Resurrection in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 29, 2018 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Resurrection is the last, and viewed by many as the least of Tolstoy's major novels. Due to its history and its didactic reputation I had been dreading reading it for years. As much as I admire Tolstoy, the didactic sections of War and Peace run like great flaws across a masterpiece. But because War and Peace is such a monumental story, those windy portions, to my mind, could be easily overlooked since they were swallowed up by the larger story. Arguably, with the Levin sections (the ones ignore Resurrection is the last, and viewed by many as the least of Tolstoy's major novels. Due to its history and its didactic reputation I had been dreading reading it for years. As much as I admire Tolstoy, the didactic sections of War and Peace run like great flaws across a masterpiece. But because War and Peace is such a monumental story, those windy portions, to my mind, could be easily overlooked since they were swallowed up by the larger story. Arguably, with the Levin sections (the ones ignored by the movie versions), the same could be said of Anna Karenina. (Upon rereading Anna Karenina, I have grown to appreciate the obvious, even necessary, counterpoint of Levin's story.)

Anyway, all of that said, Resurrection represented for me, at an unread distance, the angry and unmoored Tolstoy. Upon reading the book, I found something else. Yes, there are didactic, finger wagging sections, but they are balanced out by the art of the great writer. Tolstoy's penetrating powers of observation are on full display. He saw the rot in Russia from top to bottom, and used the novel as a platform to condemn both Church and State. It's amazing he was able to even publish it (though I think it was heavily censored). On surface the story is about a well off noble, Prince Nekhylyudov, who serves on a jury that condemns a prostitute to hard labor. During the course of the trial the prince recognized the prostitute as a former servant he had taken advantage of ten years before. The sentence (for poisoning) is overly harsh since there are mitigating factors that suggest probable innocence since she was manipulated by others. Nekhylyudov, feeling guilt over his role in Maslova's downward spiral, makes it his mission to reverse the decision and, if possible, make things right by marrying Maslova.

All of that seems quite improbable (and it is), but Tolstoy's purpose is to use Nekhylyudov as a mirror to show the corruption of the Russian society, its bureaucracies, the penal system, and probably most savagely of all, the Russian Orthodox Church (who would later excommunicate Tolstoy). The novel follows an obvious arc, with Nekhylyudov seeking out a lawyer, filing appeals, seeking out various officials, and eventually traveling to Siberia with Maslova's prisoner caravan. There are several epic (and often depraved) scenes, written with a surprising economy that suggests, for me, the possible influence of Dostoevsky. The novel, with its various revolutionaries (good and bad), and suffering masses, could be read as an account of Russia on the brink. The gulag system was clearly in place before the Soviets took over. Nekhylyudov's "resurrection" will probably strike some as unconvincing and others as earned. My rating reflects where I came down.

(Note that the translation I read is by Rosemary Edmunds. At its best it can be quite poetic. What is annoying however is her tendency to have the lower classes adopt a cockney dialect. That's kind of weird, but probably didn't seem so at the time she did the translation. Her introduction is first-rate.) ...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Karen rated it really liked it

I didn't like this book as much as Anna Karenina or War and Peace, but it was indeed Tolstoy. He ended his book with a thought of writing more, it seems, but he didn't the chance. You can see the usual themes: Land Reform, the Church and Crime and Punishment; themes that resonate in Soviet history. In the end, I am glad I pushed forward and finished this book. ...more

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