Family Happiness and Other Stories (Thrift Edition) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Each of the 6 powerful tales in this collection exhibits the rich detail, shrewd observations, and vivid narration that characterize Tolstoy's famous novels. In addition to the title story, this compilation includes "Three Deaths," "The Three Hermits," "The Devil," "Father Sergius," and "Master and Man."

About the Author

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is revered worldwide as one of the greatest writers of all time. His novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina have become classics of world literature.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486440818
• ISBN-13: 978-0486440811
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent bite-sized Tolstoy, January 4, 2008

By	Roberto H "Lover of libros" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

I'd never read Tolstoy because I was always intimidated by the size of his major works; thus, a collection of his short stories was an appealing first step.

"Family Happiness" is the primary work in this book. In it, Tolstoy opines on what makes a successful marriage. I was amazed by how prescient to today was his 19th century relationship advice. Because he grasps universal and eternal elements of the human soul, his advice will be just as relevant 100 years from now.

The other stories display Tolstoy's thoughts on work, faith, temptation, high-society, and ambition - among other topics - and are equally as enlightening.

Tolstoy clearly did not sacrifice brevity for depth as these five short stories were all outstanding reads. A great introduction to one of history's deepest writers. Highly recommend.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy, May 11, 2009

By	Carolyn Carpenter (Fredericksburg, Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Family Happiness was first published in 1859, and it marks one of the first of Tolstoy's fictional explorations of the theme of family happiness. It is autobiographical to a large extent and was written after his engagement to his ward was broken off. It explores what might have happened had the marriage taken place.

Tolstoy searched for family happiness his entire life. He did not know it in its complete form as a child as his mother died when he was about 18 months old and his father when he was nine. After his father's death, little Leo and his three brothers and sister were shifted around among other relatives. First his paternal grandmother had guardianship of the children, but she too died 11 months after his father's death. Guardianship then passed to a paternal aunt, who also died. There was then a custody battle between another paternal aunt and a paternal cousin (the model for Sonya in War and Peace) with the paternal aunt winning.

None of the five children ever found family happiness in their adult lives.

Tolstoy was obsessed with trying to understand what family happiness consists of and how to achieve it. This obsession is evident in the fictional marriages he portrayed in War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Kreutzer Sonata, and The Devil. Some believe that Tolstoy did achieve family happiness in the early years of his marriage, but I would argue that the relationship between husband and wife was volatile from the beginning, disintegrating over the years until his celebrated flight from home ending in his death from pneumonia in 1910.

0 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Family Happiness, Tolstoy, July 7, 2008

By	Solveig L. Munch - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tolstoy's Family Happiness is passe' and boring. I read many books each year, and this is not one I would recommend. I would highly recommend "Into the wild", "The woman who walked to Russia", "Garden Spell", "Desert Queen", I could go on, with many other subjects, but that will have to wait. S.L.Munch