Showing results by author "Leo Tolstoy" in All Categories

This book contains instructive stories - a collection of fine stories and parables on the theme of morality - by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910).

Blistatel'naja komedija velikogo russkogo pisatelja L'va Nikolaevicha Tolstogo (1828-1910). V Peterburge, v bogatom dome Zvezdincevyh, v privychnoj utrennej sumatohe snujut slugi, bespreryvno zvonjat v dver' posetiteli: artelycik ot Burd'e s plat'em i zapiskoj dlja baryni, Sahatov Sergej Ivanovich, byvshij tovarishh ministra, jelegantnyj gospodin, svobodnyj i interesujushhijsja vsem na svete, doktor, reguljarno nabljudajushhij barynju, Jakov-bufetchik, vechno vinovatyj, nelovkij i puglivyj.

The book contains Tolstoy's pedagogical article "Linen-Measurer".

In Tolstoy's short story "Master and Man", Vasily Andreich Brekhunov, a rich merchant, is determined to close a business deal. He is travelling with his exploited servant, Nikita, through a blizzard - little realizing that this will soon become a life and death situation.

In 1851, at the age of 22, Tolstoy joined the Russian army. The four years he spent as a soldier were among the most significant in his life and inspired the tales collected here. In The Cossacks, Tolstoy tells the story of Olenin, a cultured Russian whose experiences among the Cossack warriors of Central Asia leave him searching for a more authentic life. In writing about individuals and societies in conflict, Tolstoy has penned some of the most brilliant stories about the nature of war.

"The Death of Ivan Ilyich", first published in 1886, is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, one of the masterpieces of his late fiction, written shortly after his religious conversion of the late 1870s.

The novel tells the story of the death, at age 45, of a high court judge in 19th century Russia. Living what seems to be a good life, his dreadful relationship with his wife notwithstanding, Ivan Ilyich Golovin bangs his side while putting up curtains in a new apartment intended to reflect his family's superior status in society.

Leo Tolstoy is widely recognized as one of the world's greatest novelists and short story writers and a master of realistic fiction. He is equally known for his complex and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, developed following a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became known for his deep moral thinking and social reforms.

Tolstoy's literal interpretation of the 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 are represented in his short story "A Candle", which tells the story of a group of peasants suffering under a tyrannical overseer.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) began writing when he was stationed in the Caucasus in the Russian army. After fighting in the Crimean war, he settled in St. Petersburg, where he wrote a number of stories which reveal an increasing disillusionment with society and the military. "The Empty Drum" is an antiwar story adapted from a Russian folk tale.

Tolstoy's final work - a gripping novella about the struggle between the Muslim Chechens and their inept occupiers - is a powerful moral fable for our time. Inspired by a historical figure Tolstoy heard about while serving in the Caucasus, this story brings to life the famed warrior Hadji Murat, a Chechen rebel who has fought fiercely and courageously against the Russian empire. After a feud with his commander, he defects to the Russians, only to find that he is now trusted by neither side.

A delightful collection of lesser known traditional and modern fairy stories: 1. "The King of the Golden River"; 2. "The Empty Drum"; 3. "The Fire Spirit"; 4. "The Tree of Death"; 5. "The Smuggler’s Daughter"; 6. "A Dream of Wild Bees"; 7. "The Fisherman"; 8. "The Masked Ball"; 9. "The Petrified Man"; 10. "The Were-Wolf"...and many more.

This is a diverting delight, a window on romance in literature. There are high lovers and low lovers, tragic lovers, comic lovers, and lovers who shouldn’t be doing what they are doing at all and certainly not then and there. There is even Fanny Hill trying not to discover what physical love is about when set upon by an old roué who has paid for the privilege. Though of special interest for lovers and their special lover’s day of St. Valentine, it is an amusing and sometimes surprising collection.

One of Tolstoy’s most important shorter works, The Kreutzer Sonata presents a problematic view of the relationship between the sexes and promotes abstinence as the solution. Pozdnyshev jealously observes the intimacy that emerges between his wife and a violin player. Haunted by The Kreutzer Sonata, over which they bonded, it plays round and round in Pozdnyshev’s head driving him to distraction and to an unquenchable rage.

At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon’s army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey, and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants, to soldiers and Napoleon himself.

This novel is believed to be partially based on Tolstoy's own experiences. It is the story of a Russian soldier, Dmitri, and his time spent in the Caucasus. He befriends an old Cossack and meets a Cossack girl, Maryanka, and falls in love. As the story progresses, he learns more about himself and comes to realize how wrong and immoral his former life in Russian High Society was.

After discovering that his fiancée has had an affair, Prince Stepan Kasatsky decides to become a monk. His reputation for holiness grows, and he attracts pilgrims from far and wide. Yet he is still tortured by boredom, pride, and lust.

Boyhood is the second book in the Childhood, Boyhood, Youth trilogy. Childhood was the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released in November 1852. It was the first in a series of three novels and was followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just 23 years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature. Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

This is the third book in the Childhood, Boyhood, Youth trilogy. Childhood was the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released in November 1852. It was the first in a series of three novels and was followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just 23 years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature. Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

The book contains a cycle of stories for children about the dogs Milton and Bulka, and the legend of the elder Fyodor Kuzmich, who was buried in place of the Emperor Alexander I.

In this novella, Tolstoy brilliantly shows how a single crime - the counterfeiting of currency (coupons) - leads to a whole series of bloody crimes and death.