www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Anybody here read Leo Tolstoy?

Blessings all,

Readers of Leo Tolstoy, I would appreciate your sharing your impressions of his writings.

Pax,
Irenaeus

Irenaeus

Tolstoy is my favorite,
except for the fact he was ex-communicated by the Orthodox church!

My favorite is "Resurrection".

In "War and Peace" I loved the familial affection and the little nick-names.

His short stories usually have a spiritual theme.
I especially remember the one where two men are lost out in the snow, and the rich man lays across the poorer man to keep him warm, and as a result dies to save his life.
denise

My personal favorite is his short story "Father Sergius".

I stopped in Tolstoi, Manitoba last weekend. Don't know if they are all Tolstoy fans or if there is another reason for the name of the town.

My favorite shorts are "Death of Ivan Illych", "Master and Man" and "How Much Land Does a Man Need". "What I Believe" was also interesting.

I took Russian for a couple of years but had to move and I fear I will never be able to read Tolstoy, Dostoevsky or Pushkin in Russian.

Ah, Tolstoy, that tormented imperfect perfectionist.
Although I am a Dostoesvky devotee, I did not pass up the graced opportunity to visit Tolstoy's summer estate, Yasnay Polyana, a few years back.
I too, am most intrigued by his "Fr. Sergius." While in Russia on a more recent trip I named that work as answer to a request to identify my "favorite Tolstoy work." My questioner, a dedicated young Russian believer (female), reacted in a most sharp manner: "Ugh! That writing proved that he did not know women!"
I share this quote from an article, "Be Ye Perfect, More or Less: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and the Impossible Sermon on the Mount," by Philip Yancey in Christianity Today, July 17, 1995:
"A biographer of Tolstoy, A.N. Wilson, remarks that Tolstoy suffered from a 'fundamental theological inability to understand the Incarnation. His religion was ultimately a thing of law rather than of grace, a scheme for human betterment rather than a vision of God penetrating the fallen world.' With crystalline clarity, Tolstoy could see his own inadequancy in the light of God's ideal. But he could not take the further step of trusting God's grace to overcome that inadequacy."

Dear Friends,

For me, Tolstoy was a great man because he believed that the most important pursuit in a person's life is religion.

He was, as we know, a heretic for believing, with Origen, in apocatastatis or that everyone, in the end, will find heaven.

Alex

Paul Johnson quotes one of Tolstoy's contemporaries as saying that "He sees himself as God's brother, and an elder brother at that".

Dear Mar Stuart,

Yes, I said he was a heretic, didn't I?

This reminds me of the fellow in the mental hospital who sat with his hand in his shirt.

"And who do you think you are?" asked his psychiatrist.

"I, sir, am Napoleon!" came the reply.

"And just who told you you were Napoleon?" asked the good doctor.

"God told me!"

Then came a rustle from the next bed . . .

"I did not!" the voice bellowed.

Plenty of fluids and rest, Big Guy, I can feel your pain . . .

Alex

Highly skilled writer, tragically separated from the church. My understanding is that the local priests offered to bring the Eucharist as he was dying and were refused. Very sad. It's true that the church at the time was corrupt and disheartening in many ways, but unfortunately Tolstoy's reaction to that seems to have been highly egocentric and quixotic. I much prefer Dostoyevsky -- for even though he clearly saw the corruption and foolishness of the church of his day, nevertheless he saw the necessity for it as well, and is therefore much more inspiring, to me at least, than Tolstoy otherwise might have been.

I like to read Tolstoy, and literature in general.

I think he was a very tormented man. However, his work reveal a deep Christian philosophy, which we can take advantage of.

For example, if you consider the character Constantin Dimitrievich of his Ana Karenina, you will see great doubts tormenting him. In one chapter he doubts of everything, even the very existence of God, and when he goes to confession he reveals this as his worst sin. The priest tells him how is it possible to doubt about God if we have so many proofs of his existence in every single created thing.

In other chaper this same character in passing by much pain due to his elder brother's death. In front of his dead brother's coffin he reflects on the transitory nature of human beings.

The main character Ana Karenina also passes great pain due to his sin and dies in a very unfortunate way. There is no mercy for her.

My impression is that he could not surpass his own doubts and be confident on the fact that God's mercy fills any unworthiness, either as human beings or members of His Church.