Word: tolstoys
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...Britain's young literary lions, Andrew Norman Wilson, 38, has been busiest at marking his territory. Since the mid-1970s he has published eleven satiric novels, plus biographies of John Milton, Sir Walter Scott, Hilaire Belloc, and last year's much and justly praised Tolstoy. In addition, Wilson has written about Christian theology and religious affairs (How Can We Know?; The Church in Crisis...
...TOLSTOY by A.N. Wilson. One of Britain's most accomplished comic novelists tackles a profoundly somber subject: a literary titan's turbulent relationships with God, Russia and women...
...emphasis we place on formal education rests on a belief that someone who is intelligent must be "book-smart" or "well-read." Especially at Harvard, we stress that an intelligent person needs to know such information as who Kierkegaard was, what Tolstoy wrote and why the Boer War was fought. While this information may be important in a certain context, it is not a sufficient test of who is "smart...
Wilson, one of Britain's most accomplished comic novelists, is more relaxed about Tolstoy's contradictions and racked conscience. His imaginative approach to the mysteries of personality is a good reminder that consistency is for peanut butter, not for geniuses who exploit their conflicts in creative acts. Wilson's Tolstoy is the story of the literary titan's relationships with three subjects: God, Russia and women...
...Tolstoy tried to resolve the first through a homegrown faith that amounted to a churchless Christianity. He shunned organized religion and city life for rustic self-sufficiency among the muzhiks (peasants) at his estate, Yasnaya Polyana (Bright Glade). He preached against the evils of meat, alcohol, tobacco and fornication. He believed a Christian should make his own shoes and empty his own chamber...