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Divine And Human An Other Stories

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Tolstoy, a writer of such undeniable power, proves perhaps by the most extreme scenario that he is not overrated as a transcendant writer: namely, this book is still vital despite a horribly mangled translation by Gordon Spence. Here's one example of the needless contortions Spence plays with Russian/English: "But what he understood now by him to whom he appealed was something he knew to be the most real of everything he knew." Another gem: ". . .and in the same week he drank not only all the money that he had received for the execution, but also all his relatively expensive clothes. . ." Whaat? How does one drink expensive clothes? Yet another: "With the devoted old nurse. . .she sat in her father's closed sleigh, which had been newly repaired for the long journey, and set out on the long journey." Come on. How about ". . .newly repaired for the long journey, and set out."? Yet to read the story "Divine and Human" is a seminal experience nonetheless. Amazing, Tolstoy has to be a titan to shine through this, yet he does.

The book contains some short stories; one of them is titled "Divine and Human". The content of the stories varies: some of them are fables with a happy ending others, as for instance "Divine and Human", are stories with bleak atmospheres resembling the ones present in "The Death of Ivan Ilich" or in "Resurrection. The author, anyhow, always deploys a positive message of hope. The author clearly depicts last century Russian peasant's poor conditions of life. These very miserable life styles are the base for the author's reflections and considerations about the morally correct behaviour that rich people should hold in order to be useful to others and to be happier themselves.