Tolstoi's Love Letters: With A Study On The Autobiographical Elements In Tolstoi's Work

by Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoi's Love Letters is a book that features a collection of personal letters written by the famous Russian writer, Leo Tolstoi, to his wife, Sophia Tolstaya. The letters were written during the early years of their marriage and provide a glimpse into their intimate relationship. The book also includes a study on the autobiographical elements in Tolstoi's work, which examines how his personal experiences and relationships influenced his writing. The study delves into Tolstoi's complex personality and explores the themes of love, family, and spirituality that are prevalent in his work. Overall, Tolstoi's Love Letters is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the life and work of one of the most celebrated writers in history.Also Translated By S. S. Koteliansky.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; 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 Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reviews

[Anna Bookinist · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this gem through Virginia Woolf, who is a translator of this edition and together with her husband Leonard and their Hogarth Press, they revealed the best and finest of Russian literature to the English readers. I highly recommend her essay The Russian Point of View.

It’s such an intriguing way of reading a biography, through letters and works of the author. The book is divided into two parts: the love letters and the autobiographical elements in his works.

Long before Sophia, Tolstoy intended to marry Valeria Arsenev. The correspondence revealed the young Tolstoy much more as a philosopher and mentor than a passionate lover. He already had a clear vision of his wife and kids and how they should lead their family life. A prophecy and moral teachings which soon grew irksome on Valeria, and put her completely off. A peculiar fact about the letters is that it was Tolstoy’s wish to publish them, whereas Sophia strongly objected to it, conditioning their publication only after her death.

The analysis of Tolstoy’s works from an autobiographical point of view is Paul Biryukov’s work, Tolstoy’s friend and biographer who worked on it closely and personally with Tolstoy. The analysis reveals that much of Tolstoy’s work is based on real life events and people, with some geniously creative twists. You can get to know more intimately about Tostoy’s family, parents and grandparents, friends, surroundings, past, struggles, beliefs and life philosophy.

Such a swift, bright and easy read! Each line is filled and refined with meaning and interest to the reader. There is no faster and better way of introducing the giant, Lev Tolstoy.