Tolstoy: A Guide for the Perplexed by Jeff Love (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 709 contemporary Jewishlife(compareAnna P. Ronell, 'Some Thoughtson Russian-Language IsraeliFiction:Introducing Dina Rubina', Proofiexts, 26, 2008, 2, pp. 197-231).Althoughthe Union of Russian-Language Writers, founded inIsraelin 1971, publishes several literary periodicals, Henétyi argues that'Israeliliterature written in Russianis an altogether different, peculiar phenomenon withlittleawarenessoftheone-time Russian-Jewish literature investigated inthisbook'.In other words,sheisreadytofindaffinity between Lev Levanda,Vladimir Jabotinsky and Friedrich Gorenstein, butcannotfind a place in thisgroupforDina Rubina. Some of Zsuzsa Henétyi'sstatements are inaccurate.It is incorrect, forinstance,to statethatin the 1920s'the word "Jewish" itself began to be treatedas taboo due to theincreasingly sharpcontradiction betweenthe slogansofSocialismand theanti-Semitism characterizing theSovietUnion, and thefearfollowing from thatcontradiction' (p. 178).Especially sincep. 175 carries theinformation abouthundreds ofYiddishschoolsandseveral publishinghouses .The bibliographic apparatusofIn a Maelstrom appearssometimes as a randomcollection ofpublications thathappenedto be on theauthor's bookshelf. Thus, outdatedsources on Birobidzhan(Chimen Abramsky's articles c. 1970s)and a student workbyE. Shkol'nikova on theSovietshtetl introducethe reader to erroneousinformation about the year ofJewish resettlement to theFar East and thenumberofSovietYiddishnewspapers. MaximVinaveris a grandname foranyhistorian ofJewishpoliticallifein lateimperialRussiabut,accordingto Zsuzsa Henétyi, his 'name is familiar from theautobiography ofMarc Chagall' (p. 119). Allinall,readers mayfind useful separatevignettes devotedtosuchwriters as Yakov Rombro, AleksandrKipen, Semyon Hekht and Lev Lunts. However,In a Maelstrom is byno meansthe history ofRussian-Jewish prose. Skirball Department ofHebrewandJudaicStudies New YorkUniversity G. ESTRAIKH Love,Jeff. Tolstoy: A Guide forthe Perplexed. Continuum, LondonandNewYork, 2008. ix + 178pp. Notes.Bibliography. Further reading.Index.£12.99 (paperback). Is itpossibleto achievea definitive understanding ofLev Tolstoi?Of all the 'accursedquestions' saidtobesetRussianliterary andphilosophical activity of thelasttwocenturies, thisis surely one ofthemorethorny. Forwe think of Tolstoiandwe think ofcontradiction: novelist, sermonizer; aristocrat, pilgrim; hedgehog,fox.So it is intriguing to finda slimpaperbackthatpurports to offer theperplexedamongus a guidethrough thesecontradictions. The Guides forthePerplexed seriesintendsto offer 'clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjectsthatstudents and readerscan findespecially challenging', as thebackcoverstates, and is pitchedat a level above existing introductory or student guideseriesin an acknowledgement 710 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2010 thatdegreestudyinvolvesgrasping some difficult concepts.This is a tricky briefas one mustnavigatea path thatis bothaccessibleand conceptually demanding as wellas academically rigorous. Love managesto succeedwithhisTolstoivolume,butonlyto an extent. The problemis thatTolstoi'soeuvre is vast,and someofthemostcelebrated critical monographs devotedto himare correspondingly thicktomes.To fit thebrief ofintroductory guide,Love hasofnecessity had tobe selective inhis approachtothematerial. Some ofhisomissions areunderstandable: Tolstoi's plays,forexample,are little knownand Lovejustifiably indicates their lesser impactin Tolstoi'sliterary and philosophical legacybycomparison withhis otherworks.In otherrespects thelacunae can be moreproblematic. Love choosesto followmajority critical strategy and overlooks Resurrection 'simply on practicalgrounds'(p. 5), but thishas the air of a cop-outregarding a textthatdidnotfithischosenschema;forcertainly one ofthemostperplexing aspectsof Tolstoi'sworkis precisely whyResurrection comes in forless scholarly attention and appreciation, and thisshouldhavebeen addressed. The book dividesTolstoi'swritings intofourmain areas: novels,shorter fiction, religioustextsand philosophical texts.Withthe obviousexception of WarandPeaceand AnnaKarenina, thedivision betweennovelsand shorter fiction mightseem a littlearbitrary, but Love cleverly groupsthematerial accordingto Tolstoi'sintensely self-conscious preoccupation withnovelistic form intheformer case and according tofurther concentration ofthemeand narrative experimentation in thelatter.Thus,via thetwogreatnovelsplus TheCossacks andHadjiMur at,Love explores Tolstoi'soverriding questfortruth ina mediumfundamentally concerned withdeception. Then TheDeath ofIvan Ilyich, TheKreutzer Sonata,How MuchLandDoes a Man Need?and MasterandMan takeus through death,sex,eviland inequality, as an orientation towards the conceptsofconcernin thereligious and philosophical texts. The chapteron thenovelsis impressive in itsdepthand clarity and offers manynewinsights, particularly on thetrajectory ofthecharacter ofLevin.Buthereinafter Love's study beginsto showthestrain imposedbytheseries'aims.The subsequent chapters are shorter and Love's explanations briefer, onlyjust beginning to offer illumination beforehe moveson to thenexttextforanalysis, so that thereadercan onlyturnto therecommended further readingforanswers to questions barelyexplored.As an intermediary betweenTolstoi'swriting and themore 'academic' criticalcanon, I feelthatLove's volumeis somewhat lacking here.It is as ifitsuffers from, as Love allegesofA Confession, 'a brevity that seeks to say in a paragraphwhat entirebooks are unable to say' (P-"9)Whatis ,on theotherhand,particularly interesting aboutLove's approach is thatas he foregrounds Tolstoi'sdistrust ofnarrative and hisawarenessof bothitstrapsand itspossibilities, he makespossiblea 'postmodern' reading ofTolstoi.Love signalsin a notethathe foresees complaints aboutthisand justifies hisdiscussion oftheroleoftheauthorwithreference toWittgenstein (p. 156).However,I see no reasonwhya postmodern takeon Tolstoishould notyielda valuablelineofinquiry, given, justtocitebutone example,Milan Kundera's(whomLove frequently quotes)intertextual use ofAnna Karenina in REVIEWS 71I hisnovelTheUnbearable Lightness ofBeing. It...