LITERATURE: Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was a remarkable novelist in part because he believed in the novel as a tool for social reform, something that would enable us to become kinder, more thoughtful and more generous towards others.

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with Mad Adam Films

[Milestonemonger]

"NO one should be outside the circle of empathy and forgiveness"
-- Leo Tolstoy

[prashunpcchakraborty]

Though it is hinted, the video should have mentioned that Tolstoy was one of those few writers who was famous and received recognition in his own lifetime and not posthumously.

[julesprince]

Every time I watch your videos about philosophy, literature, psychology and sociology I am left with one very unsatisfying thought: there are so many books in the world that I want to read and don't feel like I will ever have the time to though I'm only in my early 20's.

[bolivar]

I think it is a very good exercise to imagine yourself in your "death
bed" every now and then . To prepare yourself for this, you must read
the 9th chapter of " The Death of Ivan Ilyich" again. Just a very short
chapter where Ivan lies all alone and in terrible pain in his bed. He
suddenly hears the voice of his own soul saying:
-What do you want? What do you want?
He says:

-What do I want? To live and not to suffer.

So his inner voice says:

- To live? How?

- To live as I used to- well and pleasantly.

- As you lived before, well and pleasantly?

Here is how Tolstoy continues:

" And in imagination he began to recall the best moments of his pleasant
life. But strange to say none of those best moments of his pleasant
life now seemed at all what they had then seemed_ none of them except
the first recollections of childhood. There, in childhood, there had
been something really pleasant with which it would be possible to live
if it could return. But the child who had experienced that happiness
existed no longer: it was like a reminiscence of somebody else.
As soon as the period began which had produced the present Ivan Ilyich,
all that had then seemed joys now melted before his sight and turned
into something trivial and often nasty".

So as he keeps looking back on his life his thoughts become darker and
darker. He basically realises that his entire life had been a lie, he
lived for what the others expected from him; for money, power and status...He wasted the time given to him in this world and now there is no
way back!

Indeed we all must keep Ivan Ilyich in mind every day. Just consider how
fast the time goes by.... How much of it do we really spend seriously
thinking about our lives? Very little indeed... Because it requires a
certain level of focus and depth, which we don't have most of the time.
That's why this scene is a great reminder.

So as we make the "Death bed exercise" I have just mentioned, we can
use the very questions that Ivan Ilyich's soul was asking him.
I think people who live well, deal with their mortality better. So doing
this exercise regularly can help us to live and die better.

Thank you for this wonderful lesson. I love Tolstoy!

[ladnie]

“His body was taken back to his house and buried in the garden, under some trees, where he liked to play as a child.”
Hrk, my heart.

[skyviewproductions]

Shortly through Anna Karenina, it occured to me that there was no protagonist in this novel. Instead, its world was inhabited by beautifully rendered people who each had feelings, motivations, aspirations, and flaws. Indeed, it was easy to empathize which each because their humanity was so fully realized that it was impossible to judge any of their actions harshly. Anna Karenina remains one of the greatest novels of all time due to Tolstoy's genius for allowing his characters to inhabit life.

[dondake]

The most epic WTF ending of a life ever.

[thatscandigirl]

School of life has made my insight in philosophy so much wider.

[TheHelghast]

As a writer, and someone who's experienced a lot of tragic loss in life, it's unbelievable just how much I genuinely identify with him, sincerely thank you so very much for this superb video.

[Hissanrach]

The Death of Ivan Ilyich is one of my favorite short stories, and I have re-read it several times to keep its perspective fresh in my daily life and my interactions with others. Thank you so much for detailing that particular work of his and the broader meaning it contains that we can all take so much from.

[Jotari]

Natasha isn't engaged to Andrei at the start. At the start Andrei marries someone else, ignores her and then loses her to childbirth when he goes off to war only to realise his mistake, grieve by becoming detached from life and getting pretty Nihilistic before he even takes any note of Natasha...War and Peace is a big book.

[wowimaoi]

Perfect timing. This man became my hero last week. I had a spiritual revelation. God bless Tolstoy

[esteban]

Why aren't we seeing film like this before call me old fashion but we need to introduce the public to these classics again. We need another renaissance soon

[Vilius]

Lev Tolstoy War and Peace, this book actually made me cry at some point. His books are simply piece of art, it's live, you don't read it.. you are experiencing it!

[ctfrancia]

I think you should do an episode on the famous Fernando Pessoa. He did so much for literature it's sad the world doesnt know more about him and Eça de Queiróz! The curse of Portugal.

[Aazka-dmtp]

You forgot the part that his wife proofread his manuscripts and wrote them more than 5 times to correct the mistakes before publication. She had a big hand in his works (while she also gave birth to child after child AND did the household work) and yet after his death, he completely ditched her in his will even though he wouldn't have succeeded as an author without her.

[NCbassfishing]

Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich are among the best books I've ever read. If you do read Tolstoy, make sure to go with the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations; they allow you to get the most from his works.

[ilial]

This explanation of War And Peace was way too brief. I understand that this is just a 10-minute video and you are just trying to give people a vague idea and a taste of the book, but the way you made it out in your video it may seem like War And Peace is just about Natasha, but the whole point of the book is that it is a huge, epic story, with so many characters whose lives are all intertwined.

[umaprabhakar]

I felt exactly these things when I read his short stories. There was something so real, simple and down to earth and practical in his characters. All were fit to be forgiven

[Sleepless_in_Stockholm]

The best lecs on russian literature I’ve ever seen or heard! Shorter, clearlier, more sapid and substantial than it could have been teached in a russian school.