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Title: Confession by Leo Tolstoy, David Patterson ISBN: 0-393-31475-8 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: August, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.58 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Journey Unfulfilled
Comment: Tolstoy's Confession was written during his time of deep internal spiritual struggle. Upon his renunciation of a life of aristocratic wealth and worldly pleasure, Tolstoy longed for the sense of true peace that he saw in the peasant class. Thus he embarked upon a search for meaning and happiness through a life of simple faith, manual labor, and poverty. He formulated his own Chrisian philosophy based on Christ's Sermon on the Mount stressing the existence of the Kingdom of God within the human heart, civil disobedience, and total pacifism. This "law of love" is explored deeply in confessional form throughout this autobiographical work. Although this particular approach to living the life in Christ ultimately did not cultivate in Tolstoy the deep inner peace that he yearned for, I feel that many of his ideas can be beneficial to people both within the Church as well as not. Regardless of the validity of his doctrine, it cannot be denied that this is an authentic, genuine, and very human confession of a man searching for God and some meaning to life on earth. Although I personally disagree with many of Tolstoy's points, I still hold his Confession to be a universal work that deserves a fair exploration by all who have ever felt a similar need for inner peace and true reconciliation with God.
Rating: 3
Summary: Poor confession compared to Augustine and Lewis
Comment: After starting off with some coherence, Tolstoy ends up rambling on aimlessly during most of the work, finally managing to get down to what he is trying to say within the closing pages. Unlike St. Augustine in his Confession, and C. S. Lewis in his confession (Surprised by Joy), however, Tolstoy seems to be a bit confused about two of the areas on which he writes: the relationships between science, philosophy, and religion, and the relationships between the Church, Christianity, and being a follower of Christ. And, in reading his concluding remarks, it is not apparent to which faith system he subscribes. Although this work is important to those interested in attempting to understand the mind of Tolstoy, in my opinion one seeking true confessions should instead turn to Augustine and Lewis. (Note: You will save a lot of money by buying used the Tolstoy collection "The Portable Tolstoy", which is almost 1000 pages in length and includes Confession, rather than purchasing Confession for probably almost the same price on its own.)
Rating: 5
Summary: a great defense of disbelief, as well as a search for truth
Comment: Dogmatic religion has never recieved such a blow. Here is a man whose simplicity and sincerity permeate every page. At about the age of fifty, unable to ignore the deeper questions of life (Why, and What for?), Tolstoy began a search for meaning rivalling any undertaken by a man before or since. From Socrates to Schopenhauer to Solomon to Buddha, and, finally, to Christ, he studies the greatest minds of antiquity and today, rejecting everything that refuses to face-up to the ultimate problem of human life. The result is a profound affirmation that shatters his existing world-view and replaces it with a life entirely dedicated to God. Brilliant!
Also recommended: Resurrection (the Vera Traill translation) and the Death of Ivan Illych and other stories, also by Tolstoy, Selected Essays by Tolstoy (esp. The First Step and What is Religion?), and The Brothers Karamazov (Andrew MacAndrew translation) by Fyodor Dostoievsky.
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Title: The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Tolstoy, Constance Garnett, Martin Green ISBN: 0803294042 Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Gospel in Brief by Leo Tolstoy, Isabel Hapgood, F. A., III Flowers, Luisa Cesana ISBN: 0803294328 Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $8.94 |
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Title: Where Love Is, There God Is Also by Leo Tolstoy, Lawrence Jordan, Leo Toldyoy ISBN: 0800717813 Publisher: Fleming H Revell Co Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Resurrection (Penguin Classics) by Leo Tolstoy, Rosemary Edmonds, Vera Traill ISBN: 0140441840 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: February, 1966 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: A Calendar of Wisdom : Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts by Leo Tolstoy ISBN: 0684837935 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 14 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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