Lives and Deaths: Essential Stories

Description

Although best known for his monumental novels, Tolstoy also wrote tightly compressed works of equal power. This new collection gathers perhaps his greatest novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, together with shorter masterpieces 'Three Deaths', 'Pace-setter' and the fable-like story 'Alyosha the Pot'. Whether writing from the perspective of an aged horse or plotting the travails of an optimistic young worker, Tolstoy was able to penetrate to the rich core of human experience like no writer before or since. These sensitive new renderings by award-winning translator Boris Dralyuk show with gleaming clarity Tolstoy's unmatched understanding of the human condition.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born to an aristocratic family near Tula, Russia. After abandoning his studies he returned to live on his family's estate, later enlisting in the army and serving in the Crimean War. Over the course of his life, he wrote plays, dozens of short stories and many works of philosophy. He is now one of the most widely admired writers of all time.

* "Gratifying and timely." --Times Literary Supplement * "When literature has a Tolstoy, it is easy and gratifying to be a writer. Even if you are aware that you have never accomplished anything, you don't feel so bad, because Tolstoy accomplishes enough for everyone"--Anton Chekhov * "The greatest of all novelists"--Virginia Woolf