Russian Short Stories Part 2: Leo Tolstoy in the 1880s

The midlife crisis that seized Tolstoy after the massive popularity of War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877) led him to disavow his literary successes and pursue a very different course, prompting him to reevaluate how to best use his literary gifts for the benefit of mankind. 

Beginning in the 1880s until the end of his life in 1910, he would write stories and religious and philosophical tracts that sought to express a moral point of view in line with the actual teachings of Christ. The moral standard he espoused rejected adherence to religious and civil authority in favor of individual conscience. He insisted that the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Tsarist state should be held accountable to the Gospels which they officially endorsed, although their actions frequently contradicted the core of Christ's teachings of social equality, compassion and nonviolence. Publicly calling out Russia's ruling class as a bunch of hypocrites cost him dearly, resulting in his excommunication from the church and raising the ire of the government. By the end of his life, he was hailed as a hero by the people and a reviled as a pariah by those in power. 

Although his priorities and literary voice changed, he was still Tolstoy, a man of incredible gifts and insight. He was an idealist, and however utopian his ideals may seem to us now, his writings from this period had very real, far reaching influence. Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King took him seriously, successfully putting Tolstoy's belief in nonviolence to the test against imperial power and the tyranny of racial segregation. 

These real world successes lend some credence to his convictions. Tolstoy took up the cause of the Russian peasant and oppressed peoples everywhere, pleading for tolerance and understanding. His philosophy was passionate, erratic, sometimes contradictory, but the man's heart was in the right place. His writerly skill. firm conviction and purity of intention can disarm our skeptical impulses and sometimes suspend our disbelief. In the hands of a lesser writer, the fruits of such zeal would be disastrous, but even in service to a philosophical agenda, however flawed, his literary gifts never failed him. Tolstoy's rawness of feeling draws us in.

Both of these collections are short reads, and with one exception, are ideal for lunch hour perusal. They are so deftly and thoroughly written that it's hard to discuss them without spoiling them before you've had the chance to read them, but I've attempted to do so here.

1901 Russian edition of The Kreutzer Sonata

The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories (1889) by Leo Tolstoy

In the very famous title story (actually a novella), Posdnicheff, an aggrieved man on a train, confides in his fellow passenger of how he came to murder his wife--a crime for which he was acquitted. His story is a diatribe that skewers the hypocrisy of gender roles, social rites, the mysterious transformative power of music, declining morals and the state of the institution of marriage. Although many of his points are difficult to argue with, his remedy for these ills is perfect abstinence from some enormously popular and time-honored human pastimes, like drinking, smoking, eating meat and engaging in premarital sex.

"The Kreutzer Sonata" is a cautionary tale about the evils of unrestrained sensuality, the double standards imposed on men and women regarding morality, and the perils of living a life not in accordance with Christian spiritual and moral principles, but the message I took away from this story is that it's best to exercise caution when engaging a fellow train traveler in conversation because he might just turn out to be a crazy person.

But from the opening dialog between various passengers about the changing social status of women, men and marriage to the final, violent crescendo of his wife's murder, "The Kreutzer Sonata" is masterfully written. In Posdnicheff's confession, Tolstoy maintains a focused, maniacal intensity that never lets up. In fact, you might have to take a break after reading this one.

"Ivan the Fool" is a fairy tale that paints a picture of a Christian anarchic utopia in which those who toil for money and power are brought to ruin and those who work for the betterment of themselves and their neighbors live happy lives. Well wrought, but as with many fairy tales (and like all propaganda), one gets the feeling that the message is laid on a bit thick. ."A Missed Opportunity" is based on the parable of the unforgiving servant from the Gospel of Matthew. Both are beautifully crafted and both offer points of view that, like most utopian philosophies, are tinged with truths that are easy to grasp and equally difficult to practice. 

"A Lost Opportunity" is a tale in simple language about two peasant farming families who once lived in harmony, sharing resources and helping each other. But relations between the two families rapidly break down when a squabble about a chicken laying an egg in the neighbor's yard escalates to a dizzying height of pettiness, litigation, destruction and violence that extends to the surrounding village. All of this could have been avoided by a simple act of forgiveness. A point well taken in any age. 

"Polikushka" dates from 1863 and while the straightforward style fits in with the other stories in this collection, its fatalism is a little out of place. It is a tale of redemption thwarted by circumstance when a servant with a reputation for thieving is summoned by his noblewoman for an errand to collect a large sum of money and return it to her. Determined to prove himself trustworthy, he sets out to fulfill his duty. Therein lies the spoiler. We will tiptoe past it now...

The final piece, "The Candle", depicts the era of brutality and degradation of Russia's serfs as the setting for a simple story about good triumphing over evil. But there is a healthy dose of irony and darkly tinged humor here, elevating this piece above the deceptively simple morality tale it pretends to be. That's all you get, else the stories are in danger of being spoiled. I suggest you read the last two stories back to back to see how his style and perspective had changed in twenty years.  

Download The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories from Project Gutenberg

Post-midlife-crisis-era Leo Tolstoy

What Men Live By and Other Tales (1885) by Leo Tolstoy

Of these two collections, this one is the most overtly religious in tone. All of the stories are good, all are parables, and the last of the stories is a knockout masterpiece. These stories were written to be understood by people from peasants to kings, and their beauty and potency is in their simplicity. 

"What Men Live By" is the story of a shoemaker named Simon who encounters a man named Michael who is naked, cold and hungry, while on an errand to collect money owed for his services and buy himself a sheepskin coat. In an act of Christian charity, he takes the man home to his wife, feeds and clothes him and takes him on as an apprentice. There are several hints that reveal to us that Michael is not of this world, and not surprisingly, he turns out to be an angel send back to Earth by God to learn a lesson for his disobeyance while going about the business of collecting a soul. At the end, it is revealed that the lessons he learns are what dwells in man, what is not given to man and what men live by. Enough said.

"Three Questions" contains a message that pretty much anyone of any time, age or culture can understand. A king summons all who would advise him to ponder three questions. The story begins:

"It once occurred to a certain king, that if he always knew the right time to begin everything; if he knew who were the right people to listen to, and whom to avoid; and, above all, if he always knew what was the most important thing to do, he would never fail in anything he might undertake."

Yeah? No kidding! Who among my readers wouldn't like to know the answer to these questions? Not surprisingly, everyone he consults has differing answers to his queries, so the king ventures out to seek the advice of a reclusive wise man. Long story short with no spoilers: He finds out, and the answers he gets are good ones.

In "The Coffee-House of Surat" we find a banished Persian theologian whose considerable scholarly efforts have only led him to question the existence of God. After drinking a cup of opium, he openly asks his African slave if he believes in God. This exchange is heard by the establishment's diverse coterie of foreign travelers, leading to a discussion that reveals many different viewpoints on the subject. This story is a concise, eloquent plea for tolerance. Nicely written with an easily digestible message.

Which brings us to "How Much Land Does One Man Need?", a perfectly drawn tale that I can't tell you too much about without spoiling the experience of reading it. James Joyce thought that this story is one of the greatest in all of literature and I thoroughly agree with him. A farmer and landowner, tempted by the Devil into pride and greed, seeks to acquire more land to improve his family's stature and standard of living. But how much is enough and to what lengths will he go to get it? Sorry…you'll have to read this one for yourself. because I'm not going to give it away. What an ending!  But don't take my word for it. click on the link below and enjoy it.

Download What Men Live By and Other Tales from Project Gutenberg

Next time, we'll look at stories by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, the father of Russian literature in the 19th century.

If you'd like to know more about Tolstoy, here is an excellent documentary film from the BBC. It's really fabulous and I can't recommend it enough. In fact, this film provided much of the biographical detail I've included in these posts.

As always. if you read eBooks prepared by Project Gutenberg, please make a donation to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. 

Russian Short Stories Part 1: Leo Tolstoy 1852-1859

"It does not matter much where you begin with him; you feel instantly that the man is mighty, and mighty through his conscience; that he is not trying to surprise or dazzle you with his art, but that he is trying to make you think clearly and feel rightly about vital things with which "art" has often dealt with diabolical indifference or diabolical malevolence." --William Dean Howells (Introduction to Sebastopol, 1887 edition)

I agree with W. D. Howells. Discovering Tolstoy has been one of the great joys in life for me. Tolstoy stirs the reader's moral sense without condescension, telling truths about human experience in a voice so powerful yet so personal and confiding. But I disagree with Howells on one point; It really does matter where one begins with Tolstoy. Instead of ripping right into the borscht-intensive main course that is War and Peace, there are several smaller but still rich and satisfying delicacies by Leo Tolstoy to graze upon. 

My first taste of Tolstoy was the same book that introduced Howells to his work. The Cossacks (1863), is about a Russian socialite who, in an attempt to flee his from his social obligations (and a few outstanding gambling debts) to find meaning, joins the army and lives among the people in the Caucasus mountains at the beginning of the Crimean War. It was a revelation to me. Disarmed by the novel's enormous heart, I fell in love with it instantly. It is a novel that is sensitive, brutal and intensely personal in a way I hadn't encountered before in literature. When I was finished reading it, I felt a longing that I can't define. I felt so close to it that writing about it for the blog proved difficult. Only through reading have I been able to achieve such a heightened mental and emotional state. I was hooked and had to learn more.

In this series, we'll begin to explore Russian short stories with a look at two collections by Tolstoy written in the period between 1852 and 1859. I think modern readers will be pleasantly surprised by the tightness and even pacing of his prose. Though a towering giant in the world of literature, Tolstoy is very readable. Whatever knowledge of nineteenth century Russia you may lack will be answered by brief and helpful footnotes. The universality of the themes easily overshadows most of the historical and cultural particulars, and his compassionate voice draws our attention to haunting, uncomfortable truths about ourselves. Here are two very good places to start.

A Russian Proprietor and Other Stories (1888) by Leo Tolstoy

This volume collects some early short stories of the twentysomething Tolstoy. I know that I've warned readers of The Overleaf to avoid introductions in the past, but in this case, the preface by translator Nathan Haskell Dole is actually useful, giving us a few contextual clues without spoiling anything. 

"A Russian Proprietor" is an unfinished novel that, as Dole points out, stands well on its own. It's the story of an idealistic young Russian landowner who drops out of college to manage his property and attend to his serfs' needs in the hopes of improving their lives. He soon discovers that his education and idealism have done little to prepare him for the reality of their conditions and temperament. The clash between his ideals and their reality makes for some awkward and often comic situations that force him to rethink his plans and to sort his altruistic intentions from his egotistic impulses. Dole tells us that these stories have many parallels with Tolstoy's own life, which explains much. The autobiographical character of his writing is perhaps what makes his words feel so intimate. One gets the sense that Tolstoy has learned many of the lessons in these stories for himself.

Breaking through social barriers in search of a genuine human connection is a theme shared by a few of these stories. "Lucerne" finds a well-to-do traveller at a Swiss resort, is irritated by the cold formality of English tourists and craves a real conversation with a real human being. He notices and befriends a street musician whose mere presence in the hotel drinking champagne causes a chain reaction of snobbery, from the rich hotel guests to the waiters and kitchen servants. In "Albert", an aristocratic man brings home a brilliant but troubled violinist from a party in the hopes of reforming him only to find that Albert is incapable of fitting in with his new friend's plans for him. "Three Deaths"  tells of two consumptive people of different social classes who befall the same fate under markedly different circumstances. No spoiler from me on the third death, however.

There are two stories in which gambling and roguery figure prominently--subjects that Tolstoy knew of firsthand in his younger days. "Recollections of a Scorer" tells  of a man's downfall from the perspective of a scorekeeper in a pool hall. In an almost naturalist narrative style (an extreme rarity for Tolstoy), the scorer relates without judgement a nobleman's pathetic demise and ruination from compulsive gambling. 

"Two Hussars" is an engaging tale that contrasts two generations of cavalrymen. The elder Count Turbin, whose pleasing good looks, formidable dancing skills and penchant for wild times that costs him his life contrasts favorably with his more sensible but less remarkable son. It's interesting to see Tolstoy's developing style; The pacing of the first half is very effective, but the resolution in the second half is abrupt. One gets the feeling he's trying to apply various approaches to express the ideas in his head. Plenty of good stuff there, though.

"A Prisoner in the Caucasus" is an adventure story written for children about a Russian soldier who is captured and held for ransom by a group of Tartars.  The simplicity of Tolstoy's prose and the quick-moving story can turn any willing reader into an eleven-year-old kid. A little violent by today's standards and the Tartars are certainly not treated as heroes, but a pretty gripping read.

Download A Russian Proprietor & Other Stories from Project Gutenberg

The young soldier Leo Tolstoy in 1854

Sebastopol (1887) by Leo Tolstoy

Between 1853 and 1856, France and Britain waged war against Russia's Tsar Nicholas I, who attempted to salvage the bedraggled remains of the Ottoman Empire in an effort to control the Mediterranean Sea, the holy grail of European conquest and influence. Things did not go as planned. This book of three short stories gives us a view of the conflict from the point of view of Russian soldiers in the city of Sebastopol on the Black Sea in what is now the Ukraine where Tolstoy served in the army. 

In the first piece, "Sebastopol in December, 1854", Tolstoy describes in vivid detail what he must have seen upon his arrival. We see a bubbling cauldron of human activity in the army encampment very close to the front lines, the piles of artillery, the horses, the tattered refugees trying to get passage away from the carnage by boat, and busy soldiers in transit. Tolstoy doesn't spare the reader the grim nightmare that is the makeshift hospital with its mutilated soldiers howling in dire agony, awaiting help as they lay on stretchers next to the corpses of their comrades. We see the town itself as soldiers and locals frequent restaurants and shops with the eerie pretense of normality. We hear the sound of gunfire and cannons of the fourth bastion where the fiercest fighting takes place. We see the trenches on the front lines where thousands of young men, full of courage and patriotism, met with their doom.  The first of the three sketches is patriotic in tone, but underscored by chilling visions of the reality of war.

In "Sebastopol in May, 1855", we return to the battle scarred city and the tone changes from one of patriotism to one of disillusionment. Amidst the carnage, soldiers try to carry on with the business of warfare, focusing on their appointed jobs to keep the insanity of their situation at bay. We see white gloved officers putting on airs of gentility and asserting their civilian social status--one of many incongruities in a place where all men potentially face the same fate. The officers are to an extent detached from the reality of their surroundings yet still experience the horrors of war. Tolstoy criticizes their vanity and pettiness and notes an ambivalent mixture of good and evil in men. Truth, he concludes, is the true hero of the story of the war.

In "Sebastopol in August, 1855", the idealism and disillusionment of the two previous sketches are brought together. Volodiya Koseltzoff, a young ensign, volunteers to leave his quiet post at St. Petersburg to join his older brother Mikhail  at Sebastopol. We follow him as he reunites with his brother and travels on to find his new post. He is filled with idyllic visions of fighting alongside his brother as they journey towards the front lines, but the sight of a ward full of gruesomely wounded soldiers and the sound of gun and cannon fire fill him with terror and dread. He is at first appalled by what he perceives as his own cowardliness, but as he meets the men with whom he will serve--apparently oblivious to the horror of their situation and more concerned with griping about their gambling debts--he begins to feel more at ease. The closer he gets to battle, the braver he becomes.

That's all I can tell you without being a rotten spoiler, so you'll have to find out for yourself the fate of these two brothers. Tolstoy's descriptions of war, his firsthand understanding of the psychology of war and the terror felt in men's hearts, and his moral outrage at the senseless loss of human life make these stories compelling and unforgettable. Technically, the writing becomes more focused as the stories progress. Not an easy read, but an excellent example of the young writer's growing talents. Very moving.

Read Sebastopol online at Google Books

The short stories are a good way to get to know Tolstoy. In fact, short stories are a good way to become familiar with Russian literature. Don't forget to have a look at my piece on Turgenev's A Sportsman's Sketches, which is another superb collection of Russian short fiction. Next time, we'll look at some stories by Tolstoy written after War and Peace and Anna Karenina that reveal a very different voice.

By the way, if you read eBooks downloaded from Project Gutenberg, I'd like you to consider making a small donation to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. They're doing very important work by digitizing great literature and making untold volumes of human knowledge and expression available to everyone for free. That's worth a few bucks, surely.