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Beautiful; worth reading slowly and savoring.
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The Poet of Tolstoy Park
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“The more you transform your life from the material to the spiritual domain, the less you become afraid of death.” Leo Tolstoy spoke these words, and they became Henry Stuart’s raison d’etre. The Poet of Tolstoy Park is the unforgettable novel based on the true story of Henry Stuart’s life, which was reclaimed from his doctor’s belief that he would not live another year.
Henry responds to the news by slogging home barefoot in the rain. It’s 1925. The place: Canyon County, Idaho. Henry is sixty-seven, a retired professor and a widower who has been told a warmer climate would make the end more tolerable. San Diego would be a good choice.
Instead, Henry chose Fairhope, Alabama, a town with utopian ideals and a haven for strong-minded individualists. Upton Sinclair, Sherwood Anderson, and Clarence Darrow were among its inhabitants. Henry bought his own ten acres of piney woods outside Fairhope. Before dying, underscored by the writings of his beloved Tolstoy, Henry could begin to “perfect the soul awarded him” and rest in the faith that he, and all people, would succeed, “even if it took eons.” Human existence, Henry believed, continues in a perfect circle unmarred by flaws of personality, irrespective of blood and possessions and rank, and separate from organized religion. In Alabama, until his final breath, he would chase these high ideas.
But first, Henry had to answer up for leaving Idaho. Henry’s dearest friend and intellectual sparring partner, Pastor Will Webb, and Henry’s two adult sons, Thomas and Harvey, were baffled and angry that he would abandon them and move to the Deep South, living in a barn there while he built a round house of handmade concrete blocks. His new neighbors were perplexed by his eccentric behavior as well. On the coldest day of winter he was barefoot, a philosopher and poet with ideas and words to share with anyone who would listen. And, mysteriously, his “last few months” became years. He had gone looking for a place to learn lessons in dying, and, studiously advanced to claim a vigorous new life.
The Poet of Tolstoy Park is a moving and irresistible story, a guidebook of the mind and spirit that lays hold of the heart. Henry Stuart points the way through life’s puzzles for all of us, becoming in this timeless tale a character of such dimension that he seems more alive now than ever.
From the Hardcover edition.
Henry responds to the news by slogging home barefoot in the rain. It’s 1925. The place: Canyon County, Idaho. Henry is sixty-seven, a retired professor and a widower who has been told a warmer climate would make the end more tolerable. San Diego would be a good choice.
Instead, Henry chose Fairhope, Alabama, a town with utopian ideals and a haven for strong-minded individualists. Upton Sinclair, Sherwood Anderson, and Clarence Darrow were among its inhabitants. Henry bought his own ten acres of piney woods outside Fairhope. Before dying, underscored by the writings of his beloved Tolstoy, Henry could begin to “perfect the soul awarded him” and rest in the faith that he, and all people, would succeed, “even if it took eons.” Human existence, Henry believed, continues in a perfect circle unmarred by flaws of personality, irrespective of blood and possessions and rank, and separate from organized religion. In Alabama, until his final breath, he would chase these high ideas.
But first, Henry had to answer up for leaving Idaho. Henry’s dearest friend and intellectual sparring partner, Pastor Will Webb, and Henry’s two adult sons, Thomas and Harvey, were baffled and angry that he would abandon them and move to the Deep South, living in a barn there while he built a round house of handmade concrete blocks. His new neighbors were perplexed by his eccentric behavior as well. On the coldest day of winter he was barefoot, a philosopher and poet with ideas and words to share with anyone who would listen. And, mysteriously, his “last few months” became years. He had gone looking for a place to learn lessons in dying, and, studiously advanced to claim a vigorous new life.
The Poet of Tolstoy Park is a moving and irresistible story, a guidebook of the mind and spirit that lays hold of the heart. Henry Stuart points the way through life’s puzzles for all of us, becoming in this timeless tale a character of such dimension that he seems more alive now than ever.
From the Hardcover edition.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1,2005
This edition
- Format
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272 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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March 1, 2005 by Ballantine Books
- ISBN
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9780345476319
- ASIN
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034547631X
- Language
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English
About the author
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Sonny Brewer is the author of four novels, including The Poet of Tolstory Park and The Widow and the Tree. He edited the anthology series Stories from the Blue Moon Café and most recently, Don't Quit Your Day Job - Acclaimed Authors and the Day Jobs they Quit published by MP Publishing in 2010.
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100 reviews All reviews
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A once in a lifetime story. book. place.
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"Black Elk had spoken of the giving-away ceremonies practiced by his people in the springtime: extra pemmican, extra furs, extra horses-these were not hoarded but given to those who had none or not enough. The joy of giving is more full when the gift is finer... because each thing owned takes a measure of spirit from the owner. And more spirit is paid out into finer things. To make a gift of these things, the more prized things, ... returns a fuller measure of spirit and power to the giver's body."
"...when the mental echo of Thomas's leaving had had time to abate."
"Thoreau said the body is the first student of the soul, and if the soul is stirred in anger, the body learns to throw tantrums. Henry's father had always cautioned him that if he became angry, count to ten, and if still angry, count to a hundred, and if still angry, count to a thousand."
"He believed it was more likely the Buddhist monks had it right: Keep your eye on what's for supper. ...the highest position of reverence in certain Buddhist monasteries was that of the tenzo, who was essentially the gardener and cook, who delighted in preparing and serving meals to others."
"One can imagine nothing more tiresome and profitless than sitting down and thinking of oneself."
"...a thing easily gained is a thing easily tossed off."
nice poem on page 247
"...when the mental echo of Thomas's leaving had had time to abate."
"Thoreau said the body is the first student of the soul, and if the soul is stirred in anger, the body learns to throw tantrums. Henry's father had always cautioned him that if he became angry, count to ten, and if still angry, count to a hundred, and if still angry, count to a thousand."
"He believed it was more likely the Buddhist monks had it right: Keep your eye on what's for supper. ...the highest position of reverence in certain Buddhist monasteries was that of the tenzo, who was essentially the gardener and cook, who delighted in preparing and serving meals to others."
"One can imagine nothing more tiresome and profitless than sitting down and thinking of oneself."
"...a thing easily gained is a thing easily tossed off."
nice poem on page 247
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This was a poignant story of what one man goes through on his way to dying. In this case, he discovered it was more a study of how to live, so that when you die you feel as though you have made a difference. Henry Stewart didn’t intend to make the impact into other’s lives that he did. But his simple choices (many that I did not understand) set him apart as not only an oddity, but a beloved member of the community.
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A book that has you staring out the window savouring an idea or an inspired turn of phrase. I would’ve loved to know Henry James Stuart.
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A man dying of consumption decides to leave his home in Idaho. He bequeaths most of his goods to his sons and best friend, and moves to Fairhope, Alabama, where the weather will be easier on him. Driven by the wisdom of Tolstoy and Thoreau, he seeks to make peace with death. Making peace includes going shoeless and building a round hut to live in as labor helps make him whole of mind and body. Rather than last the year expected, he lasts 20 years and becomes an important part of the community. The story is based on historical fact. The man did exist and did build the house.
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Fetching and intriguing
Feel the Highs and lows of a very human soul. Just order and download it now without a question. Then dig deeply into the lives of the characters you meet on these pages and breathe in the lessons from the sage ofTolstoy Park.
Feel the Highs and lows of a very human soul. Just order and download it now without a question. Then dig deeply into the lives of the characters you meet on these pages and breathe in the lessons from the sage ofTolstoy Park.
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Another odd one for me. Very thoughtfully written and researched--story based on a man who spent the last years of his life on 10 acres in coastal Alabama, far away from his 'home' in Idaho. Carefully presented philosophical meanderings on faith, family, death, poetry, and Tolstoy! Although not much like the last book I read (The Elegance of the Hedgehog), this one also has convinced me it is way past time for me to read Anna Karenina.
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