Thoughts on Leo Tolstoy ?

[CHE with an AK]

Fan of his work? Opinions on his books & life? His relevance to leftism/anarchism?

I'm a huge fan of War and Peace

[Foldered]

I haven't delved into very much Tolstoy. I've been meaning to read War & Peace, but I was planning on waiting until I could understand Russian enough to read it; sadly I've lost most of my Russian at this point though.

I do find him very interesting though; as far as I know he was a Christian Anarchist and, despite my own Athiesm, I can very much respect that.

[MarxSchmarx]

Fan of his work? Opinions on his books & life? His relevance to leftism/anarchism?

I'm a huge fan of War and Peace

Yes indeed. Although I've only read it in translation, by far and away it is my favorite book of all time. War and Peace is a Homeric epic that deals with all the grand themes of modern literature in a humble and interconnected way.

It was also the book that provided in very vivid terms for me why the Leninist project cannot work - in particular, it highlights the importance of a democratic consciousness and changing prevailing social attitudes, rather than imposing rules from above. In this respect, it is just as much a manifesto for democracy at the most parochial level and a critique of power, authority, and hierarchy as it is a literary tour-de-force. Tolstoy's historiography, though controversial, is spelled out in War and Peace, and one cannot help but come away from it both disillusioned with the "Socialism from Above" and inspired about the prospect for lasting social change.

PS. Anna Karenina kicks ass too.

[Sir Comradical]

I have 'War and Peace' sitting on my bookshelf, I'll read it after I read Midnight's Children. It's one thick motherfucker that's for sure.

[Chimurenga.]

Just bought War and Peace for a dollar. Probably wont be reading it for quite some time.

[Buffalo Souljah]

I prefer Dostoevsky's style over Tolstoy's--Tolstoy bores me--, but that's just me. There's an interesting study in the now-defunct Dostoevsky Studies comparing each man's portrayal of death and subjectivity as representative of their general style of writing. It was a pretty interesting article. I'll see if I can dig it up.

[Buffalo Souljah]

It is actually in Bakhtin's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakhtin) work Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakhtin#Problems_of_Dostoyevsky.E2.80.99s_ Art:_polyphony_and_unfinalizability) that this dialog takes place. Unfortunately, I was only able to find a Google Books version of the text (http://books.google.com/books?id=MkXAzSbkU8QC&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=tolstoy+dostoevsky+%22dostoevsky%27s+poetics%22 +death&source=bl&ots=xHPRjdVnbn&sig=yP8T_N0rJIaMikwSkSyyHqg4KoA&hl=en&ei=95LXS8-0DIHy9QTB6vSmBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false), which has peices cut out from it and is not able to be copied and pasted. The section in question begins on pp. 289 and continues on to the end of the next page. Very interesting analysis. I might begin a thread on the importance of Bakhtin scholarship for literary and cultural theory in Theory, now that I am thinking about him again.

[milk]

as far as I know he was a Christian Anarchist and, despite my own Athiesm, I can very much respect that.

The Kingdom of God is within You. There had been among some of the radical intelligentsia a turn towards contacting the rather diverse and colourful rebellious religious groups among the peasants throughout the 19th century.