Tortured Noble: the Story of Leo Tolstoy

Heims, Neil. Tortured Noble: the Story of Leo Tolstoy.
Morgan Reynolds, 2007. 144p. $27.95
978-1-5993-5066-0
World Writer's series

For students looking to connect an author’s life with his fictional characters, Heims presents the personal struggles of Tolstoy. From his gambling and sense of self-loathing to his gentry lifestyle as an owner of an estate and considerable acreage, Tolstoy used every personal experience to better understand and portray his fictional characters. The social and political viewpoints that appear in Tolstoy’s writings come from his noble heritage laced with a desire to understand and work with the peasants on his estate. His desire to provide education to children, especially peasants, was a constant in his life. The activities he engaged in, including dressing as a peasant to determine reactions to them and their lifestyle and his desire to lead a life of ascetic purity, allowed him to write with authenticity about the thoughts and feelings of all manner of people.
Students will gain an understanding of the forces that drove Tolstoy and see the connection between Tolstoy’s beliefs and his novels. A timeline, index, footnotes, and bibliography make the information in this book easily accessible to the student researcher. Photographs, paintings, and primary source material are interspersed within the text. Fascinating reading about a giant among authors. LMN