Kyle’s Reviews > The Cossacks and Other Stories > Status Update
Kyle
is on page 202 of 483
An all-day pass into the December heat of the Crimean War. Tolstoy's first published work has an unsettling sense of personal immediacy. Perhaps due to the pronouns used, here translated into English as you, I, he and occasionally she, mainly focused on the second-person singular whose nationalism remains unflagging support of Russia, even though "your" side invaded Moldavia and Wallachia. People win the day for Leo.
— Aug 03, 2013 04:00PM
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Kyle’s Previous Updates
Kyle
is on page 464 of 483
All well, for some, in this ending. Events happen a little out of place but used to sympathetic effect, especially the brief mention of chapter one's thistle. Not sure what is next for Butler, but it is pretty much a familiar story as what was lately seen, on screen, in The Hurt Locker, where the soldier gets taken out of danger, but danger never leaves the war-torn minds. Poor Marya, how does her story end?
— Nov 26, 2013 12:54PM
Kyle
is on page 446 of 483
Peril at Shamil's palace for the Murat family cranks upon the narrative tension, and the pleasant conversations with Marya and Butler are simply holding back Hadji's impatience with the double-dealing Russians. Even Butler gets dealt a nasty hand, similar to many dissolute heroes populating Russian literature. Seems like a happy reunion for Hadji's family just wasn't in the cards, and he is getting ready to cash out.
— Nov 19, 2013 10:51PM
Kyle
is on page 427 of 483
The Russians on the march features a hero from another time, Butler, who seems just happy to be anywhere where the fighting happens. Not sure what role he has to play. People who are not happy are the family who helped Hadji Murat in the first place, their village destroyed by the Russians Murat unleashed. Lastly, the man who is hardest to figure out, Murat himself, appears to be making the moves on Marya Dmitrievna.
— Nov 12, 2013 11:00PM
Kyle
is on page 416 of 483
Interesting how Murat's biography, faithfully recorded by Loris-Melikov, makes its way up the channels of rank and executive power: from generals to courtiers to the emperor himself. Each stage reveals a how mindlessly cruel those above are towards the men (and horses) beneath them. Good thing the Romanov line was nearing the end of its lascivious run by the time Tolstoy wrote this parody of Nicholas' absolute power.
— Nov 07, 2013 05:51PM
Kyle
is on page 395 of 483
Got to step up my reading if I want to get done by the end of November. Three chapters a week! The women in this part come off a bit worse than other places, proof that this is an elderly, moralist Tolstoy writing: they're either flaunting their cleavage in front of Murat, sending their khan-sons off to be massacred in the next, or having some strange djigit suck at mom's breast to form alliances between her own son!
— Oct 29, 2013 09:27PM
Kyle
is on page 382 of 483
In a brisk change of pace, the story pulls a "meanwhile back at the ranch" to demonstrate the worthiness of a soldier who would not have warranted his own chapter, yet his family's praise makes what came before all the more touching. Meanwhile back at the palace another prince gets news of Murat's defection, and his worldly courtiers fall over each other to impress Vorontsov with stories of the man's daring exploits.
— Oct 22, 2013 11:28PM
Kyle
is on page 373 of 483
Murat gets to experience Russian hospitality at Prince Vorontsov's place, and aristrocrats learn a lesson about kunak, giving another what one desires. Even mad General Meller-Zakomelsky learns how to give in to his subordinate while keeping his eye on the prize. Lastly, the wounded Avdeev ends up not being able to hold a candle up to his peers, and becomes a fascinating statistic for the Russian war effort.
— Oct 15, 2013 08:53PM
Kyle
is on page 365 of 483
The dualism between the Cossack and the Russian sides continues to play out like a tennis match, the narrative ball landing in each court. Firstly, Hadji Murat is on the run from his own people, who merely want to appear as his captors. In the next chapter he gets to the Russian side, he and his men are viewed favorably, yet there is still some Russian grumbling about how the fierce foe now made into a smiling ally.
— Oct 01, 2013 10:27PM
Kyle
is on page 354 of 483
Good examples of how both sides of the other half live in such close proximity to the Chechen rebels. The Russian soldiers, on the one hand, seem frustrated with continual conflict, and one of them at least has the chatty sense of getting to know his enemy; the officers, on the other hand, are bored with life on the frontline, and seek refinement through cards, alcohol or pretty women. Seems to be a common leitmotif.
— Sep 18, 2013 12:59AM
Kyle
is on page 345 of 483
Nice to see Tolstoy's still got the narrative knack so late in his career (despite numerous essays promoting his anti-literature ethics). He starts off with an almost scientific observation of a resilient Tartar-thistle before taking the reader back to a hotspot for Russian imperial claims along the Caucasus Mountains. The hero Murat meets with his comrades, and shows another slice of life among "him" and his people.
— Sep 09, 2013 02:35PM
