The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author), David McDuff (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: June 28, 2005

While "The Kreutzer Sonata" caused a public sensation, Tolstoy's wife, Sonya, was hurt and furious that he should have enriched his scathing indictment of marriage with private details from theri own life together. Tolstoy, during two years of obsessive unhappiness, had become convinced that the idea of a "Christian marriage" was an impossibility. Here he lets loose all his frustration and disgust at human sexuality, and the humiliating, ungodly, sensual tie that binds men to women. The curious result, part self-lacerating, confession, part Christian polemic, is moving, above all, as the story of a man whose sexual jealousy, inflamed by guilt, drives him to murder his wife.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Moments of dramatic genius: a wracking vision of marriage as jealousy nourished, hatred voluptuously fed, rage taken for breakfast.”—Elizabeth Hardwick --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140444696
• ISBN-13: 978-0140444698
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Three stories of despair, October 7, 2004

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

The highlight of this book for me had to be re-reading "The Death of Ivan Ilych" again after all these years. I read it for the first time years and years ago as required reading in middle school and this is the first time that I have come back to it since that time. I found myself unsurprisingly better equipped to read and appreciate this story now and was exceptionally pleased to have read it again.

This edition contains three short stories that were written after Tolstoy made his conversion to intense Christian beliefs. They are interesting to read together, particularly given the common theme about characters with mistaken ideas about what will bring them contentment.

"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" is a parable which examines greed and contentment through the story of a peasant who believes that he would be satisfied with his life if only he had a little bit more land.

"The Death of Ivan Ilych" tells the history of an outwardly prosperous but spiritually empty man who dies at the age of 45 after a fall in his home.

In "The Kreutzer Sonata" a man on a train relates to a fellow passenger what the circumstances were that led to the murder of his wife.

It is, at the very least, important to read these stories. The Kreutzer Sonata is particularly important in the history of literature. At its release, it was banned throughout much of Europe for indecency and has been inspiring debate about feminist issues and women characters in literature ever since that time.

The translation used in the Dover Thrift edition is competent, but has its awkward moments and is occasionally clunky and obtuse. I might personally recommend buying a different edition if you are planning a purchase.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story great, edition not, October 12, 1999

By 

Jane Sibley (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

Just returned from Book Discussion Group. Found Dover translation to be far inferior to Penguin Classic.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Madness, but genius, August 14, 1999

By 

The Baker Street Irregular (Staines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ibsen once described Tostoy as a supremely great writer, when he wasn't being mad. On the evidence of "The Kreutzer Sonata", Tolstoy was a supremely great writer EVEN when he was mad.