TolstoyA Russian LifeBy Rosamund BartlettHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, 544 pages
Rosamund Bartlett, an authority on Russian culture, describes Lev Tolstoy, as she callshim, the greatest Russian writer, probably a genius, but a failure as a man.when he was young, he drank too much, gambled, and was over amorous with women.“His attitude towards the female gender (was) not admirable.” he “abused thenobleman’s ‘privilege’ (by having) doitde seigneur with peasant girls on a regular basis when he was a young man.”He was opposed to women’s emancipation, but supported the emancipation of maleserfs. he felt that the woman’s “role was to reproduce the species;” therefore“contraception was immoral.” he said that prostitutes “had an important role toplay in preserving the institution of the family.” he married his wife at age34 when she just turned 18. he wanted a wife “he could educate and moldaccording to his own tastes.” he mistreated her terribly during the second halfof their long marriage. during the early, better years, he would insist thatshe “curl up by his feet on the bearskin rug next to his desk (as he wrote hisnovels) – a trophy from one of his hunting expeditions.” His treatment of theheroine in Anna Karenina reflects hisdisrespect for half of the human species.
He developed his own ideas about the Christian church, eschewed most of its basic doctrines,wrote a blistering satire of a mass, and was excommunicated for it. he wrotethat he wanted: “a new religion corresponding to the development of mankind –the religion of Christ, but purged of dogma and mystery, a practical religion,not promising future bliss but providing bliss on earth.” he also wrote: “TheChurch, from the present day all the way back to the third century, is one longseries of lies, cruelty and deception.” as part of his program, he rewrote theNew Testament into a short single volume, which contains only those parts hefelt were true, excluding miracles, the divinity of Jesus, and resurrection.
Bartlett quotes the eloquent and witty Alexander Boot: “He wanted to correct God’s mistakes inhaving allowed the world to become imperfect and sinful. He…set out to usurpGod’s job. but the job was already taken, and the deity stubbornly hung onto it.therefore Tolstoy declared war on God and fought it with every means at hisdisposal. Alas…Tolstoy came off a poor second. by way of revenge, he came todeny God…. No one was allowed to defeat Tolstoy and get away with it.”
But he had good points, he respected all (but female) life, believed in animal rights, andunlike his wife, was a vegetarian. although by upbringing and manners a realaristocrat, he fought his government by being anti-capitalistic and by workingfeverishly to free the serfs, who mistrusted his efforts; and he even dressedas they did, including wearing a worker’s blouse and abstained from wearingsocks. but he despised the Russian middle class. he describes Levin in his Anna Karenina as, “you always do what no one else does.” Bartlett writes, “This is precisely how Tolstoy was perceivedby his contemporaries.” he even jumped out of a window as a youngster “to dosomething unusual.”
Although obviously intelligent, Tolstoy was very superstitious. he thought that the oldleather couch on which he was born was a lucky object. he made sure that elevenof his children were born on it, as well as two of his grandchildren. he wasborn in 1828 on the 28th day of the eighth month, and 28 became hislucky number. he even ordered his wife to hold on and not deliver their firstchild until 28 June. he would open books of poetry on the twenty-eighth pageand wind his watch twenty-eight times. he put the number into his fiction. Heleft his home for the last time on 28 October and died at age eighty two. Hewould toss coins to decide if what he intended to do was good or bad. he setgoals for his life based on the magical number seven; he divided his life intoseven year cycles; he considered his 49th birthday significantbecause it was seven times seven and occurred in 1877. it was then that hejettisoned a large part of Christianity. These were just some of hissuperstitious activities.
But his writings, with the possible exception of his theological works, weresuperb, and Bartlett gives many more examples in this fact-filled book howTolstoy drew on his own life experiences, prejudices, superstitions, andinsights in writing his novels and short stories.
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