Showing results by author "Tolstoy" in All Categories

A Confession, or My Confession, is a short work on the subject of melancholia, philosophy and religion by the acclaimed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. It was written in 1879 to 1880, when Tolstoy was in his early fifties. The book is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question: "If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?." Without the answer to this, for him, life had become "impossible".

This book collects a magnificent set of works by Russian classical authors: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Bulgakov. Each original story, springing from a common creative heritage, delivers a glimpse of the immortal Russian Soul and has influenced modern literary trends. These stories are interesting to their core and will bring pleasure to readers. Get ready to immerse yourself within these immortal works that have long been counted among the best of classic world literature: Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Dickens: The Ultimate Collection brings together the major works of fiction from three of the greatest writers of the 1800s. In this collection you'll hear Jonathan Keeble and David Rintoul expertly narrating the grand epics of The Brothers Karamazov and War & Peace, Stephen Fry narrating Great Expectations, Scrooge's ghostly journey narrated by Jason Isaacs, and other award-winning narrators bringing Tolstoy and Dickens' most beloved stories to life.

Krieg und Frieden ist ein im realistischen Stil geschriebenes Historiengemälde des russischen Schriftstellers Leo Tolstoi. Es gilt als eines der bedeutendsten Werke der Weltliteratur und wurde mehrfach verfilmt. In seiner Mischung aus historischem Roman und militär-politischen Darstellungen sowie Analysen der zaristischen Feudalgesellschaft während der napoleonischen Ära Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts in Russland und der französischen Invasion zwischen 1805 und 1812 nimmt es die Montagetechnik moderner Romane des 20. Jahrhunderts vorweg.

The best collection of Russian short stories includes: Fyodor Dostoevsky: Notes from the Underground, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree. Leo Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Kholstomer, the Story of a Horse, Alyosha the Pot, A Letter to a Hindu, A Confession, God Sees the Truth, but Waits, A Russian Christmas Party. Anton Chekhov: Kashtanka, Gusev, The Darling, The Lady with the Dog, A Slander, The Horse-Stealers, The Petchenyeg, A Dead Body, A Happy Ending, The Looking-GlassOld Age, Darkness, The Beggar, In Trouble, Frost, Minds in Ferment, Gone Astray.

The Ultimate Classics Collection: Volume Five is the fifth instalment of our wide-ranging classic collections. Volume Five features 14 essential works that reach across Europe, America, and Russia - from Twain to Dostoyevsky to Austen - to bring together some of the most influential authors of the 18th and 19th century. Read by a cast of incredible narrators, this is a chance to expand your listening by going deeper into some of your favourite authors' works and find your new favourite piece of classic literature.

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the Russian province of Tula to a wealthy noble family. As a child, he had private tutors but he showed little interest in any formal education. When he went to the University of Kazan in 1843 to study oriental languages and law, he left without completing his courses. Life now was relaxed and idle but with some writing also taking place. In 1852 ‘Childhood’ was published to immediate success and was followed by ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Youth’. His experience in the army and the horrors he witnessed resulted in ‘The Cossacks’ in 1862 and the trilogy ‘Sevastopol Tales’.

Beautiful and intelligent young Anna suffers in her loveless marriage, dreaming of the romantic life she should be living, and the love that others around her should be sharing honestly with one another. When she meets the dashing Vronsky he seems to offer everything she has been craving, but the cost she will pay is higher than she could have imagined. Meanwhile Konstantin Levin, a gentle landowner who shares Anna's belief in sincerity, attempts to channel his beliefs into his land, his family, and his love for beautiful aristocrat Kitty.

This book contains the following works: Edgar Allan Poe: The Gold Bug, William Shakespeare: Romeo And Juliet, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: Faust, Mark Twain: Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Leo Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Translator: Constance Garnett), Arthur Conan Doyle: The Lost World, Henry James: The Turn of the Screw, Antoine de Saint-Exupery: The Little Prince (Translator: Marina Zhigalova), Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Kate Chopin: The Awakening.

Leo Tolstoy was born to an aristocratic Russian family, became a world-famous influential novelist, and then chose to lead the simple life of a peasant. Dating from this last part of his life, Tolstoy’s influential book What I Believe takes readers along on the path to a life modeled literally on Jesus Christ’s "Sermon on the Mount" and the teachings of the Gospels. In revealing and frank essays he reimagines a faith without dogma, centered solely on Jesus’ doctrine of love, humility, and self-denial.

God Sees the Truth, But Waits engages a subject that would have suited Dostoyevsky. But Dostoyevsky would have written it with a tone of fist-waving anger and frustration, while Tolstoy wrote this story with an accepting, non-violent attitude toward the grievances described. The protagonist has been wrongly accused of murder, separated from his family for 26 years, and by circumstance meets the real murderer in Siberia.

This psychological masterpiece dives into the mind of protagonist Ivan Ilyich as he questions the meaning of life, the significance of death, and his own misguided beliefs and ideas. Leo Tolstoy describes the mental and emotional journey of Ilyich as he is suddenly confronted with his own mortality and must question his entire way of life. Ilyich had chosen to ignore his family and the health of his own soul as he attempted to reach new heights in his career and social standing.

For an atheist it’s a great deal, though it does suggest atheism may have a weak point. For those of faith it’s a matter of jam now and purgatory tomorrow. A bargain many artists feel is something they can live with. For agnostics it’s usually a question of can the afterlife really be that bad, would workplace regulations reach all parts of heaven and hell. However, in this volume the terms are agreed and the Devil pays his fees and the character his dues, each happy to wait a few decades for the eternal payback.

This is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. The Gospel in Brief is an intriguing fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a “solution to the problem of life," not a theological or historical statement. He therefore ignores issues like Jesus' genealogy and divinity, focusing instead on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what he regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual.

An intimate portrait of Patrick O’Brian, written by his stepson Nikolai Tolstoy. Patrick O’Brian was one of the greatest British novelists of the twentieth century, securing his place in literary history with the bestselling Aubrey–Maturin series, books that have sold millions of copies...

In the winter of 1854 Tolstoy, then an officer in the Russian army, arranged to be transferred to the besieged town of Sebastopol. Wishing to see at first hand the action of what would become known as the Crimean War, he was spurred on by a fierce patriotism, but also by an equally fierce desire to alert the authorities to appalling conditions in the army. The three Sebastopol Sketches - 'December', 'May' and 'August' - re-create what happened during different phases of the siege and its effect on the ordinary men around him.

Leo Tolstoy's late masterpiece on dying and the unravelling of the values of his middle-class protagonist.

Tolstoy’s final novella, The Forged Coupon is an examination of the destructive powers of evil. In Part II, the author shows that good works have a domino effect, just as evil does in Part I.

The brilliance of this story is in how a normal bureaucrat, a judge in this case, has a small accident that winds up gradually taking his life. As he deals with this incident, with hope at first and then despair, he comes to terms with his family, his life, and the mediocrities that we all suffer with, except for the exceptional few. This story rings a particularly poignant note for those in early middle age facing the next part of their lives. This story is considered Tolstoy's best.

An abridged version of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. Anna (Bergman) is a wife and mother who has an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky (Peck).