Youth cover

Youth

Rating 4.0
Word count
365K words
Chapters
37

Tags

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.Youth by graf Leo TolstoyAuthor: Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: May 1, 2001

Editor's review

The third book in Tolstoy's autobiographical trilogy, following Childhood and Boyhood, it records adolescence through the eyes of the young Nikolenka: its bewilderments, self-esteem and self-scrutiny. Its value lies not in dramatic plot but in the minute capture of inner fluctuation; examinations, social life, wavering religious faith, and the awareness of his own ugliness and insincerity are all written with candor and restraint. Tolstoyan moral self-analysis is already taking shape here, and readers can see how a great writer distilled universal human nature from his own experience. As a public-domain ebook, it is a light entry into Tolstoy's world, and also suits being read alongside Childhood and Boyhood to observe the full arc of a boy's spiritual growth.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers curious about Tolstoy's early career and autobiographical writing
  • Readers who enjoy growth novels with fine psychological detail and little plot
  • Those planning to read Tolstoy systematically and hoping to start with a short entry point
  • Readers interested in the life and education of a nineteenth-century Russian noble boy

Not a good fit for

  • Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narrative
  • Those hoping for the style of Tolstoy's mature full-length masterpieces
  • Readers with little interest in religious and moral introspection

Reading tips

  1. Read Childhood and Boyhood first for a more complete growth arc.
  2. Pause after each chapter and recall whether your own adolescence had similar feelings.
  3. Read alongside a Tolstoy biography to understand the boundary between autobiography and fiction.
  4. The English original is short; read it in installments at a fixed time each day.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37

FAQ

Is this a representative work from Tolstoy's mature period?
No. It is the third book of Tolstoy's early autobiographical trilogy, relatively short and focused on psychological description and self-analysis; in scale and structure it differs markedly from mature novels such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and is better suited as an entry point for understanding the beginnings of his writing.
Can I read this directly without having read the first two?
Yes, but the experience will be diminished. The book continues the characters and growth thread of the first two; it remains understandable on its own, but the formation of the protagonist's character lacks groundwork. If time allows, reading the trilogy in order gives a fuller sense of the growth arc.
What language is this edition in?
Available information indicates it is an English edition, a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook. It is easy to obtain free and to read electronically, but the translation style may differ from print editions; if you have preferences among translations, compare other editions as well.

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About the 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.

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