Writing War and Peace was a grueling process for Leo Tolstoy. He was constantly revising the work, with the opening scene alone taking him 15 drafts and roughly one year to get just right. Ultimately, all his hard work paid off. War and Peace is arguably his most famous work, as well as one of the most celebrated novels ever written. But despite spending so much time with it or perhaps because of that fact , Tolstoy grew disdainful of the book.
Overcome with jealousy, Stepanovna fled to the countryside where she wandered grief-stricken for a few days before stepping in front of a train and died by suicide. Tolstoy was a witness at her autopsy, and the episode affected him enough that, a year later, he decided to turn it into a novel.
It was instantly popular with readers, although criticized by the literary left for lacking in social critique, Tolstoy however did not regard War and Peace as a novel, but as more of an epic in prose. It was Anna Karenina that he would regard as his first true novel. Through the life of the title character and the contrasting fortunes of the semi-autobiographically inspired Levin, the story explores a multitude of themes including jealousy, hypocrisy, marriage and society, as well as agrarian connection to land.
Like the modernists or the beat writers that were to follow, every movement has its great works that other artists look to rival or surpass. So should we expect Anna Karenina as the first of many adaptations? Having previously worked on an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice , plus The Duchess , both with Knightley, he may have felt a fresh approach was needed. Coincidentally he also adapted Anna Karenina but this literal retelling was less successful.
It is a common one in literary adaptations. It is also one which may affect the planned six part mini-series of War and Peace. This adaptation intends to focus less on the historical aspects of the novel, and focus more on the families. Considering the importance of history to the novel, and the idea that the individual is insignificant within it, one wonders what the audience will be left with.
The large scale of these Russian masterpieces may deter more adaptations, but by cutting too much out there is every possibility of losing the essence of these great works.
What should also be considered are the latter texts themselves. Tolstoy became a devout Christian anarchist and Anarcho pacifist.
Like Dostoyevsky, much of his late fiction relied heavily on religious symbolism. So whether or not this recent adaptation will inspire a host of others is unknown, but hopefully it will inspire old readers to revisit these Russian masters and new ones to go and find them, leaving Tolstoy no longer the exception.
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To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". When the novel ends, Ivan is feverish and unconscious, having been taken home by Katerina to recuperate, and his future is uncertain.
Essentially, the book contains within its pages a full understanding of actual human beings, how they behave, and think, and what really drives them. It also is possessed of some of the best written passages you will ever find. Crime and Punishment is written as a corporeal novel, where the physicality and bodily nature of the crime and guilt are intensely portrayed and described.
The psychological elements of the text are what make Crime and Punishment an outstanding work and a classic which has stood the test of time. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Ben Davis January 20,
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