4 ms·
I think Leo Tolstoy might be fairly well known in the US due to "War and Peace" and, possibly, "Anna Karenina". But his nonfiction or autobiographical works des
by marttt 8y ago
I think Leo Tolstoy might be fairly well known in the US due to "War and Peace" and, possibly, "Anna Karenina". But his nonfiction or autobiographical works deserve attention as well. I would highlight two of these:
"The Kingdom of God is Within you" -- I think Mahatma Gandhi considered this to be one of the three most influential books for his philofophy of "nonviolent resistence". Even though Tolstoy was already considered a literary genius in his country, the Russian czar initially banned this book due to negative imagery of the Russian church. So I think it was first published in Germany or elsewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y...
"A Confession" -- a short book that is somewhat related to the previous one; depicts young Tolstoy's "search for the meaning of life" (or, God). It had a huge impact on me (even though I read it first being 30+). This would be among my first recommendations for books to read when you're 20.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession
Also, this might give some more context to understand Tolstoy's nonfiction:
https://libertarianchristians.com/2010/07/09/leo-tolstoy-against-the-state https://libertarianchristians.com/2010/07/09/leo-tolstoy-aga...