Twenty-Three Tales is a popular compilation of short stories by Leo Tolstoy. According to its publisher, Oxford University Press, the collection is about contemporary classes in Russia during Tolstoy's time, written in a brief, morality-tale style.[1] It was translated into English by Louise Maude and Aylmer Maude.
Contents
editThe stories are divided into seven parts:
- Tales for Children
- Popular Stories
- A Fairy Tale
- Stories Written to Pictures
- Folk-Tales Retold
- Adaptations from the French
- Stories Given to Aid the Persecuted Jews
Reception
editAccording to Plough, a publication managed by the Anabaptist Bruderhof Communities since 1920, the work is perfect for those daunted by the longer, complicated works of the Russian master, saying that these tales "illumine eternal truths with forceful brevity."[2] According to Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin, a 2009 reviewer with HistoryInReview, Twenty-Three Tales is an excellent collection that doesn't focus too much on Tolstoy's opinion of Christianity, so much as it is "about proper behavior: that people should help one another."[3] According to famed Tolstoy translator Aylmer Maude, the work contains "several of his best tales for the people: 'How Much Land Does a Man Need?', 'Ilyas', 'The Three Hermits', and the excellent temperance story, 'The Imp and the crust.'"[4]
Editions
editAccording to an editor at Cambridge University Press, at least one of the stories presented Tolstoy had heard from a wandering storyteller in 1876.[5]
The work was originally published in 1907 by Funk & Wagnalls.[6] It was published by Oxford University Press in 1917,[7] 1924,[8] who would republish it again in 1928,[9] 1947,[1] and 1950.[10]
It was republished by The Plough (maintained by the Bruderhof Communities) in 1998.[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Leo Tolstoy (1947). Twenty-three Tales. Translated by Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude. ISBN 9781427020680.
- ^ Plough.com. "Walk in the Light, And Twenty-Three Tales, Leo Tolstoy".
- ^ Israel Drazin (August 4, 2009). "Walk in the Light, And Twenty-Three Tales, By Leo Tolstoy".
- ^ Aylmer Maude (1910). The Life of Tolstoy. Vol. 2. Dodd, Mead & Co. p. 297.
- ^ Donna Tussing Orwin (2010). Anniversary Essays on Tolstoy. Anniversary Essays on Tolstoy. p. 28.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1907). Twenty-Three Tales (PDF). Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Funk & Wagnalls.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1917). Twenty-Three Tales. Translated by Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1924). Twenty-three Tales. H. Milford; Oxford University Press.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1928). Twenty-three Tales. Translated by Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1950). Twenty-three Tales. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Leo Tolstoy (1998). Walk in the Light & Twenty-three Tales. Translated by Louise Maude, Aylmer Maude.
External links
editOriginal text:
- Twenty Three Tales, from RevoltLib.com
- Twenty Three Tales, from Marxists.org