse you in a different time and place. Tolstoy's character development is simply beautiful - subtle glances and demeanor convey rich personalities indirectly. Recommended reading for anyone who is interested in the conflicts between Russia and Muslim Chechnya - Tolstoy served Russia in the Caucasus War - one realizes that over 100 years later, not much ha...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Dagny rated it 4 of 5 stars

As I approached War and Peace territory I stepped into this hinterland beyond (north and east) of its border. Obviously Tolstoy was in command of his art till the very end; this short story was published posthumously 1912)

Strange and exquisite story Hadji Murad is. Likely you have heard of the Russian-Chechen conflict as long as you can remember; well here, almost hundred years ago, Tolstoy goes back further, half a century still, to depict a Chechen historical figure feuding with the Russians a...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Luqmal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tahun lepas, tahun aku kenal Leo Tolstoy, mencari tulisan beliau. Aku pernah baca tulisan beliau, dengan ungkapan, "Tuhan tahu tapi menunggu". Buku Haji Murat dibeli semasa DBP mengadakan jualan murah, "Penghabisan Stok" di UKM. Ya penghabisan stok, namun buku ini, diskaun 10% je pun..

Diterjamah Victor Pogadaev, pensyarah UM, orang Rusia dan banyak lagi karya yang diterjemahnya. Pogadaev aktif dalam mempertahankan budaya dan adat Melayu ya. Saya ulang, aktif mempertahankan budaya dan adat Melayu...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Lero rated it 4 of 5 stars

вынесу лишь несколько животрепещущих цитат, которые мне встретились между описаниями военных расстановок.
- про современное: "хорошего нового ничего нет, - заговорил старик. - Только и нового, что все зайцы совещаются, как орлов прогнать. а орлы все рвут, то одного, то другого".

- внезапно о смерти: "в этой смерти никто не видел того важнейшего в этой жизни момента - окончания ее и возвращения к тому источнику, из которого она вышла, а виделось только молодечество лихого офицера, бросившегося с ш...more вынесу лишь несколько животрепещущих цитат, которые мне встретились между описаниями военных расстановок.
- про современное: "хорошего нового ничего нет, - заговорил старик. - Только и нового, что все зайцы совещаются, как орлов прогнать. а орлы все рвут, то одного, то другого".

- внезапно о смерти: "в этой смерти никто не видел того важнейшего в этой жизни момента - окончания ее и возвращения к тому источнику, из которого она вышла, а виделось только молодечество лихого офицера, бросившегося с шашкой на горцев и отчаянно рубившего их".

- аннотация к фильму о доме2: "в глубине же души Аксинья была рада смерти Петра. Она была вновь брюхата от приказчика, у которого она жила, и теперь никто не мог ругать ее, и приказчик мог взять ее замуж, как он и говорил ей, когда склонял ее к любви".

- про конфуз: "не отвечая княгине, он нахмурился, замолчал и стал поспешно есть, не жуя, лежавшее у него на тарелке утонченное кушанье непонятного для него вида и даже вкуса".

- про неизменное: "Николай был уверен, что воруют все. Он знал, что надо будет наказать теперь интендантских чиновников, и решил отдать их все в солдаты, но знал тоже, что это не помешает тем, которые займут место уволенных, делать тоже самое. Свойство чиновников состояло в том, чтобы красть, его же обязанность состояла в том, чтобы наказывать их".

"Не согласиться с распоряжением Николая - значило лишиться всего того блестящего положения, которое он приобретал сорок лет и которым пользовался. И потому он покорно наклонил свою черную седеющую голову в знак покорности и готовности исполнения жестокой, безумной и нечестной высочайшей воли".

- и детское воспоминание, вырванное из контекста: "И вспомнился ему и морщинистый, с седой бородкой, дед, серебряник, как он чеканил серебро своими жилистыми руками и заставлял внука говорить молитвы. Вспомнился фонтан под горой, куда он, держась за шаровары матери, ходил с ней за водой. Вспомнилась худая собака, лизавшая его в лицо, и особенно запах и вкус дыма и кислого молока, когда он шел за матерью в сарай, где она доила корову и топила молоко. Вспомнилось, как мать в первый раз обрила ему голову и как в блестящем медном тазу, висевшем на стене, с удивлением увидел свою круглую синеющую головенку".(less)

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Feb 17, 2011 Maikeru rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wasn't that impressed by the book. Liked it, but nothing beyond that.

The story is really interesting and it is told us in a way that should make the reading refreshing and fluid, for a book with just 180 pages, although in some chapters it looked as if it was taking me forever to finish reading it.
I believe it was due to the difficulty to keep up with the heavy load of famous characters and aspects of the Russian and Chechnian history, that were foreign to me.
Also, the constant appearance of n...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Denise Almeida rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Hadji-Murat. O nome de um chefe guerreiro, que liderou as tropas Avares, do exército russo, em 1851. É, também, o nome de um dos muitos e brilhantes romances de Lev Tolstoi. Originalmente publicado em 1912 este livro é mais do que um romance. É um relato vivo das vivências de Tolstoi, aquando do seu alistamento no exército russo, sob as ordens de Hadji-Murat.
Este guerreiro separa-se dos seus aliados Chechenos, particularmente do seu chefe Samil, que como resposta rapta a sua família, levando à f...more

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Mar 20, 2009 Bram rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, the-russians

While reading Hadji Murad, as with each previous Tolstoy experience, I spent a good deal of time shaking my head and smiling incredulously at the masterfulness on display. His narration alights and ascends, wraith-like, from one character to the next in an effortless plot-weaving. The narrator-spirit, momentarily descending upon Czar Nicholas, betrays a muffled wrath and black humor before floating on to chide and delight in the young and carefree Cossack, Butler (Butler? Really?). But it is whe...more

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Jun 17, 2008 DL rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Tolstoy

Shelves: russian, short-stories, azar-nafisi-list, 2008

A fictionalized account of a real event that occurred during the Russian/Chechen conflict in the Caucasus in the late 1800's. Hadji Murad was a great chieftain, both feared and revered. He breaks with the Chechen leader, and attempts to negotiate with the Russians for assistance to rescue his family. As the political events play out, he is unable to trust either side, and is killed in a final battle.

This book may initially be more difficult for many to appreciate than Anna Karenina or Resurrecti...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Keith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: by-and-about-the-19th-century, 5-star-reading, 2008, fiction, in-translation

When considering Tolstoy it is hard to think beyond the long form, the novels that make his general reputation today such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Hadji Murat is from the other side of the spectrum, an astonishing piece of short fiction, a form that Tolstoy was also a master of. Hadji Murat was the last fiction that Tolstoy wrote and it was not published in his lifetime. In the Hesperus edition it runs to 123 pages but within those pages Tolstoy captures a world and the soul of a man....more

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About Leo Tolstoy

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider To...more

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Quotes from Hadji Murat

“The most mentally deranged people are certainly those who see in others indications of insanity they do not notice in themselves.” — 9 people liked it

“Peluru, kamu panas, dan kamu membawa kematian, tetapi bukankah kamu abdiku yang setia? Tanah hitam, kamu akan menyelimutiku, tetapi bukankah aku menginjakmu dengan kudaku? Kamu, maut, kamu dingin, tetapi akulah tuanmu.Tanah akan mengambil tubuhku, langit akan mengambil jiwaku.” — 1 person liked it

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