The most famous works of Tolstoy. "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" is an autobiographical trilogy. Who is Leo Tolstoy

18.04.2019

Russian writers are rightfully considered true literary geniuses. All of them made an invaluable contribution to the development of the art of words, so their works remain relevant in our time and will be relevant for many years to come. This is largely due to the fact that all the writers were not just educated and wise, but also talented people. This helped them create not just complex and relevant works, but also interesting ones.

Lev Tolstoy

One of the most famous Russian classics is Leo Tolstoy, whose books were published in huge editions. His works are known for their scale and depth philosophical problems which the author reveals.

Tolstoy's books, as a rule, are very voluminous, but not because he repeats himself a lot, but because he approaches the disclosure of a particular topic as thoroughly as possible. A writer always tries to get to the heart of things. This article will focus on Tolstoy’s main books, which had the greatest public resonance and which made a truly enormous contribution to world culture.

War and Peace

The epic novel "War and Peace" is one of the most significant works of world literature of the 19th century. It doesn’t just show important historical events of that time, it conveys the atmosphere of that time, the mood of people and talks about the most important things.

The concept of the novel was initially radically different from what happened in the end. Tolstoy wanted to write a book about the life of the Decembrist who returned from exile. However, in the process of work, the writer realized that the thoughts that he wants to convey to people require a deeper and more thorough analysis of Russian life. That is why the story begins long before the events of December 14, 1925.

The author follows his characters through several decades of their lives, showing their moral development in the context historical events. The war with Napoleon completely changed the consciousness of the people of that time. They stopped speaking French, became disillusioned with the war and military leaders, but most importantly, they began to understand the real value of life.

The heroes of the novel are very complex and multifaceted personalities who, with their life's quests they are trying to come to eternal truths and tell the reader about them. Tolstoy's book "War and Peace" is a novel about the most important things in life that must be learned by every person. That is why this work is loved all over the world. It has been filmed many times both in Russia and abroad. Special attention It is worth paying attention to the film adaptation directed by Soviet director Sergei Bondarchuk, because for it he was awarded an Oscar film award in 1965.

"Anna Karenina"

L.N. Tolstoy's books are often filmed by famous foreign directors. The novel "Anna Karenina" was made into a film in 2012 by Briton Joe Wright. This project was very successful and grossed about $70 million. The main roles were played by: famous actors, like Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

The plot of the novel takes place in St. Petersburg in the 19th century. A very respected and wealthy representative of the golden youth, Count Vronsky, falls in love with married girl Anna Karenina. She was given in marriage against her will and did not love her husband, who was much older than her. An affair begins between Vronsky and Anna Karenina, which breaks the destinies of both and leads to sad consequences...

"Anna Karenina", like all of Tolstoy's books, reflects the main problems of Russian life. This novel tells what consequences happen to those marriages that are not concluded for love. It teaches you to be more attentive to loved ones, as well as honest towards yourself and others.

"Resurrection"

The novel "Resurrection" became last work Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. It was printed in huge numbers and translated into almost all the major languages of the world. This was necessary, since the interest in Tolstoy’s work was enormous, especially after the publication of the novels “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”.

This novel came out much later than all of Tolstoy's previous books. This greatly fueled public interest in this work. However, an important role in such popularity was played by the fact that the theme of the novel was very relevant at that time. The plot tells how a young officer, completely without thinking about the consequences, seduced an innocent girl. Such an act became fatal in his fate. After this, the lives of both heroes changed a lot...

The novel "Resurrection", like previous works Tolstoy, was filmed great amount once by directors from different countries. Particular attention should be paid to the film Soviet director Mikhail Schweitzer, filmed in 1960.

Finally

The works of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy are known and loved not only in Russia, but also abroad. He was an innovator in the field of literature; it was from his pen that now very common literary techniques first began to appear. Tolstoy's books are true classics of world literature.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is the author of works not only for adults, but also for children. Young readers like the stories, fables, and fairy tales of the famous prose writer. Tolstoy's works for children teach love, kindness, courage, justice, and resourcefulness.

Fairy tales for little ones

These works can be read to children by their parents. A child 3-5 years old will be interested in meeting the characters fairy tales. When kids learn to put letters together into words, they will be able to read and study Tolstoy’s works for children on their own.

The fairy tale “Three Bears” tells the story of a girl Masha who got lost in the forest. She came across a house and entered it. The table was set, there were 3 bowls on it different sizes. Masha tasted the soup, first from two large ones, and then ate all the soup, which was poured into a small plate. Then she sat on the chair and slept on the bed, which, like the chair and the plate, belonged to Mishutka. When he returned home with his parent bears and saw all this, he wanted to catch the girl, but she jumped out the window and ran away.

Kids will also be interested in other works by Tolstoy for children, written in the form of fairy tales.

Stories-were

It is useful for older children to read Tolstoy's works for children, written in the format short stories, for example, about a boy who really wanted to study, but his mother would not let him go.

The story "Philippok" begins with this. But the boy Philip once left for school without asking, when he was left at home alone with his grandmother. Entering the classroom, he was scared at first, but then pulled himself together and answered the teacher’s questions. The teacher promised the child that he would ask his mother to allow Filippka to go to school. This is how the boy wanted to learn. After all, learning something new is so interesting!

One more small and good person wrote Tolstoy. Works for children written by Lev Nikolaevich include the story “The Foundling.” From it we learn about the girl Masha, who discovered a baby on the threshold of her house. The girl was kind and gave the foundling milk to drink. Her mother wanted to give the baby to the boss, since their family was poor, but Masha said that the foundling did not eat much, and she herself would take care of him. The girl kept her word, she swaddled, fed, and put the baby to bed.

The next story, like the previous one, is based on real events. It's called "Cow". The work tells about the widow Marya, her six children and a cow.

Tolstoy, works for children created in an instructive form

After reading the story “The Stone,” you are once again convinced that you shouldn’t, that is, harbor a grudge against someone for a long time. After all, this is a destructive feeling.

In the story, one poor man literally carried a stone in his bosom. Once upon a time, a rich man, instead of helping, threw this cobblestone at the poor man. When the life of the rich man changed dramatically, he was taken to prison, the poor man wanted to throw a stone at him, which he had saved, but the anger had long passed and was replaced by pity.

You experience the same feeling when reading the story “Topol”. The narration is told in the first person. The author, together with his assistants, wanted to cut down young poplars. These were the shoots of an old tree. The man thought that this would make his life easier, but everything turned out differently. The poplar was drying up and therefore giving birth to new trees. The old tree died, and the workers destroyed the new shoots.

Fables

Not everyone knows that Leo Tolstoy’s works for children are not only fairy tales, short stories, but also fables that are written in prose.

For example, "The Ant and the Dove." After reading this fable, children will conclude that good deeds lead to good responses.

The ant fell into the water and began to drown, the dove threw him a twig, along which the poor fellow was able to get out. Once a hunter set a net for a dove and was about to slam the trap, but then an ant came to the bird’s aid. He bit the hunter on the leg, he gasped. At this time, the dove got out of the net and flew away.

Other instructive fables that Leo Tolstoy came up with are also worthy of attention. Works for children written in this genre are:

"Turtle and Eagle";
"The head and tail of a snake";
"The Lion and the Mouse";
"Donkey and Horse";
"Lion, Bear and Fox";
"The Frog and the Lion";
"The Ox and the Old Woman."

"Childhood"

For primary and secondary students school age We can advise you to read the first part of L. N. Tolstoy’s trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”. It will be useful for them to know how their peers, children of wealthy parents, lived in the 19th century.

The story begins with meeting Nikolenka Artenyev, who is 10 years old. The boy was instilled with good manners from childhood. And now, having woken up, he washed, got dressed, and the teacher Karl Ivanovich took him and his younger brother to say hello to his mother. She poured tea in the living room, then the family had breakfast.

This is how Leo Tolstoy described the morning scene. Works for children teach young readers kindness and love, just like this story. The author describes what feelings Nikolenka felt for his parents - pure and sincere love. This story will be useful for young readers. In high school they will study the continuation of the book - "Boyhood" and "Youth".

Tolstoy's works: list

Short stories are read very quickly. Here are the titles of some of them that Lev Nikolaevich wrote for children:

"Eskimos";
"Two Comrades";
"Bulka and the Wolf";
"How Trees Walk";
"Girls are smarter than old men";
"Apple trees";
"Magnet";
"Lozina";
"Two merchants";
"Bone."

"Candle";
"Bad Air";
"Harmful air";
"Hares";
"Deer".

Stories about animals

Tolstoy has a very touching stories. We learn about the brave boy from the following story, called “Kitten.” In one family there lived a cat. She suddenly disappeared for some time. When the children - brother and sister - found her, they saw that the cat had given birth to kittens. The guys took one for themselves and began to care for the little creature - feeding and watering it.

One day they went for a walk and took their pet with them. But soon the children forgot about him. They remembered only when the baby was in danger - hunting dogs rushed at him barking. The girl got scared and ran away, and the boy rushed to protect the kitten. He covered him with his body and thus saved him from the dogs, which the hunter then called away.

In the story "Elephant" we learn about a giant animal living in India. The owner treated him poorly - he barely fed him and forced him to work a lot. One day the animal could not stand such treatment and crushed the man by stepping on him with its foot. Instead of the previous one, the elephant chose a boy - his son - as its owner.

Here are some instructive and interesting stories wrote a classic. This best works Leo Tolstoy for children. They will help instill in children many useful and important qualities, teach them to see and understand better the world.

Our ship was anchored off the coast of Africa. It was a beautiful day, a fresh wind was blowing from the sea; but in the evening the weather changed: it became stuffy and, as if from a heated stove, hot air from the Sahara desert was blowing towards us.

Before sunset, the captain came out onto the deck and shouted: “Swim!” - and in one minute the sailors jumped into the water, lowered the sail into the water, tied it and set up a bath in the sail.

There were two boys with us on the ship. The boys were the first to jump into the water, but they were cramped in the sail, and they decided to race against each other in the open sea.

Both, like lizards, stretched out in the water and, with all their strength, swam to the place where there was a barrel above the anchor.

The squirrel jumped from branch to branch and fell straight onto the sleepy wolf. The wolf jumped up and wanted to eat her. The squirrel began to ask:

- Let me in.

Wolf said:

- Okay, I’ll let you in, just tell me why you squirrels are so cheerful. I’m always bored, but I look at you, you’re up there all playing and jumping.

One person had big house, and there was a large stove in the house; and this man’s family was small: only himself and his wife.

When winter came, a man began to light the stove and burned all his wood in one month. There was nothing to heat it with, and it was cold.

Then the man began to destroy the yard and drown it with wood from the broken yard. When he burned the entire yard, it became even colder in the house without protection, and there was nothing to heat it with. Then he climbed in, broke the roof and began to drown the roof; the house became even colder, and there was no firewood. Then the man began to dismantle the ceiling from the house in order to heat it with it.

A man was riding a boat and dropped precious pearls into the sea. The man returned to the shore, took a bucket and began to scoop up water and pour it onto the ground. He scooped and poured out for three days tirelessly.

On the fourth day a merman came out of the sea and asked:

Why are you scooping?

The man says:

I realize that I dropped the pearl.

The merman asked:

Will you stop soon?

The man says:

When I dry up the sea, then I will stop.

Then the merman returned to the sea, brought those same pearls and gave them to the man.

There were two sisters: Volga and Vazuza. They began to argue about which of them was smarter and who would live better.

Volga said:

Why should we argue - we are both getting older. Let's leave the house tomorrow morning and go our separate ways; then we will see which of the two will go through better and come to the Khvalynsk kingdom sooner.

Vazuza agreed, but deceived Volga. As soon as the Volga fell asleep, Vazuza at night ran straight along the road to the Khvalynsk kingdom.

When Volga got up and saw that her sister had left, she quietly and quickly went her way and caught up with Vazuzu.

The wolf wanted to catch a sheep from the herd and went into the wind so that dust from the herd would blow on him.

The sheepdog saw him and said:

It’s in vain, wolf, that you walk in the dust, your eyes will hurt.

And the wolf says:

That’s the trouble, little dog, that my eyes have been hurting for a long time, but they say that dust from a flock of sheep heals my eyes well.

The wolf choked on a bone and could not breathe out. He called the crane and said:

Come on, you crane, you have a long neck, stick your head down my throat and pull out the bone: I will reward you.

The crane stuck his head in, pulled out a bone and said:

Give me a reward.

The wolf gritted his teeth and said:

Or is it not enough reward for you that I didn’t bite your head off when it was in my teeth?

The wolf wanted to get close to the foal. He approached the herd and said:

Why is your foal limping alone? Or do you not know how to heal? We wolves have such a medicine that there will never be lameness.

The mare is alone and says:

Do you know how to treat?

How can you not know?

So, treat my right hind leg, something in the hoof hurts.

Wolf and goat

The category is made up of Russian life, mainly from village life. Data on natural history and history are given in the simple form of fairy tales and fiction stories. Most of the stories are about moral theme, occupying only a few lines.

Stories and fairy tales, written Lvom Nikolaevich Tolstoy for textbooks, rich and varied in content; they represent a valuable contribution to the domestic and world literature for children. Most of these fairy tales and stories are still in books for reading V primary school. It is reliably known how seriously he took Lev Tolstoy to writing little fairy tales for children, how much he worked on them, remaking the fairy tale many times. But the most important thing is Tolstoy's little stories the fact that their creator is concerned about the moral side and the topic of education. These stories contain hints from which one must be able to draw good, good, moral lessons.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy often used a genre that everyone understood and loved fables, in which, through allegories, he unobtrusively and carefully presented completely different edifications and intricate morals. Stories and fairy tales on proverb topics Lev Tolstoy instill in the child hard work, courage, honesty and kindness. Representing a kind of small lesson - memorable and bright, fable or proverb teaches understanding folk wisdom, teaching figurative languages, the ability to determine the value of human actions in a generalized form.

Information sheet:

The wonderful, cute fairy tales of Leo Tolstoy make an indelible impression on children. Little readers and listeners make unusual discoveries about living nature, which are given to them in a fairy-tale form. At the same time, they are interesting to read and easy to understand. For better perception, some of the author's previously written fairy tales were later released in processing.

Who is Leo Tolstoy?

He was a famous writer of his time and remains so today. He had an excellent education and knew foreign languages, was keen classical music. Traveled extensively throughout Europe and served in the Caucasus.

His original books were always published in large editions. Great novels and novellas, short stories and fables - the list of published works amazes with the richness of the author’s literary talent. He wrote about love, war, heroism and patriotism. Personally participated in military battles. I saw a lot of grief and complete self-denial of soldiers and officers. He often spoke bitterly not only about the material, but also about the spiritual poverty of the peasantry. And completely unexpected against the backdrop of his epic and social works became wonderful creations for children.

Why did you start writing for children?

Count Tolstoy did a lot of charity work. On his estate he opened a free school for peasants. The desire to write for children arose when the first few poor children came to study. To open up the world around them, to teach them in simple language what is now called natural history, Tolstoy began to write fairy tales.

Why do they love the writer these days?

It turned out so well that even now, children of a completely different generation, enjoy the works of the 19th century count, learning love and kindness towards the world around us and animals. As in all literature, Leo Tolstoy was also talented in fairy tales and is loved by his readers.

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Tula province (Russia) into a family belonging to the noble class. In the 1860s, he wrote his first great novel, War and Peace. In 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina.

He continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. One of his most successful later works is “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910 in Astapovo, Russia.

First years of life

September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana(Tula province, Russia) the future writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born. He was the fourth child in a large noble family. In 1830, when Tolstoy's mother, née Princess Volkonskaya, died, his father's cousin took over the care of the children. Their father, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died seven years later, and their aunt was appointed guardian. After the death of his aunt, Leo Tolstoy, his brothers and sisters moved to their second aunt in Kazan. Although Tolstoy experienced many losses in early age, he later idealized his childhood memories in his work.

It is important to note that elementary education in Tolstoy's biography, he received lessons at home from French and German teachers. In 1843 he entered the Faculty of Oriental Languages at the Imperial Kazan University. Tolstoy failed to succeed in his studies - low grades forced him to transfer to an easier law faculty. Further difficulties in his studies led Tolstoy to eventually leave the Imperial Kazan University in 1847 without a degree. He returned to his parents' estate, where he planned to start farming. However, this endeavor also ended in failure - he was absent too often, leaving for Tula and Moscow. What he really excelled at was keeping his own diary - it was this lifelong habit that inspired much of Leo Tolstoy's writing.

Tolstoy was fond of music; his favorite composers were Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, and Mendelssohn. Lev Nikolaevich could play their works for several hours a day.

One day, Tolstoy’s elder brother, Nikolai, during his army leave, came to visit Lev, and convinced his brother to join the army as a cadet in the south, in the Caucasus mountains, where he served. After serving as a cadet, Leo Tolstoy was transferred to Sevastopol in November 1854, where he fought in the Crimean War until August 1855.

Early publications

During his years as a cadet in the army, Tolstoy had a lot of free time. During quiet periods, he worked on an autobiographical story called Childhood. In it, he wrote about his favorite childhood memories. In 1852, Tolstoy sent a story to Sovremennik, the most popular magazine of the time. The story was happily accepted, and it became Tolstoy's first publication. From that time on, critics put him on a par with already famous writers, among whom were Ivan Turgenev (with whom Tolstoy became friends), Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Ostrovsky and others.

After completing his story “Childhood,” Tolstoy began writing about his daily life at an army outpost in the Caucasus. The work “Cossacks”, which he began during his army years, was completed only in 1862, after he had already left the army.

Surprisingly, Tolstoy managed to continue writing while actively fighting in the Crimean War. During this time he wrote Boyhood (1854), a sequel to Childhood, the second book in Tolstoy's autobiographical trilogy. In the midst Crimean War Tolstoy expressed his views on the astonishing contradictions of war through his trilogy of works, Sevastopol Tales. In the second book " Sevastopol stories", Tolstoy experimented with a relatively new technique: part of the story is presented as a narration from the point of view of a soldier.

After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy left the army and returned to Russia. Arriving home, the author enjoyed great popularity on the literary scene of St. Petersburg.

Stubborn and arrogant, Tolstoy refused to belong to any particular school of philosophy. Declaring himself an anarchist, he left for Paris in 1857. Once there, he lost all his money and was forced to return home to Russia. He also managed to publish Youth, the third part of an autobiographical trilogy, in 1857.

Returning to Russia in 1862, Tolstoy published the first of 12 issues of the thematic magazine Yasnaya Polyana. That same year he married the daughter of a doctor named Sofya Andreevna Bers.

Major novels

Living in Yasnaya Polyana with his wife and children, Tolstoy spent much of the 1860s working on his first famous novel"War and Peace". Part of the novel was first published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1865 under the title “1805”. By 1868 he had published three more chapters. A year later, the novel was completely finished. Both critics and the public argued about historical justice Napoleonic Wars in the novel, combined with the development of stories that are thoughtful and realistic, but still fictional characters. The novel is also unique in that it includes three long satirical essays on the laws of history. Among the ideas that Tolstoy also tries to convey in this novel is the belief that a person’s position in society and the meaning human life are mainly derivatives of his daily activities.

After the success of War and Peace in 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina. It was partly based on real events during the war between Russia and Turkey. Like War and Peace, this book describes some biographical events from the life of Tolstoy himself, this is especially noticeable in romantic relationships between the characters Kitty and Levin, which is said to be reminiscent of Tolstoy's courtship of his own wife.

The first lines of the book “Anna Karenina” are among the most famous: “Everyone happy families are similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina was published in installments from 1873 to 1877, and was highly acclaimed by the public. The royalties received for the novel quickly enriched the writer.

Conversion

Despite the success of Anna Karenina, after the completion of the novel Tolstoy experienced spiritual crisis and was depressed. The next stage of Leo Tolstoy's biography is characterized by a search for the meaning of life. The writer first turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but did not find answers to his questions there. He concluded that Christian churches were corrupt and, instead of organized religion, promoted their own beliefs. He decided to express these beliefs by founding a new publication in 1883 called The Mediator.
As a result, for his unconventional and controversial spiritual beliefs, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church. He was even watched by the secret police. When Tolstoy, driven by his new conviction, wanted to give away all his money and give up everything unnecessary, his wife was categorically against this. Not wanting to escalate the situation, Tolstoy reluctantly agreed to a compromise: he transferred the copyright and, apparently, all royalties on his work until 1881 to his wife.

Late fiction

In addition to his religious treatises, Tolstoy continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Among the genres of his later works were moral stories and realistic fiction. One of the most successful of his later works was the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” written in 1886. Main character struggling to fight the death looming over him. In short, Ivan Ilyich is horrified by the realization that he wasted his life on trifles, but this realization comes to him too late.

In 1898, Tolstoy wrote the story “Father Sergius”, piece of art, in which he criticizes the beliefs he developed after his spiritual transformation. The following year he wrote his third voluminous novel, Resurrection. Got the job good feedback, but it is unlikely that this success corresponded to the level of recognition of his previous novels. Other late works Tolstoy are essays about art, this satirical play entitled “The Living Corpse,” written in 1890, and a story called “Hadji Murat” (1904), which was discovered and published after his death. In 1903 Tolstoy wrote short story“After the Ball,” which was first published after his death, in 1911.

Old age

During it later years, Tolstoy reaped the benefits of international recognition. However, he still struggled to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the tension he had created in his family life. His wife not only did not agree with his teachings, she did not approve of his students, who regularly visited Tolstoy on the family estate. In an effort to avoid his wife's growing discontent, Tolstoy and his youngest daughter Alexandra went on pilgrimage in October 1910. Alexandra was the doctor for her elderly father during the trip. Trying not to expose their private lives, they traveled incognito, hoping to evade unnecessary questions, but sometimes this was to no avail.

Death and legacy

Unfortunately, the pilgrimage proved too onerous for the aging writer. In November 1910, the head of a small railway station Astapovo opened the doors of his house for Tolstoy so that the sick writer could rest. Shortly after this, on November 20, 1910, Tolstoy died. He was buried in the family estate, Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy lost so many people close to him.

To this day, Tolstoy's novels are considered one of the best achievements literary art. “War and Peace” is often cited as greatest novel ever written. In the modern scientific community, Tolstoy is widely recognized as having a gift for describing the unconscious motives of character, the subtlety of which he championed by emphasizing the role of everyday actions in determining the character and goals of people.