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  Simply Tolstoy

  Donna Tussing Orwin

  Simply Charly

  New York

  Copyright © 2017 by Donna Tussing Orwin

  Cover Illustration by José Ramos

  Cover Design by Scarlett Rugers

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Simply Charly

  5 Columbus Circle, 8th Fl

  New York, NY 10019

  To Thanina and Hannah

  Contents

  Dedication

  Praise for Simply Tolstoy

  Other Great Lives Titles

  Series Editor's Foreword

  Preface

  1. Early Life

  2. War and Peace and the 1860s

  3. The 1870s and Anna Karenina

  4. A Midlife Crisis

  5. A New Path

  6. Tolstoy as Guru and Man in Later Life

  7. Art and Aesthetics in the Late Period

  8. Conclusion and Legacy

  Sources

  Suggested Reading

  About the Author

  Afterword

  A Note on the Type

  Praise for Simply Tolstoy

  “No title could better suit Donna Orwin’s wise and riveting biography than Simply Tolstoy. For the actual man was contradictory and immensely complex; he only dreamed of simplicity. On this massive life, the erudite and compassionate Orwin trains a meticulous lens that keeps out none of the dark but lets through all the light.”

  —Caryl Emerson, A. Watson Armour III University Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton University

  “This is a little gem, the best introduction to Tolstoy I have ever encountered, and it is more than that. The most accomplished scholar will find important new insights, the sort that one immediately recognizes as both true and profound. Orwin brings Tolstoy to life as a person and as a writer, and she also shows beautifully how the two are linked. The discussions of Tolstoy’s views on psychology and the nature of art are especially illuminating.”

  —Gary Saul Morson, Lawrence B. Dumas Professor of the Arts and Humanities and Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Northwestern University

  “Tolstoy’s life, work and thought in 100 pages? It can’t be done! But in Simply Tolstoy, Donna Orwin does it. Providing concise overviews of Tolstoy’s most important literary work in the context of his biography and intellectual historical background, this brief book will appeal to a wide range of readers curious to understand Russia’s great novelist and thinker.”

  —Andrew Wachtel, President, American University of Central Asia

  “Donna Tussing Orwin’s Simply Tolstoy is both a personal essay and fact-packed critical biography of Tolstoy. Readers are fortunate that Orwin, one of the foremost scholars of Tolstoy, distils her knowledge into an accessible encounter with this giant. She describes her youthful curiosity about Tolstoy’s sincerity and moral goals, concluding that he was a post-Kantian romantic ‘who relied on feeling rather than reason for access to . . . truth,’ and a pacifist who was the ‘greatest war writer of modern times.’ Orwin shows how Tolstoy’s estate Yasnaya Polyana, ‘his little homeland,’ shaped his experience. Reading War and Peace as a ‘founding myth of modern Russia,’ she argues that war is its dominant theme. ‘Horrible as it is, war has its charm.’ Simply Tolstoy raises questions relevant today, about war, marriage, intimacy, or how to live a moral life, questions that play out against the canvas of actuality: ‘No author,’ writes Orwin, ‘has more thoroughly recreated the interplay between circumstance and free choice than Tolstoy.’”

  —Robin Feuer Miller, Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities, Brandeis University

  “This engaging and readable little work is an introduction worthy of the master. Donna Orwin, the foremost Western Tolstoy scholar, has spent a lifetime immersed in the writer’s works. She brings to the task a formidable knowledge of philosophy, Russian literature, and history, and a biting critical intelligence. Authoritative, thorough, and stimulating, this book brims with original insights that seasoned readers, as well as Tolstoy’s novices, will appreciate. Take a couple of hours, curl up under your beach umbrella, and read Simply Tolstoy. Then go back and read your Tolstoy, with this powerful little book at your elbow.”

  —Carol Apollonio, Professor of the Practice of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Duke University

  Other Great Lives Titles

  Simply Austen by Joan Klingel Ray

  Simply Beckett by Katherine Weiss

  Simply Beethoven by Leon Plantinga

  Simply Chaplin by David Sterritt

  Simply Chinggis by Timothy May

  Simply Chomsky by Raphael Salkie

  Simply Chopin by William Smialek

  Simply Darwin by Michael Ruse

  Simply Descartes by Kurt Smith

  Simply Dirac by Helge Kragh

  Simply Dostoevsky by Gary Saul Morson

  Simply Edison by Paul Israel

  Simply Eliot by Joseph Maddrey

  Simply Euler by Robert E. Bradley

  Simply Faulkner by Philip Weinstein

  Simply Freud by Stephen Frosh

  Simply Gödel by Richard Tieszen

  Simply Hegel by Robert Wicks

  Simply Heidegger by Mahon O’Brien

  Simply Hemingway by Mark P. Ott

  Simply Hitchcock by David Sterritt

  Simply Joyce by Margot Norris

  Simply Machiavelli by Robert Fredona

  Simply Napoleon by J. David Markham & Matthew Zarzeczny

  Simply Newton by Michael Nauenberg

  Simply Nietzsche by Peter Kail

  Simply Orwell by Philip Bader

  Simply Riemann by Jeremy Gray

  Simply Turing by Michael Olinick

  Simply Twain by R. Kent Rasmussen

  Simply Wagner by Thomas S. Grey

  Simply Wittgenstein by James C. Klagge

  Simply Woolf by Mary Ann Caws

  Series Editor's Foreword

  Simply Charly’s “Great Lives” series offers brief but authoritative introductions to the world’s most influential people—scientists, artists, writers, economists, and other historical figures whose contributions have had a meaningful and enduring impact on our society.

  Each book provides an illuminating look at the works, ideas, personal lives, and the legacies these individuals left behind, also shedding light on the thought processes, specific events, and experiences that led these remarkable people to their groundbreaking discoveries or other achievements. Additionally, every volume explores various challenges they had to face and overcome to make history in their respective fields, as well as the little-known character traits, quirks, strengths and frailties, myths and controversies that sometimes surrounded these personalities.

  Our authors are prominent scholars and other top experts who have dedicated their careers to exploring each facet of their subjects’ work and personal lives.

  Unlike many other works that are merely descriptions of the major milestones in a person’s life, the “Great Lives” series goes above and beyond the standard format and content. It brings substance, depth, and clarity to the sometimes-complex lives and works of history’s most powerful and influential people.

  We hope that by exploring this series, readers will not only gain new knowledge and
understanding of what drove these geniuses, but also find inspiration for their own lives. Isn’t this what a great book is supposed to do?

  Charles Carlini, Simply Charly

  New York City

  Preface

  Leo (Lev) Tolstoy is one of the world’s most famous writers. His works have been translated into over 60 languages, including Arabic, Albanian, Afrikaans, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese (Myanmar language), Catalan, Chinese, Chuvash, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Ha, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Norwegian, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Sorbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Welsh, and Yiddish.

  There have been 13 translations of the novel Anna Karenina into English alone, and nine of them are still in print. Two early translations are also available as print-on-demand publications. War and Peace has 12 translations, plus two substantial revisions of previous translations. Seven of those are still in print, and four early translations available as print-on-demand publications. There have been 16 translations of The Death of Ivan Ilych, with 10 still in print, and three early ones available as print-on-demand publications.

  Tolstoy was more than a writer of fiction. In his lifetime and beyond, he inspired social and political change. Though he died before the Russian Revolution of 1917, in his later life he contributed to the delegitimization of the Tsarist regime, and, as we shall see, his influence spread far beyond Russian borders.

  I became attracted to Tolstoy when, as a student, I discovered in his diaries that he had struggled in his youth with the same questions and problems I had, and he investigated them with a sincerity that I admired. In my long career, I haven’t found answers to all my questions, in his writing or elsewhere, but he still fascinates me. I wanted to know the relationship between that sincerity and his moral goals, and that is one of the overarching themes in this book. This first question led me to many others, some of which I elaborate on. It is not an exaggeration to say that characters from his fiction have become constant presences in my life, companions whose life stories have guided me in my own. Even when, as happens from time to time, Tolstoy infuriates me, I find myself reconnecting with him through his works. I feel privileged and humbled to have such a great man as a mentor. My bond with him and his art is an example of how great authors can influence individuals and societies distant from them in time and space.

  Tolstoy lived until age 82, and he was a prolific writer. Even the 90-volume iconic Jubilee Edition (1928–1958) of his collected works, which includes diaries and letters, does not contain all his writings. A new 120-volume Academy of Sciences Edition is planned at the time of this writing. So, obviously, this book cannot cover all his life experiences or everything he wrote.

  In choosing what to include and how to balance all the different facets of the man and his art, I have relied on the chronology I prepared for The Cambridge Companion to Tolstoy (2002). I have also borrowed from my own earlier writings. I have tried to give a thorough account of his fiction and nonfiction writings and to show how his art and ideas stayed the same and yet changed over time. I have drawn upon biography, psychology, philosophy, and history to show how these factors work together or against one another to produce the inimitable Tolstoy. This book is my own overview, but I am indebted to the numerous scholars whom I have read as I studied Tolstoy. I am also grateful to Tim Klähn, Michael Denner, Ken Lantz, Clifford Orwin, Edith Klein, and the editors of Simply Charly for their help in shaping the final manuscript. My goal is to provide an introduction to the whole man and his writings so that readers can engage with whatever aspect interests them.

  Donna Tussing Orwin

  Toronto, Canada

  1

  Early Life

  Family

  Family in Russia has special significance. In a country where, to this day, institutions don’t have much power and the rule of law does not always prevail, people depend more on family for networks and support. An interesting proof of the importance of family in Russian culture is that peoples’ full names include mention of their fathers. Tolstoy’s name was Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, with Nikolayevich a so-called patronymic meaning “son of Nikolay.” Russians also rely on outstanding individuals rather than governments to bring about change. Tolstoy used family connections throughout his life, from the time he was trying to establish himself in the army to later years when he needed help with his various projects. He came from nobility and felt a keen responsibility to serve the country in some way appropriate to the high social status he had inherited but not personally earned. Tolstoy would have learned about his ancestors from family lore, which often differed from what we now know or surmise. When he wrote about those ancestors in whom he was particularly interested—he did so rarely—he left out details that he probably knew but did not want to share with the general public.

  Tolstoy’s prototype for Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky in War and Peace was his maternal grandfather, Nikolay Sergeyevich Volkonsky (1753–1821). He came from a clan of princes said to be descended from Riurik, the mythical 9th-century founder of Kievan Rus, Russia’s predecessor which endured from the 9th to the early 13th century. His life story illustrates the situation of an aristocrat in his day—highly privileged but uncertain.

  Prince Volkonsky distinguished himself under Tsarina Catherine the Great, first as an officer in the Turkish campaign of 1780, and after a successful career in the army, as a diplomat. Catherine wanted him to marry the mistress (and supposedly niece) of Prince Grigori Potyomkin. Volkonsky refused, saying, “What made him think I should marry his whore?” Under the rule of Catherine’s son, Paul, he was dismissed from the army in 1797 for failing to appear at a review, but was readmitted after 18 months. He retired in 1799 to his estate at Yasnaya Polyana, a property in the fertile heartland of Russia 120 miles south of Moscow that his father had acquired in 1763. In the final two decades of his life, Nikolay Sergeyevich planned and mostly completed the building of a two-storey, 32-room mansion with surrounding outbuildings and landscaping. He also amassed a great book collection that nurtured his grandson and forms the basis of the Yasnaya Polyana library to this day.

  Though he never met him (having been born seven years after Nikolay Sergeyevich’s death), Tolstoy greatly admired his grandfather for his independence, feistiness, intelligence, pride, and aesthetic sense. He must have noticed from a portrait that hung on the wall of the salon at Yasnaya Polyana that he had inherited old Volkonsky’s black eyebrows and piercing gray eyes. (His own 1873 portrait by Ivan Kramskoy that hangs across from it seems to emphasize the similarity between the two.) He may have had the prince in mind in 1844, when he enrolled in the faculty of Oriental languages at Kazan University, intending to become a diplomat, and also in the 1850s, when he joined the army and contemplated a military career. Tolstoy lived almost his entire life at Yasnaya Polyana, which in its overall geometrical design and simplicity expressed the 18th-century taste and mentality of his grandfather. He was born there and as the youngest son—there was no right of succession for the first-born child among the Russian nobility—he inherited the family’s principal residence. At first, he seemed not sufficiently to appreciate or care for the estate. In 1854, he instructed his sister’s husband to sell the main house, where he had been born, to pay off gambling debts. (It was bought by a neighboring landowner, dismantled, moved, and reconstructed in a village 20 miles away. It survived until the 1920s when it burnt down.) By 1858, however, in an unfinished work entitled Summer in the Village, that explores relations between peasants and their masters, he called his estate “my little homeland.” He wrote there that “without my Yasnaya Polyana, it is hard for me to contemplate Russia and my relation to her. Without Yasnaya Polyana, I can perhaps more
clearly see the general laws necessary for my fatherland, but I will not be able to love it to distraction.” In the often-arbitrary world of Russian autocracy, Yasnaya Polyana became a private, inviolable space, the expression of the freedom and dignity of a Russian nobleman.

  When Prince Nikolay Sergeyevich had retired to Yasnaya Polyana in 1799, he also tended to the upbringing of his beloved only child (and Tolstoy’s mother), Princess Marya Nikolayevna, who was born in 1790. She must have been one of the most educated Russian women of her generation. Under her father’s tutelage, she studied five languages (including Russian, which was unusual for the upper classes, who spoke and wrote mostly in French), mathematics, some science, and classical literature. She was an accomplished pianist and storyteller, as well as an author of prose and poetry. Most important to Tolstoy was her good character, which combined modesty, magnanimity, and a sense of social justice. According to his Reminiscences, she had four great loves in her life: Prince Lev Golitsyn, who died before they could marry and after whom she named her youngest son; a French companion, Mademoiselle Hénissienne; her oldest son Nikolay; and Tolstoy himself, once Nikolay had graduated to the care of male tutors. After her marriage to Nikolay Ilyich Tolstoy in 1822, which was happy though not a love match, she devoted herself to raising her children.

  The Tolstoy clan fancifully traced its origins to a nobleman named Indris, who supposedly traveled from Lithuania or some other part of the Holy Roman Empire with his two sons and 3,000 followers and arrived in the principality of Chernigov in 1353. The Tolstoys were known for their intelligence, their long lives, and their love of women. Tolstoy’s ancestor Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy (1645–1729) was elevated to the rank of count in 1724, under Tsar Peter I (the Great). He was a very capable man, traveling abroad in the tsar’s service, learning Italian, and serving as ambassador to Constantinople. He was hard and morally dubious. Tolstoy, who studied the Petrine era in detail while considering writing a book about it in the 1870s, certainly knew that Pyotr Andreyevich had helped Tsar Peter lure his son Aleksey back to Russia and to his death. Peter said of him when he was already 80 years old, “Pyotr Andreyevich is in every way a very able man, but it is just as well when you have dealings with him to keep a stone in your pocket to break his teeth in case he decides to bite you!” Pyotr Andreyevich lost his title in 1727, when he fell into disgrace after having taken the wrong side in machinations following Peter’s death. (The title was restored to the family in 1760.) When Tolstoy was asked to provide a biography of his family (published in 1879), he traced the Tolstoy line back to this ancestor, identifying him only as “an associate of Peter the Great.” This was indicative of the importance that Tolstoy placed on family and of his reluctance to air its dirty linen.