Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy began his trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, in his early twenties. Although he would in his old age famously dismiss it as an 'awkward mixture of fact and fiction', generations of readers have not agreed, finding the novel to be a charming and insightful portrait of inner growth against the background of a world limned with extraordinary clarity, grace and colour. Evident too in its brilliant account of a young person's emerging awareness of the world and of his place within it are many of the stances, techniques and themes that would come to full flower in the immortal War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and in the other great works of Tolstoy's maturity.

While living in Russia, Tolstoy operated a tiny school for the peasant children, where they could learn to read, write, and draw. He found that there were a lack of folktales and fables to read to the children so he created his own, which are now brought together in this beautifully illustrated collection. From ? The Lion and the Puppy,” a story about friendship, to ? The King of the Shirt,” a parable about obtaining happiness, to ? Escape of the Dancing Bear,” about a bear who is trained to be captured, these stories are sure to captivate and delight children of all ages. Similar in scope to Aesop’s fables, children will be able to take away important lessons, as well as laugh at silly mishaps and characters, from this timeless collection. Ages 9-12.

"The Kreutzer Sonata" portrays an intense conflict between sexual desire and moral constraint. "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is a simple, moving tale of peasant life with a moral lesson; the hero of "The Death of Ivan Ilych," after a lifetime of struggle, finds faith and love only as he faces death. Explanatory footnotes.

Anna Karenina (sometimes Anglicised as Anna Karenin) is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment; therefore, the novel's first complete appearance was in book form. Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, when he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. The character of Anna was likely inspired, in part, by Maria Hartung (Russian spelling Maria Gartung, 1832-1919), the elder daughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Soon after meeting her at dinner, Tolstoy began reading Pushkin's prose and once had a fleeting daydream of "a bare exquisite aristocratic elbow", which proved to be the first intimation of Anna's character. Although Russian critics dismissed the novel on its publication as a "trifling romance of high life", Fyodor Dostoevsky declared it to be "flawless as a work of art". His opinion was shared by Vladimir Nabokov, who especially admired "the flawless magic of Tolstoy's style", and by William Faulkner, who described the novel as "the best ever written". The novel is currently enjoying popularity as demonstrated by a recent poll of 125 contemporary authors by J. Peder Zane, published in 2007 in The Top Ten, which declared that Anna Karenina is the "greatest novel ever written".

Anna Karenina is generally considered Tolstoy's best book, and by some, the greatest novel ever written. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for another.

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP In this extraordinarily rich and complex novel, Anna Karenina defies the conventions of nineteenth-century Russian society and embarks on a love affair that has tragic consequences. Tolstoy's work is a powerful meditation on love and marriage, envy and retribution, and the desire for happiness. THIS ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: - A concise introduction that gives the reader important background information - A chronology of the author's life and work - A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context - An outline of key themes and plot points to guide the reader's own interpretations - Detailed explanatory notes - Critical analysis and modern perspectives on the work - Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction - A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Simon & Schuster Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

Leo Tolstoy's novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich begins shortly after Ivan Ilyich's death. A small group of legal professionals, court members, and a private prosecutor have gathered in a private room within the Law Courts, and while looking through a newspaper one of them reads the following; "Praskovya Fedorovna Golovina, with profound sorrow, informs relatives and friends of the demise of her beloved husband Ivan Ilyich Golovin, Member of the Court of Justice, which occurred on February the 4th of this year 1882. The funeral will take place on Friday at one o'clock in the afternoon." Immediately members of the group begin to think how Ilyich's passing will affect their positions and status; They thank God it didn't happen to them and ponder on the implications of how they might benefit from their colleagues demise, each one of them oblivious of the fact that death will come to them all. A-- The story takes us back and we see Ivan Ilyich in the prime of his life. He has studied law and is now a judge. He performs his work with a cold discipline and he is a social climber who has become devoid of emotion. He lacks empathy and any concern for his fellow man, seeking only to reach the top where he can look down upon his peers. One day Ivan has a fall whilst decorating his new house. He sustains an injury and although he doesn't know it, the injury will cause him to become ill and he will die as a result. During his illness he becomes bad tempered and bitter and refuses to believe he is coming to the end of his life. He gets little sympathy from his family and his only solace are his conversations with Gerasim, a peasant who stays by his bed and gives him honesty and kindness. Reflecting on his current situation and his past life Ivan's worldview begins to change. He realizes the higher he climbed in his noble profession the more unhappy he became, and looking back he realizes how meaningless his life had been. Slowly Ivan comes to term with his immanent death and finally he sees the light. He begins to feel sorry for those about him busying themselves living a life of habit unable to see how artificial their existence is and that they are not living a good life at all. Finally after his illumination he dies in a moment of exquisite happiness. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is Tolstoy's attack on the smug satisfaction of a middle and upper class population, who in his mind live artificial meaningless lives, lives of separateness unaware of their creator and what lies before them after death. Tolstoy's critic Vladimir Nabokov summed it up when he wrote; "The Tolstoyan formula is: Ivan lived a bad life and since the bad life is nothing but the death of the soul, then Ivan lived a living death; and since beyond death is God's living light, then Ivan died into a new life - Life with a capital L."

A new edition of Tolstoy's non-fiction magnum opus. Gandhi regarded this book, banned in Tolstoy's native Russia, as one of the three greatest influences on him. The ideas Tolstoy that expounds so clearly were revolutionary in his day and still are relevant and challenging today.