Leo Tolstoy
Compiled by Richard Seltzer B&R Samizdat Express - May 16, 2003
ISBN: 0-931968-29-1
Genre: Russian Literature
Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - August 10, 2003
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy (alternative spelling: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi) is one of Russia's most acclaimed literary masters. Born in 1828, he died in 1910. During his lifetime he penned such classics as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Without exception, all of Leo Tolstoy's works have moralistic undertones that expound upon the author's theories on social justice, religion, and politics.
Tolstoy lived most of his life in the village of Yasnaya Polyana, located in central European Russia, although he did live in Moscow for a time. During his life he visited many countries in Western Europe, and he fought in the Crimean War. Tolstoy was married to Sonya Andreyevna Behrs, with whom he had thirteen children. Tolstoy was a prolific writer. Unfortunately, many of his 'lesser' and nonfiction works have never been published in English translation.
Buying all of Tolstoy's book would bankrupt most students, and a complete library of Tolstoy's works would take up a large area in any home. A simple solution to anyone wishing to acquire a collection of Tolstoy's best know works is a the Leo Tolstoy CD that has been compiled by Richard Seltzer and issued by B&R Samizdat Express. This CD currently costs a mere $12, and contains over thirteen complete books and other writings by Tolstoy - at less than a dollar a book it is a real bargain!
All the texts in this collection are unabridged English translations of the original works, which were written in Russia. In addition, these texts are offered in plain text format. This makes them readily accessible to individuals with vision impairments, including those that use screen reading software.
This collection contains some of Tolstoy's best works, including:
Anna Karenina
The Cossacks
Father Sergius
The Forged Coupon and Other Stories
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
Master and Man
War and Peace
What Men Live By and Other Tales
Youth
This is a wonderful collection and it is perfect for readers of all ages, and for students who need inexpensive access to a wide body of Tolstoy's writings. The only thing that this collection lacks is a biography on Tolstoy, but anyone seeking such information can easily remedy this deficiently by making a quick search on the Internet. One online biography that I recommend is Leo Tolstoy by
G. K. Chesterton, G. H. Parris, and Edward Garnett. This biography is not complete, as it was published in 1903, before Tolstoy died. It does, however, offer some intriguing insights in the life of the writer, his philosophies, and his books. The text of this book is provided online at the University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center.
In addition to the texts, this CD also includes a Teachers' and Students' Guide that offers "Suggestions on how to get the most out of your books on CD ROM". A copy of ReadPlease, a windows-based screen reading program is also included.
System Requirements: To access the books in this collection, you will need a PC with Windows, plus a web browser or a word processing program such as Word or WordPerfect.
Related Reviews:
Gogol and Russian Literature, compiled by Richard Seltzer.
This CD collection includes the complete text of Gogol's Art by Tikos, plus a variety of great books by the Russian literary masters Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Andreyev, Gorky, Kuprin, and Lermontov.
In the Land of White Death, by Valerian Albanov.
This epic story of survival chronicles the unbelievable 235-mile journey taken through Siberian Arctic, on foot, by a handful of men after their ship became trapped in the pack ice of the Kara Sea.
