Master and Man

Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 106K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Master and Man by graf Leo TolstoyAuthor: Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Feb 5, 2006

Editor's review

A short but weighty novella from Tolstoy's late years, built around a master and his servant traveling through a snowstorm, testing class difference, fear, and conscience under extreme circumstances. It is brief and tightly focused, with almost no digression; it reads like a parable while retaining Tolstoy's psychological realism. It serves as a good introduction to his late thought: the scrutiny of vanity, possession, and the fear of death, and the sudden change a person may undergo near the edge of ruin. Read alongside The Death of Ivan Ilyich, it reveals the author's sustained engagement with death. This Project Gutenberg English edition suits reading in one sitting on a commute, a journey, or a quiet evening, and works well for classroom discussion of what it means to be a true master.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want a short introduction to Tolstoy's mid-to-late fiction
Literature lovers interested in death, conscience, and class
English learners who need a short English text for close reading practice
Readers who enjoy parable-like narratives and want a one-evening read

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer complex, multi-stranded novels or strong plot conflict
Beginners seeking detailed notes on Russian social background

Reading tips

Read the story through once, then revisit how the master-servant relationship shifts in the snowstorm scenes.
Read it against The Death of Ivan Ilyich and note how the two works treat death differently.
When reading the English, mark verbs of cold, fear, and change of mind to feel the psychological rhythm.
After finishing, write in one sentence what you take "master" and "servant" to mean.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for English beginners?

It is a short novella, and the language is not especially difficult, but it still carries the English translational flavor of nineteenth-century Russian literature. Readers with some vocabulary who are willing to look up words can try it; complete beginners are advised to start with a Chinese translation or read bilingually.

What is the story about, and is it very heavy?

The story follows a master and his servant traveling through a snowstorm, and its core is indeed death and conscience, so the tone is somewhat heavy. But the ending carries a Tolstoyan moral revelation, and the brevity keeps it from feeling long and oppressive.

What should I note about the Gutenberg edition?

This is a free English e-book from Project Gutenberg, a public-domain text that is easy to read. It usually has no introduction or detailed notes, however, so for scholarly citation you should check a formally published edition.

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About the author

Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910 Author

Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910) is a highly important writer in the history of Russian literature. Public information about his nationality and exact dates of birth and death is limited; the library records only his name, the number of his works, and representative titles. The library holds 81 of his works, with representative titles including Anna Karenina and War and Peace (Sota ja rauha). These titles show that he excelled at presenting characters' fates and inner conflicts against broad social panoramas, with calm narration and a reflective quality, while questions of family, morality, and the course of history run throughout. His works have been translated into many languages and have a lasting readership and wide influence.