A collection of quality short stories by Leo Tolstoy. The average story is rather good, but these stories are really better the longer they are. The Maude translation, I think, properly captures the grace and detailed wonder of Tolstoy, and I am eager to read Volume II.

Tolstoy continues to explore themes of societal pressure, the trappings of luxury, the value and importance of faith and religion, loving one's fellow man, and righteous, fulfilling purpose. In this collection, these are each expressed thoroughly but succinctly whenever they appear.

Favourite stories:
Sevastopol Sketches
Two Hussars
Family Happiness
Strider: The Story of a Horse
Polikushka
What Men Live By

BREAD AND GOD

In some ways, reading Tolstoy’s shorter fiction in chronological order has been more satisfying than reading his longer novels. We get to see his evolution as a writer from early military stories to family and peasant dramas and finally to tales of religious and existential musings. The stories read almost like diary entries and many are indeed highly autobiographical. We can see Tolstoy grappling with everything from his gambling obsession to his conflicting moral obligations to his serfs. There are so many striking moments that one would almost have to write a review for each story. Instead, I’ll just offer some highlights that I found particularly memorable:


- The stunning opening story of [b:The Sebastopol Sketches|50269|The Sebastopol Sketches|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441248297s/50269.jpg|2279930], in which Tolstoy becomes a Virgil-like guide descending into the hell of the city under siege.

- An aristocrat’s frightening night of being lost in a snowstorm as his driver tries to find his way back to the road, which is symbolic of all our struggles to navigate the difficult paths of life.

- A landlord’s noble (and naive) attempt to give his serfs all the land and material they need backfires as he realizes that serfs have been conditioned by generations of servitude to depend on him.

- Several stories grappling with the artist as outcast.

- A story bordering on a “weird tale” in which an old gelding tells his fellow horses his life story: the noble life of a hardworking horse who is slowly beaten down by foolish, lazy, wasteful humans. Another comment on the master/serf relationship.

- A stunning tale of a hunter almost having his face eaten off by a bear, which is practically an autobiographical account of Tolstoy’s real-life hunting accident.

At this point, I need to stop, or I’ll just be giving blurbs for every story in the collection. I was most surprised by some of Tolstoy’s weird tales, including a cobbler’s encounter with an angel and a surreal, dream-like fragment of a human-turned porcelain doll. Each tale ended with a moral lesson, but I never felt as if Tolstoy were preaching. Instead, I got the impression of one who desires to reveal moral truths for those willing to take the journey with the narrator.

I enjoyed exploring this collection over the last month, and look forward to reading the second volume, as well as Tolstoy’s other philosophical and religious writings.