On behalf of a friend in Moscow

[Eric Souder]

At least in terms of Tolstoy, here are a few English language sources I
have come across while researching his *Khadzhi Murat*.

Bloom, Harold, ed. *Leo Tolstoy (Modern Critical Views)*. New York: Chelsea
house Publishers, 1986.
Christian, R.F. *Tolstoy: A Critical Introduction. *London: Cambridge, 1969.
Knowles, A.V., ed. *Tolstoy: The Critical Heritage. *London: Routledge and
K. Paul, 1978.

Sorokin, Boris. *Tolstoy in Prerevolutionary Russian Criticism.* Columbus:
OSU Press, 1979.
Wasiolek, Edward, ed. *Critical Essays on Tolstoy. *Boston: G.K. Hall, 1986.

Christian and Sorokin's works are better as secondary sources, but
Sorokin's has a pretty extensive list of primary sources that could be
helpful. Knowles' *Critical Heritage* is perhaps the most extensive
collection of translated/untranslated Tolstoy criticism.

Additionally, most of Aylmer Maude's early translations of Tolstoy include
rather thorough introductions on the works included in each volume. His
"criticism" is somewhat tamer than others as he was very pro-Tolstoy, but
it is an interesting example regardless! The volume I am most familiar with
is as follows: Tolstoy, Lev Nikolevich. *Hadji Murad.* Translated by Aylmer
Maude. Boston: D. Estes, 1912.

Just as a passing thought, it could be interesting to highlight the
contrast between English/Western literary criticism and Russian literary
criticism of the same author over time. Reviews of Tolstoy's works
fluctuated rather substantially over time depending on who was ruling
Russia - a factor which did not necessarily influence the West's view of
his writings.

I hope this can be of some bibliographical assistance!
Best regards,
Eric Souder


On Thu, Aug 28, 2014 at 1:34 AM, Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>
wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Does anyone have any advice to give to my friend who has just sent me this:
>
> 'And I have been asked to deliver a very challenging course which could be
> called "History of Russian literature through British and American literary
> criticism".
> My idea is to split it up into two blocks (eighteen 90-minute lessons for
> the 19-th century, eighteen for the 20-th). I could take 5 - 6 most
> prominent Russian writers for each block. Then I would take some works on
> the authors and their legacy and prepare them for the classroom use.
> Preferrably the works should be written at different times. For example, 5
> articles about Dostoevsky, one - written at the end of the 19-th cent.,
> another - at the beginning of the 20-th, the third - after the Revolution,
> the fourth - in Khrushchev's times... Then the same with Tolstoy.
> Another problem  is to make the materials as useful as they can be - in
> terms of English learning. They should bring more than just bits of
> information on the subject declared. I will have to devise some tasks and
> follow-up activities.
> If You think anything of all this may work, I would ask You to think of
> any books or collected works that might help me. Perhaps there are some
> reliable text-books, monographs...
>
>
> I shall begin, in a contrary way, by suggesting just one book with an
> entirely opposite focus: Maurice Friedberg,  "A Decade of Euphoria:
> Western Literature in Post-Stalin Russia”, which was mentioned in the
> interesting obituary recently posted by Michael Finke.  Thank you, Michael,
> for doing this!
>
> All the best,
>
> Robert
>
>
>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
>
>
>
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