A Confession by Leo Tolstoy, Religion, Christian Theology, Philosophy

by Leo Tolstoy

Overview

In Confession Tolstoy poses the question: Is there any meaning in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?

In 1879 the fifty-year-old author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina came to believe that he had accomplished nothing in life. Either of these magnificant novels would have assured Tolstoy's permanent place in the annals of world literature, yet his achievement was not enough to give his life meaning.

Confession is an account of this spiritual crisis, marking a shift of Tolstoy's central focus from the aesthetic to the religious and philisophical.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598182613
Publisher:	Aegypan
Publication date:	09/01/2006
Pages:	108
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 - 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood and Youth (1852-1856) and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays. In the 1870s Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. Tolstoy's ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Bevel. Tolstoy also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly Resurrection.

Date of Birth:

September 9, 1828

Date of Death:

November 20, 1910

Place of Birth:

Tula Province, Russia

Place of Death:

Astapovo, Russia

Education:

Privately educated by French and German tutors; attended the University of Kazan, 1844-47