Kreutzer Sonata Variations

Lev Tolstoy's Novella and Counterstories by Sofiya Tolstaya and Lev Lvovich Tolstoy

379 pages

English language

Published 2014 by Yale University Press.

ISBN:
978-0-300-21039-2
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A work unprecedented in world literature, this unique volume contains a new translation of Lev Tolstoy’s controversial novella The Kreutzer Sonata, which was initially banned by Russian censors. In addition, available to English readers for the first time is a fascinating and previously neglected constellation of counterstories written by the author’s wife and son in direct response to Tolstoy’s provocative tale, each a passionate attempt to undo the message of the original work. These radically conflicting tales, accompanied by excerpts from family letters, diaries, notes, and memoirs, provide readers with a vivid and highly revealing case study of the powerful disputes concerning sexuality and gender roles that erupted within the cultural context of late-nineteenth-century Russian, as well as European, society.

3 editions

Subjects

  • Tolstoy, leo, graf, 1828-1910
  • English literature, history and criticism, 19th century