Tolstoy's books are known to any educated person in the whole world. Lev Nikolaevich is perhaps the most famous Russian writer and thinker. His eight-volume work “War and Peace” alone scares one with its appearance, while others delight in the depth of elaboration of details. But this is an unambiguous classic, which is rightfully included in all the world tops of the best works. During his lifetime, Tolstoy’s books made him a recognized master of Russian literature. His work influenced the development of realism as a trend, as well as European humanism.
Childhood and education
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a representative of an ancient family of noblemen. They came from the associate of Peter the Great. Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the estate on the maternal side - Yasnaya Polyana. After the death of the parents, the education of the future writer and his brothers was first dealt with by a distant relative Ergolskaya, and then the father's sister Osten-Saken. It was at the latter in Kazan that young Leva first thought about the need for self-improvement of personality. All future books of Tolstoy will necessarily reflect this topic. Initially, the German Roselman was invited to teach Leo Tolstoy. He was good-natured and loved the boy very much. In the story, which was later written by Tolstoy ("Childhood"), he portrayed his former teacher in the image of Karl Ivanovich. After Roselman, the Frenchman of Saint-Thomas (Saint-Jerome from Adolescence) was engaged in the education of the boy. Like his three brothers, Tolstoy studied at Kazan University. The first year he almost did not do science, and only in the second he became interested in the work of Montesquieu.
The first literary delights
In 1847, while being treated at the hospital, Leo Tolstoy began to keep a diary. He did not stop this activity until the end of his life. In it, he, like Benjamin Franklin, set himself goals and objectives for self-development, noted successes and failures, and analyzed his thoughts and actions. He never returned to university. A major card loss in Moscow forced Leo to join military service. After passing the exam, the future writer enrolled in the Starogladovskaya Cossack village as a junker. From here he first sent his first work to the editorial office of the Sovremennik journal - the autobiographical novel, Childhood. If they had not accepted it, then, with high probability, Tolstoy's other books would never have been born. He participated in many skirmishes with the highlanders, and then in the defense of Sevastopol. In 1965, Tolstoy left military service. He wrote War and Peace, as well as Anna Karenina. Most of all, Tolstoy was interested in the development of personality, the possibility of moral improvement.
"War and Peace"
Work on the most famous work of the writer was preceded by work on the novel "Decembrists." He returned to him many times throughout his life, but he never finished. Like all other Tolstoy books, War and Peace is a novel about the moral growth of a person. This is a unique phenomenon in world literature. It is widely represented all layers of Russian society, a variety of characters and ages against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars in 1805-1812. “War and Peace” is the writer's favorite brainchild, the crown of his work. In this work, the genius of Leo Tolstoy was fully reflected. The first excerpt from a multi-volume novel was published in the journal Russian Bulletin in 1865, which was immediately very warmly received. Tolstoy’s philosophy was clearly reflected in this large-scale work: “Steep historical turns are not the work of one person, but the result of collective work.”
"Anna Karenina"
Tolstoy repeatedly described War and Peace as a "book about the past." “Anna Karenina” was originally conceived by the writer as a work of modern life. Moreover, there are no historical events. But the real human soul and its development are shown. There are no coincidences in this novel. It all ends where it began, that is, on the railway. Along the way to Moscow, for reconciliation with her brother, Anna learns about Alexei Vronsky. Her compartment neighbor is his mother. All four meet on the platform and learn that the watchman died under the wheels of the trip. This "bad sign" warned of the imminent destruction of the family. The tragic love of married Karenina and Vronsky is contrasted with the happy family life of Katya Shcherbatskaya and Konstantin Lyovin close to the people. The novel was first published in 1875 in the Russian Herald.
Tolstoy’s works are well known not only in post-Soviet countries, but throughout the world. They are re-read with love and each time they are surprised to find something new, one small detail that shifts the emphasis and gives a different meaning. Therefore, Leo Tolstoy is a genius of Russian literature, whose books are relevant at all times.