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BY HARPREET KAUR
Legends happen only once in a blue moon,
and when they do, the world takes notice. Leo
Tolstoy was an outstanding legend of his times,
whose creativity overshadowed the literary work of
the 19th and 20th centuries. Tolstoy created epics
that fascinated his readers and kept them glued to
his work. Few remember that his birthday passed in
September and that his death anniversary comes in
November. In a post-modern world of Dan Browns,
few have taken to the memorable classics of the
great Tolstoy.
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, or Leo Tolstoy as
he was known, was born on August 28, 1828 at
Yasnaya Polyana. Brought up by his aunt, he was
educated by French tutors till he joined the Kazan
University in 1844 and left it in 1847 without
completing his education. The Hassar Regiment in
1852 found a new entrant in 17-year old Leo
Tolstoy, after he moved to Moscow. In 1852, when he
wrote the novel Childhood, the army had
transferred him to Sevastapol. He had begun to
keep a diary when he started his service with the
army. He used this for self study and
self-criticism, which also served as a source from
which he drew much of the material that appeared
in his novels War and Peace (1869) Anna
Karenina (1877) and many of his short stories
too.
It was the Caucasus and the Crimean war that
nourished the writer within. Nikolai Nekrasov,
editor of The Souvremerinik, was impressed
by Childhoodand decided to publish it
without knowing the real name of the author -- Leo
Tolstoy had signed only with his initials.
During this period, Tolstoy wrote stories on the
war. These had a tremendous impact on the reading
public. The Cossack came into print in 1863
and was a complete contrast to his earlier novel,
despite its wider imagery and greater richness of
tone – it reflected the life of the serfs and in
no unclear terms. It was the natural grandeur of
the Caucasus and the fine, bold, freedom-loving
people who lived there in complete harmony with
nature and never experienced the oppression of
serfdom that drew him close to them. It captivated
young Tolstoy.
 Childhoodwas the first in three of his works; then
followed Boyhood and Youth,
completing the trilogy. In A Landowners Morning,
he criticised the society and was even prepared to
breakaway from it in order to come closer to the
ordinary people and live their life.
It was in 1863 that Tolstoy sat down to work on
the great epic and masterpiece War and Peace.
In the meantime, he had got married to Sophie
Berur -- a bitter marriage. Tolstoy accepted his
fate as did the characters of War Peace. In 1867
and 1869, two separate editions of War and
Peace were released; with history was the
dominant theme. He chose to describe it like he
did a battle or a hunt. The entire book is in the
form of a recollection of memories by one
individual – Pierre, the quiet mouse-like
character who is always there in the background
and loves the heroine but does not tell her. A
Russian critique notes that Tolstoy had reached
the height in creativity in this novel.
War and Peace is universally regarded as an
unprecedented event in Russian literature. After
this novel, Tolstoy was completely exhausted and
wrote only children’s stories. The English version
of Cossack followed and The Two Hussars
appeared in 1875 in a French journal. War
and Peace was translated into French. And in
the mid-1880s, Anna Karenina was translated
into English.
In 1896, Tolstoy began the work on the poem
Haji Murat, his best in poetic form, and then
came The Living Corpse, Resurrection, Uncle
Vanya and Reminiscences. In 1908, he
penned an anti-establishment article which was
published in a leading newspaper. Tolstoy also
sent his version on non-violence to Mahatma Gandhi
which was appreciated by Gandhiji.
 On
November 20th 1910, Leo Tolstoy died at Yasnaya
Polyana and was buried close to the legendary
green stick – a place which is mentioned in the
book Moravian Brothers (a story told by his
brother when he was young). He was buried by the
road at the edge of a ravine in the Zakaz forest.
Ten years before Tolstoy’s death, Anton Chekov had
written that he feared Tolstoy’s death for “If he
were to die, a great emptiness would form in my
life… without him, our literature would become a
flock without a shepherd.”
I read all the works by Tolstoy, which I borrowed
from the Russian Cultural Centre at Peddar Road,
Mumbai. Tolstoy's works carry their own flavor;
some moments of joy, some sombre. They reflect
everyday human struggle to survive amid the fancy
habits and lives of princes. I enjoyed all of
them. One wishes today's literature had produced
better works than Dan Brown pulp.
BY HARPREET KAUR |
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