⇒ Descargar The Kreutzer Sonata Modern Library Classics Leo Tolstoy Isai Kamen Doris Lessing 9780812968231 Books

The Kreutzer Sonata Modern Library Classics Leo Tolstoy Isai Kamen Doris Lessing 9780812968231 Books

Download As PDF : The Kreutzer Sonata Modern Library Classics Leo Tolstoy Isai Kamen Doris Lessing 9780812968231 Books

The Kreutzer Sonata Modern Library Classics Leo Tolstoy Isai Kamen Doris Lessing 9780812968231 Books

…led me to this work of Leo Tolstoy. Dworkin commences her work, Intercourse, with a heated polemic against both Tolstoy himself, as well as this particular work, “The Kreutzer Sonata.” Dworkin states that it was the composer, Gustav Mahler, who told his wife, whom he suspected of being unfaithful, to read “Kreutzer,” then he f*** her, to use Dworkin’s vernacular, and left. Thirty pages later, Dworkin’s diatribe against the author and this work is finally exhausted. I remain profoundly ambivalent about Dworkin, and her work, stating in my review: “Overall it is a most depressing “downer,” characterizing what can be the most joyful and exciting of human experiences as universally negative.” I rated Dworkin’s work 3-stars, but was stimulated to read for myself what Dworkin felt merited thirty pages of her utter discontent.

The best part of this edition of “Kreutzer” is the introduction by Nobel Prize Winner, Doris Lessing. She puts the proper perspective on this work, starting with the fact that it is the 19th Century. Should we blame Tolstoy in particular for the fact that during at least half of that century, slavery and serfs were legal? Or that many a woman was held in conditions that were the equivalent, or not much better? What has happened since? Lessing keys in on the essential aspect of emancipation: “What has happened? Birth Control has.” Concerning “Kreutzer,” Lessing says: “Here is a landscape of despair – no exit.” And: “To read this book now is like listening to a scream of anguish from a hell that women have escaped from, and men too.”

Tolstoy wrote this work in 1889, long after he had achieved fame for War and Peace (Vintage Classics)), so much so that some liberals wags claimed: Russia has two Czars, the Czar and Tolstoy. In contrast to Tolstoy’s magnum opus, “Kreutzer” is a novella. Passengers are on a long-distance train trip, and one relates his shame of having killed his wife. It is a psychological novella of high drama, dominated by sexual obsession and jealousy. The husband, indeed, may not have been very good in bed: brutish always comes to mind. The stereotypical much-more-sensitive artist, Trukhashevsky, comes along, and can play Beethoven’s titled sonata beautifully. Not much of a “nudge” is needed for the artist and the other man’s wife to take things to their logical, or rather, passionate denouement. The husband first suspects, and then his surprise early return from a trip confirms, his suspicions. It is both rage, and an “honor” killing. Yes, of the same sort that we hear about in the news today, in sometimes distant lands, and thanks to migration, our own. A particular mindset, that as Lessing notes, many women and men have escaped from.

Concerned about Dworkin’s denunciations, I kept looking for some indication that Tolstoy approved of any of this. I saw none. Instead, Dworkin had provided a mish-mash of confusing this story with Tolstoy’s own life, his wife, Sonya, and the fact she was worn out bearing 13 children (ah, the pill!), and how dare Tolstoy be strongly sexed going well into his ‘70’s.

Tolstoy’s novella is of a particular time and place. It is well-written. It is a bit depressing. The societal issues are not that profound, and have transcended cultures in time and place. Overall, 4-stars.


Tags : The Kreutzer Sonata (Modern Library Classics) [Leo Tolstoy, Isai Kamen, Doris Lessing] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. When Marshal of the Nobility Pozdnyshev suspects his wife of having an affair with her music partner,Leo Tolstoy, Isai Kamen, Doris Lessing,The Kreutzer Sonata (Modern Library Classics),Modern Library,0812968239,Classics,Reading Group Guide,Arts and society,FICTION Classics,FICTION Literary,FICTION Short Stories (single author),FICTION Thrillers Crime,Fiction,Fiction-Classics,GENERAL,General Adult,Literature - Classics Criticism,Marriage,Modern fiction,RUSSIAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,Russia,Short Stories (single author),United States,fiction;russia;russian;19th century;literature;classics;short stories;marriage;russian literature;classic;love;murder;penguin great loves;jealousy;thrillers;mystery books;crime;mystery suspense;crime books;suspense books;suspense;crime fiction;thriller;mystery thriller;mystery and thrillers;mystery thrillers;mystery and suspense;crime novel;crime thriller;mystery;mystery fiction;mystery suspense thriller;thriller books;mystery novels;mystery thriller suspense;mystery and thriller;mystery crime,General & Literary Fiction,Classic fiction (pre c 1945),fiction; russia; russian; 19th century; literature; classics; short stories; marriage; russian literature; classic; love; murder; penguin great loves; jealousy; thrillers; mystery books; crime; mystery suspense; crime books; suspense books; suspense; crime fiction; thriller; mystery thriller; mystery and thrillers; mystery thrillers; mystery and suspense; crime novel; crime thriller; mystery; mystery fiction; mystery suspense thriller; thriller books; mystery novels; mystery thriller suspense; mystery and thriller; mystery crime

The Kreutzer Sonata Modern Library Classics Leo Tolstoy Isai Kamen Doris Lessing 9780812968231 Books Reviews

One of the truly unique things about Tolstoy is that he does not fit into a 20th century Western ideology box his views were so original and remain so set apart that his thought requires a philosophical mindset to be grappled with, or discarded altogether otherwise. While the landscape of 20th century American thought has firmly put feminism and Christianity at odds, Tolstoy champions a higher-mindedness/higher-spiritedness that allies the two. This short story, called “The Kreutzer Sonata,” conveys that message in some of the most fascinating story-telling I’ve encountered. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Tolstoy’s thoughts, I think that any actively thinking reader will glean immense pleasure and satisfaction from the thought the story provokes. With remarkable energy and tempo, this book is among the fastest reads –and these also provide a vigor in the protagonist’s telling of the story. The frenetic pace of the story enlivens the mind, making the reader aware of both the genius and (seeming) state of near insanity, which we come to be familiar with in Tolstoy’s biographies.

There may be no book that is so well worth the time spent as in reading this one. It is an instant favorite. The book can be particularly helpful to those who aren’t as voracious in their reading, and who are trying to decide whether one of Tolstoy’s novels are worth the effort. I think this story exhibits some of the best features of his story-telling ability, such as his excellent, natural conversational style he produces between interlocutors.

I have to say a word about the introduction. I have never read anything by Doris Lessing, the author of the introduction, but I am aware of her status as Nobel Laureate. I think she was chosen for both her stature (this was published around the time of her Nobel) and status as a feminist. I was greatly disappointed by the fact that her introduction to the book and Tolstoy was more of an attack than either praise or a critical exposition. Some of Tolstoy’s ideas in the text preceded their time by more than a hundred years. I took Lessing’s word for it at first, expecting to find some narrow-minded thoughts radiating from an old curmudgeonly Tolstoy, but that was not so. What I found was a Lessing who either didn’t understand the book, or who had never read it. More than likely, I figure, she was not familiar with the philosophical flavor of his thought, and simply tried to put him into one of her (i.e., our) preconceived 20th Western ideological boxes. This is extremely unfair, considering that he went to the woodshed, publically, on numerous times for the progress views he espoused in this and other texts. Without a Tolstoy remarking as he did and writing as he did, the Wollenstonecrafts’ efforts would have been marginalized. I think Modern Library should be ashamed for putting this introduction at the front of this text. It is unnecessarily unsympathetic, unnecessarily lacking in historical perspective, and it shows a sad ignorance of what Tolstoy’s philosophical perspective was.

I recommend this book, but find one with a much better introduction or just skip this one's intro.
Arguable the greatest writer behind Shakespeare, Tolstoy was also obsessed with many odd ideas.
This short story is filled with many of them including his diatribe about women and sex. According to his thoughts no one should ever have sex because it is a filthy thing. He even advocates this stance despite the fact that humanity itself would slowly disappear. And do not be mislead that this is only the theory of his main character.
If all the silliness were edited out it would make an interesting tale. Unedited it is hard to swallow.
If I only read TKS I would never have believed the same hands wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
Tolstoy examines jealous obsession in a short Novella that is narrated by the main character to a total stranger he meets on a train journey. As his story unfolds the lines are blurred between what really occurred and what his obsessive imagination believes occurred. The listener as well as the reader are met with a dark bordering on mad philosophy of man who has lost part of his humanity through his nihilistic and negative views of love and relationships which in his case lead to tragedy driven by obsession.
In Tolstoy's hands this dark tale is a page turner and a thought provoking read.
Leo Tolstoy really needs a shrink..... somehow, I was recommended this work, and am still scratching my head as to why!
Good
I loved the duality of the story, how Tolstoy wrote two versions of the one tale. Well worth reading. A very good book.
…led me to this work of Leo Tolstoy. Dworkin commences her work, Intercourse, with a heated polemic against both Tolstoy himself, as well as this particular work, “The Kreutzer Sonata.” Dworkin states that it was the composer, Gustav Mahler, who told his wife, whom he suspected of being unfaithful, to read “Kreutzer,” then he f*** her, to use Dworkin’s vernacular, and left. Thirty pages later, Dworkin’s diatribe against the author and this work is finally exhausted. I remain profoundly ambivalent about Dworkin, and her work, stating in my review “Overall it is a most depressing “downer,” characterizing what can be the most joyful and exciting of human experiences as universally negative.” I rated Dworkin’s work 3-stars, but was stimulated to read for myself what Dworkin felt merited thirty pages of her utter discontent.

The best part of this edition of “Kreutzer” is the introduction by Nobel Prize Winner, Doris Lessing. She puts the proper perspective on this work, starting with the fact that it is the 19th Century. Should we blame Tolstoy in particular for the fact that during at least half of that century, slavery and serfs were legal? Or that many a woman was held in conditions that were the equivalent, or not much better? What has happened since? Lessing keys in on the essential aspect of emancipation “What has happened? Birth Control has.” Concerning “Kreutzer,” Lessing says “Here is a landscape of despair – no exit.” And “To read this book now is like listening to a scream of anguish from a hell that women have escaped from, and men too.”

Tolstoy wrote this work in 1889, long after he had achieved fame for War and Peace (Vintage Classics)), so much so that some liberals wags claimed Russia has two Czars, the Czar and Tolstoy. In contrast to Tolstoy’s magnum opus, “Kreutzer” is a novella. Passengers are on a long-distance train trip, and one relates his shame of having killed his wife. It is a psychological novella of high drama, dominated by sexual obsession and jealousy. The husband, indeed, may not have been very good in bed brutish always comes to mind. The stereotypical much-more-sensitive artist, Trukhashevsky, comes along, and can play Beethoven’s titled sonata beautifully. Not much of a “nudge” is needed for the artist and the other man’s wife to take things to their logical, or rather, passionate denouement. The husband first suspects, and then his surprise early return from a trip confirms, his suspicions. It is both rage, and an “honor” killing. Yes, of the same sort that we hear about in the news today, in sometimes distant lands, and thanks to migration, our own. A particular mindset, that as Lessing notes, many women and men have escaped from.

Concerned about Dworkin’s denunciations, I kept looking for some indication that Tolstoy approved of any of this. I saw none. Instead, Dworkin had provided a mish-mash of confusing this story with Tolstoy’s own life, his wife, Sonya, and the fact she was worn out bearing 13 children (ah, the pill!), and how dare Tolstoy be strongly sexed going well into his ‘70’s.

Tolstoy’s novella is of a particular time and place. It is well-written. It is a bit depressing. The societal issues are not that profound, and have transcended cultures in time and place. Overall, 4-stars.