I'm not sure how to review the book as a whole, being a collection of short stories, but I do have some things to say of it. Well, particularly about Tolstoy, which is important to the types of stories that he writes. I think that Tolstoy is rightly recognized worldwide for his profound philosophies and practices. He plays a key role in the development of "Christian anarchism," and strongly believed in nonviolence, most specifically and especially when it came to his beliefs concerning Jesus Christ's teachings. He wrote a book expressing this philosophy in a work titled, "The Kingdom of God is Within You." The book had such a profound impact on Mahatma Gandhi that he sought Tolstoy out so as to be in his presence. Tolstoy's examples were radical enough that he was exiled from his Russia, his home country. Tolstoy was born into a wealthy family but he chose to live as a homeless man and share his money with the poor. The short stories in Great Short Stories each present several things to consider or ponder, and I find that Tolstoy presents his characters to be so real that often times the things I read were deeply disturbing simply for their humanity and the truthfulness behind them. The first short story, "Family Happiness," was perhaps my favorite, and I think everyone should read it even if not the rest of the book. (Goodness, ALL the titles are really boring titles! But entertainment is not the goal of the stories. Though they are not boring, they are intense, but not in a story-like way, if that makes sense.) It is, also, and kind of unfortunately, the most light hearted of the stories. I think that if one enjoys focus on expanding one's mind, that this would really be a good book to read, religious or not. Tolstoy was religious, most of his characters often pray, and there is habitual and culturally realistic reference to "the Lord" and religion throughout the stories, but to those that do not believe in Christ, that has very little to do with the purposes. I liked the book, though I did not always enjoy it. It was easy reading in terms of phrasing, complex reading in terms of concepts (if you take the time to consider them). Tolstoy has a pleasant writing style (though it has been translated from the Russian language, which is also something to consider), and a breathtakingly PROFOUND way of presenting people and their thoughts and feelings. I really do recommend this book, especially to those that pursue wisdom. Not necessarily to just "take from" Tolstoy, but at least to consider one's place in reference to them.

Lyrical, stunning, impressive...!

Tolstoy is a beautiful writer. I was deeply touched by his stories and the meaning behind each story. I am in awe!

AMAZING!

The marvel of Tolstoy is his instinctive grasp of the desperate choices humans face in life.

He has an uncanny skill in both portraying our ability to love and hate, as well as our motivations and fears. When reading his stories, I often feel myself completely succumbing to his world, as if I’ve known the characters my whole life. The deep emotional and intellectual resonance of his works stay with me long after I close the pages.

Such a work is The Death of Ivan Ilych, a short story published in 1886.

In it, the reader can see the roots of the moral questions that Tolstoy himself will wrestle with his whole life. The primary question being: what is a good life?

For Ivan Ilych, he had answered this question by leading a life that was, “the most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible”. A dutiful Russian bureaucrat, his navigated life by relying on the good sense of society to decide what was proper. His chief pleasure came from a sense of his own power over inferiors, and secondary pleasures from playing bridge and indulging in bourgeoisie tastes at home.

Yet throughout this innocent ascendance in social position, there were cracks that betrayed a denial of the truth underneath the life of “legality, correctitude, and propriety”. The truth at last manifested itself in the form of physical and psychological pain, plaguing him endlessly and making life more miserable than death. Faced with this curse and sensing death’s close presence, Ivan Ilych began to wonder, “What if my whole life had been wrong?”.

Ilych looked backed at his life, and realized suddenly, “all that for which he had lived- and saw clearly that it was not real at all, but a terrible and huge deception which had hidden both life and death. This consciousness intensified his physical suffering tenfold.”

The book ends without answering the question of what is the right life, and the only clue the reader is left with is the fresh and sunny image of Gerásim, a peasant in Ilych’s household. Gerásim alone sympathized with his master’s pain. Yet, his simple nature was unperturbed by the thought of death, and presumably his close relationship with nature allowed him to view it as a natural cycle.

In Gerásim’s character, one can see Tolstoy’s admiration for the life-affirming powers of the countryside, which is echoed in Anna Karenina and other works.

Tolstoy peeled back the layers of ordinary life to remonstrate against its lack of meaning, but because he was just as human as his characters, he could not show the path to a correct life. He leaves us with the image of Ivan Ilych screaming during his last days in anguish, encapsulating a hidden existential malaise that Tolstoy would struggle with his whole life.

http://thelittlebirdsong.com/

Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy was a pleasant enough collection of novellas and short stories, but it didn't blow me away as much as I thought it would. About half the stories caught and held my attention, but a couple of the others I found rather dull, and overall I didn't think these works had the impact of his longer-form writings. If you are a fan of Tolstoy already, you'll probably find something to enjoy here, but I wouldn't necessarily suggest those new to his works start here unless they really can't face the length of Anna Karenina. This collection gets four stars from me.

শুধু 'ফাদার সের্গেই' গল্পটার জন্যেই অগণিত তারা দাগানো যায় এই বইটাকে...

Russia has produced some of the greatest people in the area of literature. The work of Russian authors varies from romance, satire, religion, politics. Various genres are popular among readers, starting from poetry, novels, and short fiction stories to literary realism and symbolism. Their work has been published and translated worldwide and attracted many readers.
Leo Tolstoy is a great story teller. His stories induce moral values into children and adults alike. This Maple

peerless

Hadji Murad ... has something in common, on the one hand, with Shakespeare's plays of power and fate, and on the other, with such a corrosively perceptive study of colonialism as Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The episode itself dates from Tolstoy's own early years in the Caucasus, when Shamil, the Moslem religious leader, was trying to unite the Caucasian tribes against the Russian annexation.


from John Bailey's Introduction



This is a tremendous collection of stories by Tolstoy. Don't be fooled, "short works" does not mean they are "short stories", rather they are more like novellas. Although the last story, Alyosha The Pot, is only seven pages long, the other eight stories provide over 650 pages of great reading. (The Cossacks alone is 150 pages.)

I read them all a few years ago and enjoyed every one of them. I would have to reread them to remember my favorites (which I may well do), but one that I remember particularly is Master and Man, about a well-off merchant and one of his laborers, who set out together in a horse-drawn sled on a winter afternoon, a couple hours before nightfall.



"Half the sky was hidden by a lowering dark cloud. In the yard it was quiet, but in the street the wind was felt more keenly. The snow swept down from a neighboring shed and whirled about in the corner near the bath-house." What a mood setter!

Besides the stories already mentioned, the collection contains Family Happiness, The Death of Ivan Ilych, The Devil, The Kreutzer Sonata, and Father Sergius. The translations are by Louise and Aylmer Maude, and John Bayley's ten page Introduction is very informative. (Bayley wrote The Order of Battle at Trafalgar, a book that contains many wonderful essays on Russian literature.)



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The biggest impact this collection of short stories had on me was the desire it gave me to write more. I’m not sure if it was Tolstoy’s words or the season of life I’m in but it seems to me that writing would be a great way to clear my mind, reduce anxieties, and become a better person.

I enjoyed all the short stories in this collection except Hadji Muradi - which felt uncharacteristically shallow for Tolstoy. It was like reading one of those cheap adventure stories set in a far away place where a lot of excitement happens but not much that’s meaningful.

But the rest were great. “Family Happiness” and “Father Sergius” were particularly compelling. I think every married person should read the former and everyone period should read the latter. The former was all about how happiness is married life has less to do with romantic love (indeed, Tolstoy seems to suggest it has nothing to do with that) and everything to do with mutual respect, friendship, communication, and a willingness to sacrifice for your spouse.

“Father Sergius” was even better. It dealt with man’s ability to change himself and become a new creature in Christ. I saw bits of myself in Father Sergius and loved how, in the story, God is able to make him whole despite of, and even through, his bad decisions. Super moving story.

“Master and Man” was equally hopeful about our ability to change and become better and it was probably my third favorite.

I’ve read “The Death of Ivan Ilych” before and liked it again. “The Cossacks” and “Alyosha the Pot” both tugged at my heartstrings and made me feel sad in a good way (avoid those stories if you don’t like sad things).

“The Devil” and, even more so, “The Kreutzer Sonata,” were a bit disturbing and I got less spiritual nourishment out of them then the others. Not sure I’ll ever go back to them but they were interesting nonetheless.

Ok, first time ever reading Tolstoy. I was enthralled by the imagination in his writing. It was a pleasure to start with his short stories. You can feel his personal experience in his writing looking forward to reading more of him.