Last Steps: The Last Writings of Leo Tolstoy, trs Jay Parini
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It's either a brave man or a foolish man who describes feeling "an insuperable repulsion and tedium" on reading the plays of Shakespeare; the "vulgarity" of some characters; and the "inflated characterless style in which King Lear – like all Shakespeare's kings – talks". But by this point in his life, Tolstoy had eschewed his wilder, younger days to embrace religion and morality in his old age, and Shakespeare, he had decided, wasn't moral enough for him to appreciate. That is not to say he embraced the established Church – that gets it in the neck too, for forgetting its link to ordinary men.
Ever the novelist, though, Tolstoy's recourse to vignettes to illustrate his arguments, in these essays, does help to break up the monotony of his didactic prose. However, I would have found his explanation for his sudden conversion to religion ("'He exists,' said I to myself. And I had only for a minute to admit that, and at once life rose within me") unconvincing if it had happened in one of his novels, never mind in real life.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments