Resurrection
May 2024 · The Collected Works of Leo Tolstoy · Minerva Heritage Press
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About this ebook
A new translation into modern American English directly from the original Russian manuscript. This edition contains an Afterword by the translator, a timeline of Tolstoy's life and works, and a glossary of philosophic terminology used throughout Tolstoy's literature and philosophy. Resurrection (1899) by Leo Tolstoy is the last novel written by Tolstoy. It follows the transformation of the wealthy nobleman, Prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov. When Nekhlyudov serves on a jury, he encounters a woman named Katusha, who was once a servant on his family estate and is now a prisoner. Stricken with guilt over his role in her downfall, Nekhlyudov embarks on a spiritual and moral journey to seek redemption and help Katusha find justice. "Resurrection" addresses social injustice, the complexities of morality, and the potential for personal transformation and ethical awakening. The novel's literary and philosophical merits lie in its social commentary, ethical reflections, and profound exploration of human conscience and the quest for moral responsibility. This is the last book of Tolstoy's life - the culmination of his multifaceted career as a writer, philosopher and publicist. It represents his profound reflections on the meaning of human existence and serves as a farewell and spiritual testament. This work was preceded by several collections, namely 'Thoughts of the Wise', 'Reading Circle' and 'For Each Day', which contained the wisdom of prominent individuals from around the world. This last work marks the culmination of Tolstoy's religious and spiritual quest. It highlights the similarity between the concept of 'spiritual' and that of 'God' in different religious traditions. Tolstoy reintroduces the notion of freeing the soul from the obstacles that hinder love of humanity and awareness of one's own divinity. These obstacles include sins (indulging bodily desires), temptations (false notions of the good), and superstitions (misleading doctrines that justify sins and temptations). The early chapters of the book deal with topics such as faith, the soul, the interconnectedness of all souls, God and love. Tolstoy then explores the destructive forces of sin, temptation, superstition, parasitism, greed, anger, pride, inequality, violence, punishment and vanity. These chapters represent Tolstoy's recognition of the inner conflict between the animal and spiritual aspects of humanity. In later sections he argues that false faith and misguided science distort the true meaning of life, causing the soul to be obscured and delayed by sin, temptation and superstition. In an affront to his mentor Schopenhauer, Tolstoy writes a life-affirming conclusion
About the author
One of the greatest Russian writers of all time, Tolstoy is best known for his epic novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina." His works are characterized by their realistic detail and psychological depth. Tolstoy's later religious and philosophical writings influenced the development of Christian anarchist and pacifist thought. Tolstoy was an acquaintence of Gogol, Dostoevsky and a frienemy of Turgenev. He is known as both a novelist and one of the greatest Russian Philosophers, similar to Dostoevsky.
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