book review: Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy

And he remembered about his money, his shop, his house, his purchases and sales and the Mironov's millions; it was hard for him to understand why this man they had called Vasilii Brekhunov had concerned himself with the things he had.

Where Tolstoy is in a league of his own is describing the life of peasants toiling in the hard Russian landscape and writing historical stories set against a landscape of events he describes with great accuracy.

In this collection of three stories, two short and one the length of a novella, his ability to paint a world that is so vivid despite being distant in the past and for me geographically is testament to his writing.

The longest story, Hadji Murat, is set against the background of Russian campaigns to quash local rebellions in the Caucasus. In a battle that sounds oddly familiar the Russian army is fighting against the Chechen rebels and manages to achieve a coup with the defection of Hadji Murat. As the second in command the defection is a useful one. But as Tolstoy reveals, sometimes at a length that is perhaps unwarranted, the political consequences of the defection prevent the Russians ever really using their latest ally usefully. The way that Tolstoy shows both sides of the story with an explanation of why the Chechens have acted with such hostility is fairly well done and one that presumably could have been fairly awkward for a Russian writer to achieve even when it was penned in 1904.

Added to that historical work are two stories that focus more on the idea of self improvement and spirituality. Father Sergius and Master and Man put up two men who are guilty of pride and greed and then details how a humbling of their situation changes their attitude. It was presumably written with the intention of showing other Russians that there was not just a more spiritual path that could be followed but if people put their minds to it change was possible.

As a reading experience this collection works well with the stories flowing well between each other giving the impression they were written in a similar frame of mind at a similar time in Tolstoy's career.

Thoughts at the half way point of Master and Man and Other Stories

Halfway through this book and the theme seems to be a religious one with Tolstoy looking at how people can determine to change their own destiny and personality.

It kicks off with Father Sergius, a story of a perfectionist who has worked his way up in the military to become an aide de camp to the Tsar and is on the brink of getting married to a woman well above his social position. But his pride is wounded when he discovers she was the emperor's mistress. He leaves and heads into a monastery and there dedicates himself to being the best he can be there. But again pride becomes his weakness and even when he becomes a hermit he still can't fight the urge for self promotion rather than God's. In the end he learns through a meeting with a poor peasant relation that the best thing to do is be as good as you can without blowing your trumpet about it.

Master and Man, the title story, is a tale with a warning about greed. A rich merchant moves to seal the deal on a bit of woodland hoping to get the owner to sell at a very low price before competitors arrive and point out the real value. But as he sets off into a snow storm with his servant he is not only pushing his luck but taking on the Russian weather. Even when he gets the chance to stay at a friends and avoid the snow and biting cold his greed gets him back out there on the road. The cost of doing so is not just the ultimate one but as Tolstoy suggests one that gives him a chance to redeem himself and find a lasting spirituality.

A full review will come soon...

book review - The Cossacks

There are so many reviews that I have not got round to posting that this blog is failing in one of its original aims - which was to help remind me about the books I had read. After finding myself buying the same book twice it became clear there was some sort of memory problem. Recalling characters and plot lines is getting harder as the weeks go by. For some reason names are always just beyond reach and so you end up referring to the main character etc. Still this one falls into the category of classic so in some sense stands out because unlike most of the other stuff in the review pipeline is 19th century.

The Cossacks are a symbolic people in this story as they are elsewhere in Russian literature. Leo Tolstoy writes with real affection about those that live a life far removed from the splendour and riches of Petersburg.

Although this is a book housing three stories it is the title tale about the Cossacks that sticks in the mind.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich is about a man dying not just physically but also emotionally as he realises his ambitions to become a success have been at the expense of real happiness. As he ebbs away on the couch he realises that his wife and daughter have already moved on thinking about a life without him. In some senses it is about the pressure to conform to a certain pattern of success but it is also about the hollowness of a marriage and family that is built on ambition and greed rather than love.

There is the potential for a similar type of feeling with Happy Ever After where a young girl falls in love with an older man and it is her ambition that almost kills the relationship. Leaving the quiet of the country for the bright lights of Petersburg the relationship is put under the twin strains of his jealousy and her ambition to make something of herself. The marriage falls into a state of mutual indifference but then when she confronts her husband back in the country she realises that the relationship on offer is now different and includes a love for their children and an adult love that has grown beyond the youthful heady romance of their first days in the country.

It is putting the first two stories together that the theme of this collection emerges, with Tolstoy looking at the many different sides of relationships. The final story also touches on that area. But The Cossacks is also saying something about the value of nature, the corruption of Russian high society and the wealth that those who live simply have that cannot be bought by unhappy wealthy aristocrats.

There is a love triangle between the wealthy Olenin, who takes up residence in the home of the bare footed peasant girl Marianka's family. The girl is engaged to the young and confident Luka who manages to shoot a Chechen warrior and get the attention of the men and the women for his bravery and swagger. But after a friendship where Olenin goes from falling in love with nature - the real Russia - he also decides that he needs a real Russian wife and after Luka is shot in a battle with revenging Chechens he mistakenly feels that he will be able to take her hand in marriage, but he angrily tells him that he can do nothing for her and he decides to quit the village.

Knowing how Tolstoy viewed the peasantry and the way that real Russia came through contact with the earth and the people who worked with that earth this is more than just a tangled love story. It is more than just a tale about the divide between rich and poor and the barriers love can face. It is also a warning that those sitting in the cities without much idea or care about how the rest of the population work and live will find themselves in the wrong when put alongside their better counterparts.

An interesting collection of stories and one to keep the contact with Tolstoy going but things are still better paced when he can get the whole family relationships and contextualisation that is so much a feature of the 19th century style and then still have 600 pages left to carve out a cracking story.

Version read - Penguin hardback

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

This is an interesting story for a couple of reasons. The first is that unlike most of the Tolstoy that I have come across the main character is a woman and a young one. The second notable feature of the tale is the way Tolstoy manages to draw out some very complex emotions.

He takes a young girl who is overwhelmed by love then seeks the glitter and attractions of the big city but then crushed by the jealously of her husband yearns for the relationships she has lost.

But then in a confrontation that could end with the husband and wife parting he manages to take her to the next level, which is to understand that a new love is blossoming that is a more mature and shared experience between her husband and her children.

A review of this story collection will appear soonish (bit of a queue to work through first)…

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

Just as the lovers come out and admit their love for each other and Masha manages to get her man to marry her the problems start.

They move in with the mother-in-law but it is the boredom and the way she is treated like a girl that drives Masha crazy and makes her demand a trip to the capital. But once in St Petersburg the boredom moves to her husband along with jealousy.

A relationship that was meant to be one of extreme happiness is on a knife edge and quite possibly on the brink of falling apart.

Last bit tomorrow...

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

This volume contains not just The Cossacks but two other stories. I have read the Death of Ivan Ilyich before but not Happy Ever After.

There is something that bugs me about putting away a book unfinished so the lunchtime read for today and at least tomorrow is the first of the three stories Happy Ever After. Bearing in mind this is a Russian story the title presumably is going to be a wish rather than a reality.

Three sisters orphaned by the death of their mother are thrown into the hands of th4e executor of the will and the 36 year-old takes a shine to the 17 year old middle daughter Masha. He hides his feelings and tries to convince her that he sees nothing in her but she starts to become more aware of her feelings for him and love blossoms, at least in her heart if not in the open.

She prepares her self for her birthday and a proposal but is he thinking along the same lines? She thinks so but is tragedy lurking?

More tomorrow…

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

Two worlds collide with the Moscow aristocrat and the Cossack girl and no matter what how earnest the declarations of love the divide cannot be breached.

After he tells Marianka that he will ask for her hand in marriage formally, although she is betrothed to Luka, fate intervenes and his Cossack rival is seriously injured on a raid. The sense of isolation that Olenin has felt all along suddenly consumes him after she angrily tells him that he can do nothing for her and he decides to quit the village.

At the end he departs without even a glance from Marianka and the world he hoped he could enter and learn from closes as he horse pulls away from his lodging.

Tempted to read the other story in this volume so might hold off on the review…

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

There is going to be a turning point soon and the irony is that it is going to come from the influence not of the Cossacks but from the world of Moscow that Olenin thought he had left behind.

After being taught how to hunt the young aristocrat wanders the woods by day and is exhausted by night but seems to have some sort of road to Damascus moment understanding as he lies down in a stag’s hideaway that life is about giving back not taking.

He starts by giving a horse to the brave Cossack Luka who wants to marry the daughter of Olenin’s landlord.

But with the arrival of more officers from Moscow the atmosphere changes and rather than seeing his duty as helping Luka get together with his sweetheart Olenin starts to wonder whether or not he can love her for himself.

More tomorrow…

Lunchtime read: The Cossacks

Having enjoyed Jonathan Dimbleby’s journey across Russia, including his encounter with the Cossacks, it seemed like a good idea to get down the old copy of The Cossacks that has been sitting on the shelf.

The great thing about Tolstoy and the 19th century approach is the way everything is laid out with family backgrounds being accompanied by location and contextual history providing you with all the information about the Cossacks and their likes and dislikes.

But this starts with a young cadet Dmitri Olenin leaving his high society life to head off to serve in the Caucasus. He arrives in a village and is billeted with a young girl and her family and after telling himself that nothing matters like love he starts to be struck by her natural beauty.

But he has a rival in the form of the local youthful hero of the Cossacks. Added to his record of saving a child from drowning, hence his nickname ‘snatcher’, Luka is also in love with the girl setting up a classic love story.

Will the girl choose the love of a aristocrat or something more humble and familiar in the shape of Luka? Those who struggle with the 19 century style cannot be won over by this storyline.

More tomorrow…