Leo Tolstoy novels. Did Anna Karenina's creator sympathize with her?

Lev Tolstoy is one of the most famous writers and philosophers in the world. His views and beliefs formed the basis of an entire religious and philosophical movement called Tolstoyism. Literary heritage the writer compiled 90 volumes of artistic and journalistic works, diary notes and letters, and he himself was nominated more than once for Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Do everything that you have determined to be done.”

Family tree of Leo Tolstoy. Image: regnum.ru

Silhouette of Maria Tolstoy (nee Volkonskaya), mother of Leo Tolstoy. 1810s. Image: wikipedia.org

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. He was the fourth child in a large noble family. Tolstoy was orphaned early. His mother died when he was not yet two years old, and at the age of nine he lost his father. Aunt Alexandra Osten-Saken became the guardian of Tolstoy's five children. The two older children moved to their aunt in Moscow, and the younger ones stayed in Yasnaya Polyana. The most important and dear memories are associated with the family estate early childhood Lev Tolstoy.

In 1841, Alexandra Osten-Sacken died, and the Tolstoys moved to their aunt Pelageya Yushkova in Kazan. Three years after moving, Leo Tolstoy decided to enter the prestigious Imperial Kazan University. However, he did not like studying; he considered exams a formality, and university professors as incompetent. Tolstoy did not even try to get a scientific degree; in Kazan he was more attracted to secular entertainment.

In April 1847 student life Leo Tolstoy is over. He inherited his part of the estate, including his beloved Yasnaya Polyana, and immediately went home without receiving higher education. IN family estate Tolstoy tried to improve his life and start writing. He drew up his education plan: study languages, history, medicine, mathematics, geography, law, agriculture, natural sciences. However, he soon came to the conclusion that it is easier to make plans than to implement them.

Tolstoy's asceticism was often replaced by carousing and card games. Wanting to start what he thought was the right life, he created a daily routine. But he didn’t follow it either, and in his diary he again noted his dissatisfaction with himself. All these failures prompted Leo Tolstoy to change his lifestyle. An opportunity presented itself in April 1851: the elder brother Nikolai arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. At that time he served in the Caucasus, where there was a war. Leo Tolstoy decided to join his brother and went with him to a village on the banks of the Terek River.

Leo Tolstoy served on the outskirts of the empire for almost two and a half years. He whiled away his time by hunting, playing cards, and occasionally participating in raids into enemy territory. Tolstoy liked such a solitary and monotonous life. It was in the Caucasus that the story “Childhood” was born. While working on it, the writer found a source of inspiration that remained important to him until the end of his life: he used his own memories and experiences.

In July 1852, Tolstoy sent the manuscript of the story to Sovremennik magazine and attached a letter: “...I look forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or force me to burn everything I started.”. Editor Nikolai Nekrasov liked the work of the new author, and soon “Childhood” was published in the magazine. Inspired by the first success, the writer soon began the continuation of “Childhood”. In 1854, he published a second story, “Adolescence”, in the Sovremennik magazine.

“The main thing is literary works”

Leo Tolstoy in his youth. 1851. Image: school-science.ru

Lev Tolstoy. 1848. Image: regnum.ru

Lev Tolstoy. Image: old.orlovka.org.ru

At the end of 1854, Leo Tolstoy arrived in Sevastopol - the epicenter of military operations. Being in the thick of things, he created the story “Sevastopol in December.” Although Tolstoy was unusually frank in describing battle scenes, the first Sevastopol story was deeply patriotic and glorified the bravery of Russian soldiers. Soon Tolstoy began working on his second story, “Sevastopol in May.” By that time, there was nothing left of his pride in the Russian army. The horror and shock that Tolstoy experienced on the front line and during the siege of the city greatly influenced his work. Now he wrote about the meaninglessness of death and the inhumanity of war.

In 1855, from the ruins of Sevastopol, Tolstoy traveled to sophisticated St. Petersburg. The success of the first Sevastopol story gave him a sense of purpose: “My career is literature - writing and writing! Starting tomorrow, I work all my life or give up everything, rules, religion, decency - everything.”. In the capital, Leo Tolstoy finished “Sevastopol in May” and wrote “Sevastopol in August 1855” - these essays completed the trilogy. And in November 1856, the writer finally left military service.

Thanks to true stories about the Crimean War, Tolstoy entered the St. Petersburg literary circle of the Sovremennik magazine. During this period, he wrote the story “Blizzard”, the story “Two Hussars”, and finished the trilogy with the story “Youth”. However, after some time, relations with the writers from the circle deteriorated: “These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”. To unwind, at the beginning of 1857 Leo Tolstoy went abroad. He visited Paris, Rome, Berlin, Dresden: he met famous works art, met artists, observed how people live in European cities. The journey did not inspire Tolstoy: he created the story “Lucerne”, in which he described his disappointment.

Leo Tolstoy at work. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy tells a fairy tale to his grandchildren Ilyusha and Sonya. 1909. Krekshino. Photo: Vladimir Chertkov / wikipedia.org

In the summer of 1857, Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana. At his native estate, he continued to work on the story “Cossacks”, and also wrote the story “Three Deaths” and the novel “Family Happiness”. In his diary, Tolstoy defined his purpose for himself at that time: "Main - literary works, then - family responsibilities, then - farming... And so to live for yourself - according to good deed a day and that's enough".

In 1899, Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection. In this work, the writer criticized the judicial system, the army, and the government. The contempt with which Tolstoy described the institution of the church in his novel “Resurrection” provoked a response. In February 1901, in the journal “Church Gazette,” the Holy Synod published a resolution excommunicating Count Leo Tolstoy from the church. This decision only increased Tolstoy's popularity and attracted the public's attention to the writer's ideals and beliefs.

Literary and social activity Tolstoy became known abroad. The writer was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1909 and for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902–1906. Tolstoy himself did not want to receive the award and even told the Finnish writer Arvid Järnefelt to try to prevent the award from being awarded because, “if this happened... it would be very unpleasant to refuse” “He [Chertkov] took the unfortunate old man into his hands in every possible way, he separated us, he killed the artistic spark in Lev Nikolaevich and kindled condemnation, hatred, denial, which can be felt in Lev Nikolaevich’s articles recent years, which his stupid evil genius egged him on".

Tolstoy himself was burdened by the life of a landowner and family man. He sought to bring his life into line with his beliefs and in early November 1910 secretly left the Yasnaya Polyana estate. The road turned out to be too much for the elderly man: on the way he became seriously ill and was forced to stay in the house of the caretaker of the Astapovo railway station. Here the writer spent last days own life. Leo Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910. The writer was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Tula province (Russia) into a family belonging to the noble class. In the 1860s, he wrote his first great novel, War and Peace. In 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina.

He continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. One of his most successful later works is “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910 in Astapovo, Russia.

First years of life

On September 9, 1828, the future writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born in Yasnaya Polyana (Tula province, Russia). He was the fourth child in a large noble family. In 1830, when Tolstoy's mother, née Princess Volkonskaya, died, his father's cousin took over the care of the children. Their father, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died seven years later, and their aunt was appointed guardian. After the death of his aunt, Leo Tolstoy, his brothers and sisters moved to their second aunt in Kazan. Although Tolstoy experienced many losses at an early age, he later idealized his childhood memories in his work.

It is important to note that elementary education in Tolstoy's biography, he received lessons at home from French and German teachers. In 1843, he entered the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​at the Imperial Kazan University. Tolstoy failed to succeed in his studies - low grades forced him to transfer to an easier law faculty. Further difficulties in his studies led Tolstoy to eventually leave the Imperial Kazan University in 1847 without a degree. He returned to his parents' estate, where he planned to start farming. However, this endeavor also ended in failure - he was absent too often, leaving for Tula and Moscow. What he really excelled at was keeping his own diary - it was this lifelong habit that inspired much of Leo Tolstoy's writing.

Tolstoy was fond of music, his favorite composers were Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Mendelssohn. Lev Nikolaevich could play their works for several hours a day.

One day, Tolstoy’s elder brother, Nikolai, during his army leave, came to visit Lev, and convinced his brother to join the army as a cadet in the south, in the Caucasus mountains, where he served. After serving as a cadet, Leo Tolstoy was transferred to Sevastopol in November 1854, where he fought in the Crimean War until August 1855.

Early publications

During his years as a cadet in the army, Tolstoy had a lot of free time. During quiet periods he worked on autobiographical story entitled "Childhood". In it, he wrote about his favorite childhood memories. In 1852, Tolstoy sent a story to Sovremennik, the most popular magazine of the time. The story was happily accepted, and it became Tolstoy's first publication. From that time on, critics put him on a par with already famous writers, among whom were Ivan Turgenev (with whom Tolstoy became friends), Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Ostrovsky and others.

After completing his story “Childhood,” Tolstoy began writing about his daily life at an army outpost in the Caucasus. The work “Cossacks”, which he began during his army years, was completed only in 1862, after he had already left the army.

Surprisingly, Tolstoy managed to continue writing while actively fighting in the Crimean War. At this time he wrote “Boyhood” (1854), a continuation of “Childhood”, the second book in autobiographical trilogy Tolstoy. In the midst Crimean War Tolstoy expressed his views on the astonishing contradictions of war through his trilogy of works, Sevastopol Tales. In the second book " Sevastopol stories", Tolstoy experimented with relatively new technology: Part of the story is presented as a narration from the soldier's point of view.

After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy left the army and returned to Russia. Arriving home, the author enjoyed great popularity on the literary scene of St. Petersburg.

Stubborn and arrogant, Tolstoy refused to belong to any particular school of philosophy. Declaring himself an anarchist, he left for Paris in 1857. Once there, he lost all his money and was forced to return home to Russia. He also managed to publish Youth, the third part of an autobiographical trilogy, in 1857.

Returning to Russia in 1862, Tolstoy published the first of 12 issues of the thematic magazine Yasnaya Polyana. That same year he married the daughter of a doctor named Sofya Andreevna Bers.

Major Novels

Living in Yasnaya Polyana with his wife and children, Tolstoy spent much of the 1860s working on his first famous novel"War and Peace". Part of the novel was first published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1865 under the title “1805”. By 1868 he had published three more chapters. A year later, the novel was completely finished. Both critics and the public argued about historical justice Napoleonic Wars in the novel, combined with the development of stories that are thoughtful and realistic, but still fictional characters. The novel is also unique in that it includes three long satirical essays on the laws of history. Among the ideas that Tolstoy also tries to convey in this novel is the belief that a person’s position in society and the meaning human life are mainly derivatives of his daily activities.

After the success of War and Peace in 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina. It was based in part on real events period of the war between Russia and Turkey. Like War and Peace, this book describes some of the biographical events in Tolstoy's own life, most notably in the romantic relationship between the characters Kitty and Levin, which is said to be reminiscent of Tolstoy's courtship with his own wife.

The first lines of the book “Anna Karenina” are among the most famous: “All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina was published in installments from 1873 to 1877, and was highly acclaimed by the public. The royalties received for the novel quickly enriched the writer.

Conversion

Despite the success of Anna Karenina, after the completion of the novel Tolstoy experienced spiritual crisis and was depressed. The next stage of Leo Tolstoy's biography is characterized by the search for the meaning of life. The writer first turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but did not find answers to his questions there. He concluded that Christian churches were corrupt and, instead of organized religion, promoted their own beliefs. He decided to express these beliefs by founding a new publication in 1883 called The Mediator.
As a result, for his unconventional and controversial spiritual beliefs, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church. He was even watched by the secret police. When Tolstoy, driven by his new conviction, wanted to give away all his money and give up everything unnecessary, his wife was categorically against this. Not wanting to escalate the situation, Tolstoy reluctantly agreed to a compromise: he transferred the copyright and, apparently, all royalties on his work until 1881 to his wife.

Late fiction

In addition to his religious treatises, Tolstoy continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Among the genres of his later works were moral stories and realistic fiction. One of the most successful of his later works was the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” written in 1886. Main character struggling to fight the death hanging over him. In short, Ivan Ilyich is horrified by the realization that he wasted his life on trifles, but the realization of this comes to him too late.

In 1898, Tolstoy wrote the story “Father Sergius”, piece of art, in which he criticizes the beliefs he developed after his spiritual transformation. IN next year he wrote his third voluminous novel, “Resurrection.” Got the job good feedback, but it is unlikely that this success corresponded to the level of recognition of his previous novels. Other late works Tolstoy are essays about art, this satirical play entitled “The Living Corpse,” written in 1890, and a story called “Hadji Murat” (1904), which was discovered and published after his death. In 1903 Tolstoy wrote short story“After the Ball,” which was first published after his death, in 1911.

Old age

During it later years, Tolstoy reaped the benefits of international recognition. However, he still struggled to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the tension he had created in his family life. His wife not only did not agree with his teachings, she did not approve of his students, who regularly visited Tolstoy on the family estate. In an effort to avoid his wife's growing discontent, Tolstoy and his youngest daughter Alexandra went on pilgrimage in October 1910. Alexandra was the doctor for her elderly father during the trip. Trying not to show off your privacy, they traveled incognito, hoping to evade unnecessary questions, but sometimes this was to no avail.

Death and legacy

Unfortunately, the pilgrimage proved too onerous for the aging writer. In November 1910, the head of the small Astapovo railway station opened the doors of his house to Tolstoy so that the ailing writer could rest. Shortly after this, on November 20, 1910, Tolstoy died. He was buried in the family estate, Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy lost so many people close to him.

To this day, Tolstoy's novels are considered one of the best achievements literary art. “War and Peace” is often cited as greatest novel ever written. In the modern scientific community, Tolstoy is widely recognized as having a gift for describing the unconscious motives of character, the subtlety of which he championed by emphasizing the role of everyday actions in determining the character and goals of people.

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The wonderful, cute fairy tales of Leo Tolstoy make an indelible impression on children. Little readers and listeners make unusual discoveries about living nature, which are given to them in a fairy-tale form. At the same time, they are interesting to read and easy to understand. For better perception, some of the author's previously written fairy tales were later released in processing.

Who is Leo Tolstoy? It was of its time and remains so today. He had an excellent education and knew foreign languages, was keen classical music. Traveled extensively throughout Europe and served in the Caucasus.

His original books were always published in large editions. Great novels and novellas, short stories and fables - the list of published works amazes with the richness of the author’s literary talent. He wrote about love, war, heroism and patriotism. Personally participated in military battles. I saw a lot of grief and complete self-denial of soldiers and officers. He often spoke bitterly not only about the material, but also about the spiritual poverty of the peasantry. And quite unexpected against the backdrop of his epic and social works were his wonderful creations for children.

Why did you start writing for children?

Count Tolstoy did a lot of charity work. On his estate he opened a free school for peasants. The desire to write for children arose when the first few poor children came to study. To open up to them the world, in simple language to teach what is now called natural history, Tolstoy began to write fairy tales.

Why do they love the writer these days?

It turned out so well that even now, children of a completely different generation, enjoy the works of the 19th century count, learning love and kindness towards the world around us and animals. As in all literature, Leo Tolstoy was also talented in fairy tales and is loved by his readers.

It is known that work on the work lasted about 6 years, and its original volume was not 4, but 6 volumes. Leo Tolstoy used a huge number of sources to make the events look authentic. He read the works of Russian and French historians, privately for the period from 1805 to 1812. However, Tolstoy himself regarded his work with a certain degree of skepticism. So, he wrote in his diary: “People love me for those trifles - “War and Peace”, etc., which seem very important to them.”

Researchers counted 559 heroes in the novel “War and Peace”.

"Anna Karenina" - a tragic love story

Tolstoy's work is popular because it is relevant at any time. Instead of the discussions of earlier authors about enthusiastic and bright feelings, it shows the underside of blinding love and the consequences of relationships that are dictated by passion rather than reason.

One of the heroes of the novel "Anna Karenina", Konstantin Levin, is an autobiographical character. Tolstoy put his thoughts and ideas into his mouth.

"Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" - autobiographical trilogy

As a child, he experiences his first love, prepares with fear, and encounters injustice for the first time. The teenage hero, growing up, learns betrayal, and also finds new friends and experiences the breaking of old stereotypes. In the story “Youth,” the hero faces social problems, acquires his first mature judgments, enters university and thinks about his future fate.

Our ship was anchored off the coast of Africa. It was a beautiful day, a fresh wind was blowing from the sea; but in the evening the weather changed: it became stuffy and, as if from a heated stove, hot air from the Sahara desert was blowing towards us. Read...

When I was six years old, I asked my mother to let me sew. She said: “You are still small, you will only prick your fingers”; and I kept pestering. Mother took a red piece of paper from the chest and gave it to me; then she threaded a red thread into the needle and showed me how to hold it. Read...

The priest was getting ready to go to the city, and I told him: “Father, take me with you.” And he says: “You will freeze there; "Where are you going?" I turned around, cried and went into the closet. I cried and cried and fell asleep. Read...

My grandfather lived in a bee yard in the summer. When I visited him, he gave me honey. Read...

I love my brother anyway, but more because he became a soldier for me. Here's how it happened: they began to cast lots. The lot fell on me, I had to become a soldier, and then I got married a week ago. I didn’t want to leave my young wife. Read...

I had an uncle, Ivan Andreich. He taught me to shoot when I was still 13 years old. He took out a small gun and let me shoot with it when we went for a walk. And I killed a jackdaw once and a magpie another time. Read...

I was walking along the road and heard a scream behind me. The shepherd boy shouted. He ran across the field and pointed at someone. Read...

In our house, behind the window shutter, a sparrow built a nest and laid five eggs. My sisters and I watched as a sparrow carried a straw and a feather behind the shutter and built a nest there. And then, when he put the eggs there, we were very happy. Read...

We had an old man, Pimen Timofeich. He was 90 years old. He lived with his grandson without anything to do. His back was bent, he walked with a stick and quietly moved his legs. He had no teeth at all, his face was wrinkled. His lower lip trembled; when he walked and when he spoke, he slapped his lips, and it was impossible to understand what he was saying. Read...

Once I stood in the yard and looked at a nest of swallows under the roof. Both swallows flew away in front of me, and the nest was left empty. Read...

I planted two hundred young apple trees and for three years, in the spring and autumn, I dug them up, and wrapped them in straw to prevent hares for the winter. In the fourth year, when the snow melted, I went to look at my apple trees. Read...

When we lived in the city, we studied every day, only on Sundays and holidays we went for walks and played with our brothers. Once the priest said: “The older children need to learn to ride horses. Send them to the playpen." Read...

We lived poorly on the edge of the village. I had a mother, a nanny (elder sister) and a grandmother. Grandmother walked around in an old chuprun and a thin paneva, and tied her head with some kind of rag, and a bag hung under her throat. Read...

I got myself a pointing dog for pheasants. This dog's name was Milton: she was tall, thin, speckled gray, with long wings and ears, and very strong and smart. Read...

When I left the Caucasus, there was still war there, and it was dangerous to travel at night without an escort. Read...

From the village I did not go directly to Russia, but first to Pyatigorsk, and stayed there for two months. I gave Milton to the Cossack hunter, and took Bulka with me to Pyatigorsk. Read...

Bulka and Milton ended at the same time. The old Cossack did not know how to handle Milton. Instead of taking him with him only to hunt birds, he began to take him after wild boars. And that same autumn a wild boar cleaver killed him. No one knew how to sew it up, and Milton died. Read...

I had a face. Her name was Bulka. She was all black, only the tips of her front paws were white. Read...

Once in the Caucasus we went boar hunting, and Bulka came running with me. As soon as the hounds started driving, Bulka rushed towards their voice and disappeared into the forest. It was in the month of November; Boars and pigs are then very fat. Read...

One day I went hunting with Milton. Near the forest he began to search, stretched out his tail, raised his ears and began to sniff. I prepared my gun and went after him. I thought he was looking for partridge, pheasant or hare. Read...

Despite the fact that Tolstoy was of the noble class, he always found time to communicate with peasant children, and even opened a school for them on his estate.

The great Russian writer, a man of progressive views, Leo Tolstoy died on a train at Astapovo station. According to his will, he was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, on the hill where, as a child, little lion I was looking for a “green stick” that would help make all people happy.