Special thanks to ihavenonamehalp for recommending Leo Tolstoy!
Лев Николаевич Толстой(Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy), better known in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian count born in 1828 and passed away in 1910. He is generally considered one of the greatest novelists of all time.
Though he wrote numerous successful works, he's best known for his longest novels; War and Peace, and Anna Karenina. Both are exceptional examples of his realist style of writing. Literary realism seeks to represent familiar things as they are, instead of romanticizing or dramatizing them.
This style suited Tolstoy well, as he was said to have had extraordinary observational skills, and he included his understanding of tiny details and the web-like reactions they could cause, in his writing.
This week's questions:
Are you a fan of realism in art and literature? If so, what are some of your favorite realist works, and why are they your favorite? If it's not your cup of tea, why not?
Do you think War and Peace would have been as impactful had it depicted the historical events in it in a romanticized manner?
We also welcome any other discussion or comments about Leo Tolstoy or his works.
If you have another author you'd like to see a discussion on, please leave it in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a future chapter!
Have fun!
Resources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Tolstoy/Anna-Karenina