Collected Shorter Fiction, Volume I: 1

Consumed by debts, failures and alcoholism, he passes away after Strider is done in by the knacker, providing meat for a litter of baby wolves. The Porcelain Doll A Fragment 5pp. A strange, fanciful letter from Tolstoy to his sister-in-law in which he describes how his wife seemingly turns into a porcelain doll and shrinks in size, only to become human again when outsiders arrive. She then reverts to the porcelain state when they depart. She loses a part of a leg, when the doll falls off the table, and Tolstoy requests his sister-in-law to send some special glue.

A very engaging story of the problems faced in a village when three recruits are required for military service. The mistress, or landlord, has berated him in the past, hence his reformation. Dultov has two sons and a nephew, and therefore more eligible young men than any other household. His nephew, Elijah, is chosen to be conscripted. Polikey is entrusted with the retrieval of a substantial sum of money. I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of a couple of minor characters who debated the issue of who should be conscripted. Garaska Kopilov is young, round-faced, square-headed, bearded and thickset.

Theodore Melnichy is tall, thin, yellow-faced, round-shouldered, young, with a scanty beard, small eyes and is always gloomy and embittered. One can almost see them so keen and detailed is the brush with which Tolstoy paints even his minor characters. The story is absolutely first rate — never falling into the sad despair of a Balzac or the unreal happy endings of an Austen and such, much more real. Three Tales for Children 39pp.

The contrast in the manner in which the two prisoners react to their circumstances is telling. A very thrilling story, and as with all of Tolstoy, very detailed in its descriptions. What Men Live By 17pp.

One can see Tolstoy, with his white hair and beard, leaning on a podium in a church and telling the entrancing story of Simon the shoemaker, his wife Matroyna and Michael their humble worker whom Simon discovered naked one wintry day beside a shrine. The interludes concerning the rich man and the woman who has raised twin girls are merely points to bring out the theme that God is love and love is God.

Beautifully written, even if it is a bit polemical, even for Tolstoy. Memoirs of a Madman 12 pp. An interesting effort to out-do Dostoevsky in an examination of psychological breakdown. The narrator finds a crushing depression overwhelming him when on journeys away from his estate: Prayer and loss of interest in his financial speculations seem to help to a degree, and by the far-too-abrupt end of this story, the narrator is giving away his money to help alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Dec 10, Vel Veeter rated it really liked it Shelves: For a couple of years in a row, I read Tolstoy during the weeks of state-wide testing in May at school.

This year I have spent the fall reading this collection, and so who knows what I will read during testing. The Raid and The Wood-Felling — Both of these short pieces are clearly exercises in form and content. Tolstoy said in other writing that he was fascinated with the experience of being a soldier in terms of the sensory elements around the lived experience of being in the field. If you recall from the end of War and Peace, that novel is about how the small movements in history collectively change the big movements.

These are not quite even the small moments. I am terrified of war and of fighting because of how big my own life feels to me. These kinds of sketches feel the same way for me…to be involved with a giant war only to die in a small raid or cutting trees. Sevastopol Sketches — This is interesting because it more or less became War and Peace, but not hugely on its own. The Snow Storm — Snow in history and snow in literature is such a fascinating trope….

Two Hussars — Another wartime story. Young Tolstoy seems imminently fascinated with these. Because he wrote and because I read War and Peace, I am less so. I would always rather read the whole thing than sketches. Meeting a Moscow Acquaintance — Another meditation on war, this time focusing on running into an old friend in the throes of war. So much waiting, so much uncanny, unlifelike experiences and then a weird moment of familiarity. How very different the beginning and end of those centuries is probably an impossible task for 21st century readers, even though we have a clear distinction between and This story is so much more aligned with the later Tolstoy.

Collected Shorter Fiction: Volume I by Leo Tolstoy

Albert — While this feels like it takes place in a fantasy novel for how alien it is in time. Family Happiness — A singular work. Focusing heavily on marriage and other related themes. Not really a novel even though it says so because of the hyper focus on the family itself.

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Short shrift in terms of story, but not in thought. Strider — A story of a horse, told by the horse, but not to reader, but to a group of men with the horse. The Porcelain Doll -A weird little sketch in which Tolstoy the writer is also the main character. God Sees the Truth but Waits — Children loved stories of condemned men. A Prisoner in the Caucasus — A desperate prisoners feeling guilty. Memoirs of a Mad Man — Legally every one had to write one of these.

Less offensive than the Gogol story, but still less illuminating that memoirs of mental health I have recently read. Sep 05, Mike rated it it was amazing. 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. 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. Jun 02, Emily Tippett rated it liked it. I just finished reading the short story "Family Happiness" out this book of many short stories by Tolstoy. When I first started the story all I knew was that Sergey Mikhaylych and Mashechkas' love for each other would evolve and go through struggles throughout the years.

I was excited to see just how their love would evolve so I kept reading. Their love starts off innocent, with Sergey Mikhaylych trying to keep his feelings for Mashechka somewhat secret. Eventually he expresses his love for her I just finished reading the short story "Family Happiness" out this book of many short stories by Tolstoy. Eventually he expresses his love for her and their love becomes more exiting and thrilling than ever. The knew romance leaves them engaged and carried away in their love for one another.

Soon enough they are married. I thought it was interesting how right after they got married Mashechka's first thoughts have to do with regret and her wondering what she had done. Almost as soon as she thinks this, she forgets it, her emotions replaced with excitement for the future. I wondered what it must feel like finding yourself married to a man nineteen years older than yourself and having to leave your family, house, and everything else you know behind you to start a completely new life. Sergey Mikhaylych and Mashechka also face other difficulties with their love as Mashechka grows older and matures.

Mashechka discovers she likes the social life while Sergey Mikhaylych prefers a much more quite and simpler life style, this causes some friction within their marriage. In the end they both find themselves unhappy and married with two children. The last part of the short story includes a conversation between Mashechka and Sergey Mikhaylych about how they are not madly in love with each other as they once were. They soon realize that their love has transformed into something much more civilized and somber.

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In the end Mashechka realizes that she now loves her husband as more of a father figure to her children and that that passionate love they once shared was all in the past and will never be able to resurface. After finishing the short story I was left feeling a little depressed about love, but I also felt enlightened at the same time. I am happy I read this short story, and even though it was a little depressing, I did learn things about love and how it matures, and I would definitely recommend this story to a friend.

Mar 16, Kirk rated it liked it. The military stories were good but the rest was rather boring. Neither his skin, nor his flesh, nor his bones, were of any use. Just as for the last twenty years his body that had walked the earth had been a great burden to everybody, so the putting away of that body was again The military stories were good but the rest was rather boring. Just as for the last twenty years his body that had walked the earth had been a great burden to everybody, so the putting away of that body was again an additional trouble to people. He had not been wanted by anybody for a long time and had only been a burden, yet the dead who bury their dead found it necessary to clothe that swollen body, which at once began to decompose, in a good uniform and good boots and put it into a new and expensive coffin with new tassels at its four corners, and then to place that coffin in another coffin of lead, to take it to Moscow and there dig up some long buried human bones, and to hide in that particular spot this decomposing maggotty body in its new uniform and polished boots, and cover it all up with earth.

Nov 20, Keith rated it really liked it Shelves: As I read them The title by itself is worth four stars. It suggests a surrendering to fate and depicts the sufferings brought about by hope and the hope for justice. Jun 14, Lance rated it it was amazing Shelves: These short stories provide a fascinating look into 20th century Russia, from the military to the intelligentsia to peasant life.

Collected Shorter Fiction: Volume I

It is also interesting to watch Tolstoy's talent and worldview develop through the explorations of his short fiction. Gets one into the developing mind of the world's greatest author. The reader comes away with an understanding of Tolstoy, his views, and why he held those views. Home Contact Us Help Free delivery worldwide.

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Collected Shorter Fiction Volume 1. Description Written over a period of more than half a century, Tolstoy's enchanting short stories and novellas reflect every aspect of his developing art and outlook. Volume 1 of the Everyman Collected Shorter Fiction is dominated by the characteristic experiences of his early life as soldier, land-owner, husband and father, the life which shaped Anna Karenina and War and Peace. It also includes several short fables which point to his later preoccupation with the religious life.

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In he published his first work, the autobiographical Childhood.