Tolstoy

Winstanley, Lilian, 1875-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 175K words
Chapters: 18

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.Tolstoy by Lilian WinstanleyAuthor: Winstanley, Lilian, 1875-,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Nov 14, 2014

Editor's review

A critical biography of Tolstoy written by Lillian Weinstein in the early twentieth century, one of the early systematic English-language assessments of Tolstoy. Its value lies not in offering the latest contemporary research findings but in showing how an early critic understood Tolstoy's novels, moral thought, and religious views; it is useful as a document in the history of intellectual reception. Written in English, its style carries the speculative cast of literary criticism of that era. It suits readers who already have a basic knowledge of Tolstoy's life and work and who want a supplementary scholarly perspective rather than an introductory guide. While reading, note the differences between the author's evaluative framework and present-day scholarly views.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read Tolstoy's major works and want to learn about early criticism
Scholars studying the history of literary criticism and the reception of Tolstoy
Readers in the humanities and social sciences with good English reading ability

Not a good fit for

Readers who have not yet encountered Tolstoy's works and need an introductory guide
Readers expecting the latest contemporary research or biographical detail
General readers who prefer light, narrative-style biographies

Reading tips

Finish at least one of War and Peace or Anna Karenina before turning to the criticism.
Mark the author's evaluative judgments while reading and compare them with your own responses.
Consult contemporary Tolstoy scholarship to compare early criticism with present-day views.
Read the book as material for the history of criticism rather than as a life biography, and pay attention to its argumentative framework.

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

Can I read this book without having read Tolstoy?

You can, but the gain will be limited. The book is a critical discussion of Tolstoy's work and thought and assumes a basic familiarity with his writings. If you have not yet encountered the originals, it is advisable to read one or two representative novels first and then return to the criticism, so that your understanding is more concrete.

Is this book a biography of Tolstoy?

It is closer to a critical biography, focused on analyzing Tolstoy's works and thought rather than recording life events one by one. If you want a detailed life, you will need to pair it with other biographical works; if you want to understand how early English-language scholarship evaluated Tolstoy, this book is more directly relevant.

Are the book's views still valid today?

As criticism from the early twentieth century, its framing of questions and evaluative standards bear the marks of its time, and some judgments have diverged from contemporary research. Its value lies in presenting one stage in the history of reception; it should be read in comparison with contemporary scholarship rather than taken as definitive.

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About the author

Winstanley, Lilian, 1875- Author · British · 1875

Lilian Winstanley (born 1875) was a British literary scholar. Public information about her is limited; what is known indicates that her research focused on the historical background of Shakespeare and Spenser. Her approach examined the times, political context and intellectual climate in which these writers lived rather than offering isolated textual appreciation. One work by her is held in this catalogue, Tolstoy, which shows that her interests also extended to Russian literature and that she could place English Renaissance scholarship alongside the appraisal of a Continental writer. Overall, her writing tends toward scholarly exposition and contextual reconstruction, in a plain style that seeks to understand literary works within their historical setting. Though not widely known, her work offers a useful path for reading classic authors in historical perspective.