The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories - Softcover

Tolstoy, Leo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1619492873 ISBN 13: 9781619492875

Publisher: Empire Books, 2012

Synopsis

This collection features some of Tolstoy’s most memorable tales, including “The Death of Ivan Ilych” and “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” In the titular novella, a man travelling by train describes to another passenger the circumstances by which he came to kill his wife. In “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” a man who would appear to have everything comes to discover the emptiness of his life after collapsing in his home. Poignant and heartfelt, these stories showcase Tolstoy’s intellect and literary talent in one incredible volume.

About this title

About the Author:

Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty in the army, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 1857. In 1862, Tolstoy married Sophie Behrs, a marriage that was to become, for him, bitterly unhappy. His diary, started in 1847, was used for self-study and self-criticism; it served as the source from which he drew much of the material that appeared not only in his great novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), but also in his shorter works. Seeking religious justification for his life, Tolstoy evolved a new Christianity based upon his own interpretation of the Gospels. Yasnaya Polyana became a mecca for his many converts At the age of eighty-two, while away from home, the writer suffered a break down in his health in Astapovo, Riazan, and he died there on November 20, 1910.

David McDuff was educated at the University of Edinburgh and has translated a number of works for Penguin Classics, including Dostoyevsky s The Brothers Karamazov.

David McDuff was educated at the University of Edinburgh and has translated a number of works for Penguin Classics, including Dostoyevsky s The Brothers Karamazov.

Paul Foote was, until his retirement, a university lecturer in Russian and fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford.

Paul Foote was, until his retirement, a university lecturer in Russian and fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

About this edition

• Publisher: Empire Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1619492873
• ISBN 13: 9781619492875
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180