Hadji Murat (Hesperus Classics) [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author), Colm Toibin (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Hesperus Classics | Publication Date: February 1, 2003

In Hadji Murat, Tolstoy recounts the extraordinary meeting of two polarized cultures—the refined, Europeanized court of the Russian tsar and the fierce Muslim chieftains of the Chechen hills. This brilliant, culturally resonant fiction was written towards the end of Tolstoy’s life, but the conflict it describes has obvious, ironic parallels with current affairs today. It is 1852, and Hadji Murat, one of the most feared mountain chiefs, is the scourge of the Russian army. When he comes to surrender, the Russians are delighted. Or have they naively welcomed a double-agent into their midst? With its sardonic portraits—from the inscrutable Hadji Murat to the fat and bumbling tsar—Tolstoy’s story is an astute and witty commentary on the nature of political relations and states at war. Leo Tolstoy is one of the world’s greatest writers. Best known for his brilliantly crafted epic novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, he used his works to address the problems of Russian society, politics, and traditions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"My personal touchstone for the sublime of prose fiction, to me the best story in the world."  —Harold Bloom, author, How to Read and Why

"As I read Hadji-Murat again, I thought: this is the man one should learn from. Here the electric charge went from the earth, through the hands, straight to the paper, with no insulation, quite mercilessly stripping off any and all outer shrouds with a sense of truth—a truth, furthermore, which was clothed in garments both transparent and beautiful."  —Isaac Babel, author Red Cavalry

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: Hesperus Press (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843910330
• ISBN-13: 978-1843910336
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Between a rock and a hard place, April 15, 2003

By 

Guillermo Maynez (Mexico, Distrito Federal Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hadji Murad (Hardcover)

This is the partially fictionalized account of the last days of Hadji Murad, a renowned and feared Chechen -more precisely, Avar- warrior in 1851-52. Feared by the ruthless Imam Shamil, ruler of Chechens and other Caucasians, Murad is forced to defect yet again to the Russians, who recieve him warmly but suspiciously (he has switched sides before). Murad keeps telling the Russians he won't be of much help unless they support him in getting his family safe and back from the cruel Shamil. Some of them incline to do so, but others fear he might be just spying on them. The action drags on, with no resolution arrived at, until Murad makes his final dash.

As literature, the story is incredibly well written; as background information on the origins of the still-going-on Chechen war, it is priceless. Tolstoi show here his very literary genius: in only 125 pages, he conveys a portrait of many characters, each and every one with his/her own full personality. It is marvelous how Tolstoi can give a whole personality to even the minor characters in a short work.

The depictions of landscapes and circumstances are also masterful, and you can really feel the cold wind and see the wooded mountains of that magnetic and troublesome corner, neither fully European nor Asian.

It is, then, the story of a real man who got caught between the despised Russians and the murderous Chechen leader, really a tragic figure in the sense that he has to make decisiones in front of certain death for him and for his family, whom he deeply loves. Great literature tends to be that which posts credible and appealing characters in limit-situations, and this is clearly one of the best. Refreshing to read an action-packed, well-written, historically interesting story with compelling characters.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent story., September 24, 2003

By 

"lukeo" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hadji Murad (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

Even though this was published shortly after Tolstoy's death in 1910 and with the Chechen war still raging today it is easy to imagine the events that unfold before Hadji Murad occurring recently. Tolstoy's flavorful writing is such that you can almost smell the smoke of the cigarettes and burning wood from the forts and aouls. I will not go over what this book is about since so many other reviews have already done a fine job, but one thing I would like to mention is the excellent introduction by Azar Nafisi. Azar Nafisi, the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, outlines and provides a compact analysis of Hadji Murad as well as some historical information. It is worth reading the introduction before AND after you finish Hadji Murad.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware, April 12, 2008

By 

Roberta S. Bloom (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hadji Murad (Paperback)

Oops! My book group wanted to do a "short" book with "meat" and we thought Hadji Murad by Tolstoy would be perfect. Without thinking I purchased the cheapest new Hadji Murad I saw.It's the Filiquarian Pulishing,LLC book I'm talking about. It turned out I'd purchased a book that reads like it was translated from the Russian by computer. It certainly never had a human editor. The spelling was bad but the grammar was worse. What I could tell was a wonderful, exciting and relevant story had no charm. Shame on Amazon for selling this. Shame on me for not sending this copy back and reading Hadji Murad as Tolstoy intended.