Resurrection

When I read Tolstoy?s Anna Karenina years ago, I felt that it should surely be the greatest novel ever written. In my mind, it is still a candidate for that declaration. But having spent some time studying the life of Tolstoy and having recently read his later work, Resurrection, I like Resurrection even better. To me, it is an even greater accomplishment. Resurrection has all the vibrancy and brilliance of language, detail and characterization as does the earlier works for which Tolstoy is famous. It doesn?t drop off a scintilla in terms for the display of raw literary talent. But it also incorporates some of the deep philosophical, political and social issues that Tolstoy had been struggling with for the previous two decades. In the end, I tired of Anna Karenina for the exact same reason that caused Tolstoy himself to scorn it. It is not about deep issues, but only the story of a woman of nobility who commits adultery, even if the story is told with a brilliance that no other writer has managed to emulate. Resurrection captures you with its rich story and social panorama, but it goes beyond that. It continues to reverberate in your mind weeks later because of the philosophical and social themes it so successfully weaves into the narrative. In this respect, Resurrection seems comparable to Ayn Rand?s Atlas Shrugged, another literary classic known for the ideas it conveys as much as the story that it tells. Though, having made the comparison, it should be added that Tolstoy is, as always, the greater of the writers.

This is the best translation, and the only to capture the exquisite beauty of the first paragraph, one of the greatest ever put down. "No matter that men in their hundreds of thousands disfigured the land on which they swarmed, paved the ground with stones so that no green thing could grow, filled the air with fumes of coal and gas, lopped back all the trees, and drove away every animal and every bird: spring was still spring, even in the town. The sun shone warmly, the grass came to life again and showed itself wherever it was not scraped away, between the paving stones as well as on the lawns in the boulevards; the birches, the wild cherries, and the poplars unfolded their sticky and fragrant leaves, the swelling buds were bursting on the lime trees; the jackdaws, the sparrows, and the pigeons were happy and busy over their nests, and the flies, warmed by the sunshine, hummed gaily along the walls. Plants, birds, insects, and children rejoiced. But men, adult men, never ceased to cheat and harass their fellows and themselves. What men considered sacred and important was not the spring morning, not the beauty of God's world given for the enjoyment of all creatures, not the beauty which inclines the heart to peace and love and concord. What men considered sacred and important were their own devices for wielding power over their fellow men."Tolstoy is a moralist of the highest order and this novel comes after his spiritual conversion, when his morality has reached the highest pitch of maturity. The ever-present irony in this book, where the behavior of men is continuously contrasted with what is good and right, is delightful and sobering at the same time. Compared to Resurrection, Tolstoy's more famous novels are vain and empty exercises in futility. A must read.Also recommended: The Death of Ivan Illych and other stories, also by Tolstoy.

Tolstoy at his best, Resurrection digs into the soul and causes the reader to consider society, the world at large, and governments in perhaps a new light. It addresses some of mankind's most gripping problems and questions, and also entertains via a well crafted story. A wonderful, unforgetable book and first rate piece of literature that will leave a mark on you, among the very best I've read.

This is by far Tolstoys greatest book. It took me a month an half to finish it. Every page there was something to contemplate about yourself, society, how your actions effect others, the internal strugle to change your life in an unchanging society, mans inhumanity against man. There is so much more, but youn will half to read for your self.

This is a great book that shows how a man with wealth and influence in turn of the century Russia, can attempt to right the wrongs in his life. This man's internal struggle with the wrong he did a peasent girl makes the reader ponder the question of morals in his own life. The main character gave up everything that he had enjoyed in his life to try to right his mistake. So far of alll the tolstoy books that I've read this by far is best.