"The story behind the origins of Anna Karenina and the turbulent life and times of Leo Tolstoy"-- Anna Karenina is one of the most nuanced characters in world literature. Readers often assume that Tolstoy, a nobleman-turned-mystic would write himself...
more
"The story behind the origins of Anna Karenina and the turbulent life and times of Leo Tolstoy"-- Anna Karenina is one of the most nuanced characters in world literature. Readers often assume that Tolstoy, a nobleman-turned-mystic would write himself into the principled Levin. But in truth, Anna's fateful suicide is the road that Tolstoy nearly traveled himself. Blaisdell unravels Tolstoy's family, literary, and day-to-day life during the period that he conceived, drafted, abandoned, and revised Anna Karenina. In the process, we see where Tolstoy's life and his art intersect in obvious and unobvious ways. -- adapted from jacket
xxiii, 389 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates,
illustrations (some color),
24 cm
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-377) and index
Introduction -- Readying for "a new big labor": September 1872-March 1873 -- A very very rough rough draft: March 18, 1873-June 2, 1873 -- Summering in Samara -- Distractions and family woes: August 22-December 31, 1873 -- Anna Karenina's false start: January 1-August 14, 1874 -- For love or money?: August 15-December 31, 1874 -- Anna Karenina: the serial: January-June 1875 -- Summer, Fall, Winter, 1875 -- The serialization of Anna Karenina resumes: January-May 1876 -- From idle to full steam ahead: June-December 1876 -- The end of serialization: January-May 1877 -- Suicidal tendencies -- Finishing off: May 7, 1877-January 1878.
