2023/02/11

A Room with a View (1985 film) - Wikipedia

A Room with a View (1985 film) - Wikipedia


A Room with a View (1985 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Room with a View
Room with a View.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Ivory
Screenplay byRuth Prawer Jhabvala
Based onA Room with a View
by E. M. Forster
Produced byIsmail Merchant
Starring
CinematographyTony Pierce-Roberts
Edited byHumphrey Dixon
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byCurzon Film Distributors
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[1]
Release dates
  • 13 December 1985 (RCFP)
  • 11 April 1986
Running time
117 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
Budget
  • £2.3 million
  • ($3 million)[3][4]
Box office$21 million[3]

A Room with a View is a 1985 British romance film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. It is written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who adapted E. M. Forster's 1908 novel A Room with a View. Set in England and Italy, it is about a young woman named Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) in the final throes of the restrictive and repressed culture of Edwardian England, and her developing love for a free-spirited young man, George Emerson (Julian Sands). Maggie SmithDenholm ElliottDaniel Day-LewisJudi Dench and Simon Callow feature in supporting roles. The film closely follows the novel by use of chapter titles to distinguish thematic segments.

A Room with a View received universal critical acclaim and was a box-office success. At the 59th Academy Awards, it was nominated for eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won three: Best Adapted ScreenplayBest Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. It also won five British Academy Film Awards and a Golden Globe. In 1999, the British Film Institute placed A Room with a View 73rd on its list of the top 100 British films.

Plot[edit]

In 1907, a young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter), and her spinster cousin and chaperone, Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith), stay at the Pensione Bertolini while on holiday in Florence. They are disappointed their rooms lack a view of the River Arno as promised. At dinner, they meet other English guests: the Reverend Mr Beebe (Simon Callow), two elderly spinster sisters, the Misses Alan (Fabia Drake and Joan Henley), romance author Eleanor Lavish (Judi Dench), and the freethinking Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott) and his quiet, handsome son, George (Julian Sands).

Learning about Charlotte and Lucy's view predicament, Mr. Emerson and George offer to exchange rooms, though Charlotte considers the suggestion indelicate. Mr Beebe mediates, and the switch is made. While touring the Piazza della Signoria the next day, Lucy witnesses a local man being brutally stabbed and killed. She faints but George Emerson appears and comes to her aid. When Lucy has recovered, the two have a brief, but unchaperoned discussion before returning to the pensione.

Later, Charlotte, Lucy, and the Emersons join other British tourists for a day trip to the Fiesole countryside. On the way, the carriage driver canoodles with his girlfriend sitting beside him, much to Charlotte Bartlett’s shock. The girlfriend is asked to get off the carriage in the middle of the countryside to avoid further canoodling. Wishing to engage in gossip unsuitable for Lucy, Charlotte Bartlett and Miss Lavish encourage her to go for a walk and Lucy goes looking for Mr. Beebe. Instead, the Italian driver, possibly in revenge for the episode with his girlfriend earlier, leads her to where George Emerson is admiring the view from a hillside. Seeing Lucy across a poppy field, he suddenly embraces and passionately kisses her. Charlotte appears and intervenes. Worried that Lucy's mother will consider her an inadequate chaperone, Charlotte swears Lucy to secrecy and cuts their trip short.

Upon returning to Surrey in England, Lucy says nothing to her mother about the incident and pretends to forget it. She is soon engaged to Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis), a wealthy and socially prominent man who is cold, snobbish and pretentious. Cecil loves Lucy but he and his mother consider the Honeychurch family their social inferiors, which offends Mrs. Honeychurch. Lucy soon learns that Mr. Emerson is moving into Sir Harry Otway's rental cottage, with George visiting on weekends. Lucy intended for the two Misses Alan to live there and is cross with Cecil upon learning that through a chance meeting with the Emersons in London, Cecil recommended the cottage to them. He proclaims his motive was to annoy Sir Harry, who Cecil considers a snob; he assumes Harry will find the Emersons “too common."

George's presence upends Lucy's life, and her suppressed feelings for him surface. Meanwhile, Lucy's brother, Freddy (Rupert Graves), becomes friends with George. Freddy invites George to play tennis at Windy Corner, the Honeychurch home, during which Cecil mockingly reads aloud from Miss Lavish's latest novel set in Italy. Cecil, still reading, is oblivious when George passionately kisses Lucy in the garden. As Cecil continues reading aloud, Lucy recognizes a scene as being identical to her encounter with George in Fiesole. She confronts Charlotte, who admits to telling Miss Lavish about the kiss in the poppy field, who then used it in her story. Lucy orders George to leave Windy Corner and never return. He says that Cecil sees her only as a possession and will never love her for herself, as he would. Lucy seems unmoved, but soon after ends her engagement to Cecil, saying they are incompatible. To escape the ensuing fallout, she arranges to travel to Greece with the Misses Alan. George, unable to be around Lucy, arranges for his father to move to London, unaware Lucy is no longer engaged. When Lucy stops by Mr. Beebe's home to fetch Charlotte, she is confronted by Mr. Emerson, who happens to be there. She finally realizes and admits her true feelings for George. At the end, newlyweds George and Lucy honeymoon at the Italian pensione where they met, in the room with a view, overlooking Florence's Duomo.

Cast[edit]

Background[edit]


E. M. Forster began to write A Room with a View during a trip to Italy in the winter of 1901–02 when he was twenty-two. It was the first novel he worked on; however, he put it away before returning to it a few years later. Forster finished first two other novels: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) and then The Longest Journey (1907). A Room with a View was finally published in 1908. Set in Italy and England, A Room with a View follows Lucy Honeychurch, a proper young Englishwoman who discovers passion while on a trip to Italy. At her return to the restrained culture of Edwardian-era England, she must choose between two opposite men: the free-thinking George Emerson and the repressed aesthete Cecil Vyse. The story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel, Forster's third, was very well received, better than his previous two, but it is considered lighter than his two best-regarded later works Howards End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924). In Forster's own appreciation "A Room with a View, may not be his best, but may very well be his nicest".[5]

Forster's early draft of the novel, entitled Lucy, has the triangle of Lucy, Miss Bartlett, and a shadowy George Emerson already in place, as well as the two Miss Alans and the novelist, Miss Lavish. In these first notes, the story begins in the Pensione Bertolini in Florence but breaks off before the return to England, and its various sketchy episodes bear little resemblance to the finished work. In 1903, Forster went on with his novel, and now Cecil Vyse makes his appearance, as well as old Mr. Emerson, Reverend Beebe, and Lucy's mother and brother Freddy. The action, commencing in Italy as before, is carried forward to England, but the plot was unresolved when Forster laid the novel away for the second time. In this version, the story ended with George riding his bicycle into a tree during a storm. These early drafts have been published by Edward Arnold in The Lucy Novels (1977), edited by Oliver Stallybrass. In it, one may follow to some extent the development of the novel. He liked, too, the character of Lucy Honeychurch and, somewhat dyspeptically comparing her with the women in Howards End (1910), counting her as one of his few successes. The character of Lucy anticipates that of Adela Quested in A Passage To India, published in 1924. Both women seem to be fighting their own best natures, to be hysterically turning away from any kind of honest introspection, and at a crucial point in the story, to be embarking on an enterprise which will plunge them and everyone who loves them into misery. The Lucy Novels also contain some bits that were used in the film, not in the published novel. The scene between Lucy and the guide in Santa Croce, for instance, with its mishmash of Italian and pidgin English, is from Forster's notebook. It is revealing, too, about the originals of some of the characters: George Emerson began as Forster's Cambridge friend, Hugh Meredith, Forster designating the character by the initials H.O.M. in his notes. As a type, Miss Lavish was based on Emily Spender, a writer Forster and his mother met in their travels, swinging about in a military cape and affecting thin cigars in the pensione smoking room.

In 1946, 20th Century Fox offered $25.000 for the film rights to A Room with a View, but Forster did not hold cinema in high regard and refused even though the studio was willing to pay him even more.[6] Following Forster's death in 1970, the board of fellows of King's College at Cambridge inherited the rights to his books.[7] However, Donald A Parry, chief executor, turned down all approaches. Ten years later, the film rights for Forster's novels became available when the film enthusiast Professor Bernard Williams became chief executor.[8] The trustees of Forster's estate invited producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory to Cambridge to discuss filming Forster.[8] Merchant and Ivory surprised their hosts with their interest in A Room with a View, which the fellows of King's College considered "A little inconsequential early novel", rather than A Passage to India, which was generally considered to be the writer's best. Merchant and Ivory had no interest in A Passage to India because they had just finished a film featuring the British RajHeat and Dust was released in 1983.[citation needed]

For Merchant and Ivory, A Room with a View was their breakthrough to broader success.[citation needed]

Casting[edit]

The role of Lucy Honeychurch was Helena Bonham Carter's breakthrough as a film actress.[9] She was nineteen at the time and had just finished the art-house film Lady Jane (1986).[10] Ivory gave her the role as he found "she was very quick, very smart, and very beautiful".[9] She fit Forster's description of Lucy as "a young lady with a quantity of dark hair and a very pretty, pale, undeveloped face" .

Rupert Everett auditioned for the role of Cecil Vyse. He would rather have played George Emerson, but Ivory thought that he was not quite right for it. It was Julian Sands who was cast as the male lead. Sands had gained notice as the British photographer in The Killing Fields (1984).[9]

Daniel Day-Lewis came to the attention of Ivory though his role in the play Another Country as the gay student Guy Bennet.[11] Given the choice of either George Emerson or Cecil Vyse, he took on the more challenging role of Cecil.[12] The role of Freddy Honeychurch, Lucy's brother, went to Rupert Graves, in his film debut.[12] He had had a minor role as one of the schoolboys in the play Another Country.[12] Simon Callow had been Ivory's original choice for the character of Harry Hamilton-Paul, the friend of the Nawab, in the Merchant Ivory film Heat and Dust, but had committed to a play in London's West End.[9] He had created the role of Mozart in the original London stage production of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus (1979) and made his film debut in a small role in the film adaptation.[9] In A Room with a View, he was cast as the vicar Mr. Beebe.[13]

The supporting cast included veteran performers: Five years earlier, Maggie Smith had worked in another Merchant Ivory film, Quartet.[14] With a prominent theater career, Judi Dench had made her film debut in 1964, but she took the supporting role of Eleanor Lavish. Dench and Ivory had disagreements during the filming of A Room with a View because, among other things, he suggested that she play her character as a Scot.[15]

Filming[edit]

The film was made on a budget of $3 million that included investment by Cinecom in the U.S, and from Goldcrest Films, The National Finance Corporation, and Curzon Film Distributors in Great Britain.[16]

A Room with a View was shot extensively on location in Florence, where Merchant Ivory had the Piazza della Signoria cleared for filming.[17] Villa di Maiano in Fiesole served as the Pensione Bertolini.[18] From its decoration of the walls they asked a painter to do a series of decorative artworks called grotesques that were used for titles between sections of the film, like chapter headings, following chapter titles in Forster's novel.[19]

Other scenes were filmed in London and around the town of Sevenoaks in Kent where they borrowed the Kent family estate of film critic John Pym for their country scenes. Lucy's engagement party was filmed in the grounds of Emmetts Garden.[20] Foxwold House near Chiddingstone was used for the Honeychurch house and an artificial pond was built in the forest of the property to use as the Sacred Lake. Two years later, the Great Storm of 1987 would tear through the area and destroy the gardens and almost 80 acres of the surrounding forest.[21] In London, the Linley Sambourne House in South Kensington was used for Cecil's house and the Estonian Legation on Queensway was used for the boarding house where the Miss Alans live.[22] In all, A Room with a View was shot in ten weeks: four in Italy and six in England.[23] The film includes a notable scene of full frontal male nudity in which George, Freddy, and Mr Beebe go skinnydipping in a pond.[24][25][26]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

The film received positive reviews from critics, holding a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.40/10. The site's consensus reads: "The hard edges of E.M Forster novel may be sanded off, but what we get with A Room with a View is an eminently entertaining comedy with an intellectual approach to love".[27] According to Metacritic, which sampled the opinions of 21 critics and calculated a score of 83 out of 100, the film received "universal acclaim".[28] Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, writing: "It is an intellectual film, but intellectual about emotions: It encourages us to think about how we feel, instead of simply acting on our feelings."[29]

A Room With a View appeared on 61 critics' ten-best lists in 1986, making it one of the most acclaimed films of the year.[30] Only Hannah and Her Sisters appeared on more lists.

Box office[edit]

The film made $4.4 million at the US box office in the first 12 weeks of release.[4]

Goldcrest Films invested £460,000 in the film and earned £1,901,000 meaning they made a profit of £1,441,000.[31]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Award[32]CategoryNominee(s)Result
Academy Awards[33][34]Best Picture[a]Ismail MerchantNominated
Best DirectorJames IvoryNominated
Best Supporting ActorDenholm ElliottNominated
Best Supporting ActressMaggie SmithNominated
Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another MediumRuth Prawer JhabvalaWon
Best Art DirectionGianni QuarantaBrian Ackland-SnowBrian Savegar and Elio AltramuraWon
Best CinematographyTony Pierce-RobertsNominated
Best Costume DesignJenny Beavan and John BrightWon
American Society of Cinematographers Awards[35]Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical ReleasesTony Pierce-RobertsNominated
British Academy Film Awards[36]Best FilmIsmail Merchant and James IvoryWon
Best DirectionJames IvoryNominated
Best Actress in a Leading RoleMaggie SmithWon
Best Actor in a Supporting RoleSimon CallowNominated
Denholm ElliottNominated
Best Actress in a Supporting RoleJudi DenchWon
Rosemary LeachNominated
Best Screenplay – AdaptedRuth Prawer JhabvalaNominated
Best CinematographyTony Pierce-RobertsNominated
Best Costume DesignJenny Beavan and John BrightNominated
Best EditingHumphrey DixonNominated
Best Original ScoreRichard RobbinsNominated
Best Production DesignGianni Quaranta and Brian Ackland-SnowWon
Best SoundTony Lenny, Ray Beckett and Richard KingNominated
British Society of Cinematographers[37]Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature FilmTony Pierce-RobertsNominated
David di Donatello Awards[38]Best Foreign FilmJames IvoryWon
Best Foreign DirectorWon
Directors Guild of America Awards[39]Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion PicturesNominated
Evening Standard British Film AwardsBest FilmWon
Best Technical or Artistic AchievementTony Pierce-RobertsWon
Golden Globe Awards[40]Best Motion Picture – DramaNominated
Best Supporting Actress – Motion PictureMaggie SmithWon
Best Director – Motion PictureJames IvoryNominated
Guild of German Art House CinemasBest Foreign FilmWon
Independent Spirit Awards[41]Best Foreign Film (Special Distinction Award)Won
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards[42]Best Supporting ActorDenholm ElliottWon
Best Supporting ActressMaggie SmithWon
London Film Critics' Circle AwardsFilm of the YearWon
National Board of Review Awards[43]Best FilmWon
Top Ten FilmsWon
Best Supporting ActorDaniel Day-Lewis (also for My Beautiful Laundrette)Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards[44]Best Supporting Actor2nd Place
New York Film Critics Circle Awards[45]Best Supporting ActorWon
Best ScreenplayRuth Prawer Jhabvala3rd Place
Best CinematographerTony Pierce-RobertsWon
Sant Jordi AwardsBest Foreign FilmJames IvoryWon
Venice International Film Festival[46]Golden LionNominated
Writers Guild of America Awards[47]Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another MediumRuth Prawer JhabvalaWon

Soundtrack[edit]

  1. "O mio babbino caro" (from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini) – Kiri Te Kanawa with the LPO, conducted by Sir John Pritchard
  2. "The Pensione Bertollini"
  3. "Lucy, Charlotte, and Miss Lavish See the City"
  4. "In the Piazza Signoria"
  5. "The Embankment"
  6. "Phaeton and Persephone"
  7. "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" (from La Rondine, Act One by Puccini) – Te Kanawa with the LPO, conducted by Pritchard
  8. "The Storm"
  9. "Home, and the Betrothal"
  10. "The Sacred Lake"
  11. "The Allan Sisters"
  12. "In the National Gallery"
  13. "Windy Corner"
  14. "Habanera" (from Carmen by Georges Bizet)
  15. "The Broken Engagement"
  16. "Return to Florence"
  17. "End Titles"
  • Original music composed by Richard Robbins
  • Soundtrack album produced by Simon Heyworth
  • Arrangements by Frances Shaw and Barrie Guard
  • Music published by Filmtrax PLC

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "A Room with a View (1986)"BBFC. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ^ "A Room with a View (PG)"British Board of Film Classification. 1 January 1986. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  3. Jump up to:a b A Room with a View at Box Office Mojo
  4. Jump up to:a b "Bad Beginning." Sunday Times [London, England] 15 June 1986: 45. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 8 April 2014.
  5. ^ "A Room With a View"merchantivory.com. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  6. ^ Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 119
  7. ^ Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 211
  8. Jump up to:a b Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 79
  9. Jump up to:a b c d e Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 204
  10. ^ Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 203
  11. ^ Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 81
  12. Jump up to:a b c Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 82
  13. ^ Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 83
  14. ^ Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 206
  15. ^ Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 207
  16. ^ Long, The Films of Merchant Ivory, p. 138
  17. ^ Long, The Films of Merchant Ivory, p. 139
  18. ^ Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 91
  19. ^ Ingersollg, Filming Forster, p. 92
  20. ^ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office A Room with a View Film Focus". Archived from the original on 19 July 2013.
  21. ^ John Pym (1995). Merchant Ivory's English Landscape. pp. 48–9.
  22. ^ John Pym (1995). Merchant Ivory's English Landscape. p. 50.
  23. ^ Long, James Ivory in Conversation, p. 199
  24. ^ "Why you should revisit the beautifully romantic 'A Room with a View'"The Seattle Times. 7 September 2020.
  25. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (6 October 2017). "James Ivory on 'Call Me by Your Name' and Why American Male Actors Won't Do Nude Scenes"Variety.com.
  26. ^ "A Room with a View (1985)"Film Comment. 17 February 2016.
  27. ^ "A Room With a View (1985)"Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  28. ^ "A Room with a View Reviews"Metacritic. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  29. ^ "A Room with a View Movie Review (1986)"Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  30. ^ McGilligan, Pat; Rowland, Mark (18 January 1987). "The Best and the Bummers"The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  31. ^ Eberts, Jake; Illott, Terry (1990). My indecision is final. Faber and Faber. p. 657.
  32. ^ McCarthy, Todd (18 February 1987). "'Platoon', 'Room' Top Oscar List; Stone Thrice Blessed, Orion Hot". Variety. p. 4.
  33. ^ "The 59th Academy Awards (1987) Nominees and Winners"Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesArchived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  34. ^ "The 1987 Oscar Winners – RopeofSilicon.com Award Show Central"Ropeofsilicon.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  35. ^ "The ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography". Archived from the original on 2 August 2011.
  36. ^ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1987"BAFTA. 1987. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  37. ^ "Best Cinematography in Feature Film" (PDF). Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Cronologia Dei Premi David Di Donatello"David di Donatello. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  39. ^ "39th DGA Awards"Directors Guild of America Awards. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  40. ^ "A Room with a View – Golden Globes"HFPA. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  41. ^ "36 Years of Nominees and Winners" (PDF)Independent Spirit Awards. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  42. ^ "KCFCC Award Winners – 1980-89"kcfcc.org. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  43. ^ "1986 Award Winners"National Board of Review. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  44. ^ "Past Awards"National Society of Film Critics. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  45. ^ "New York Film Critics Circle: 1986 Awards"Nyfcc.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  46. ^ "VENICE FILM FESTIVAL – 1986". Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  47. ^ "Awards Winners"wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  1. ^ The film was the first unrated film in the United States to receive a Best Picture nomination.

Sources[edit]

  • Ingersoll, Earl G. Filming Forster: The Challenges of Adapting E.M. Forster's Novels for the Screen. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. 2012, ISBN 978-1-61147-682-8
  • Long, Robert Emmet. The Films of Merchant Ivory. Citadel Press. 1993, ISBN 0-8065-1470-1
  • Long, Robert Emmet. James Ivory in Conversation. University of California Press, 2005, ISBN 0-520-23415-4.

External links[edit]

2023/02/10

Tolstoy: A Biography by A.N. Wilson

Tolstoy: A Biography by A.N. Wilson | Goodreads

https://www.scribd.com/book/353164302/Tolstoy







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Tolstoy  Audible Audiobook – Unabridged
John Telfer (Narrator), A. N. Wilson (Author), Audible Studios (Publisher)
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Preface to the 2012 Edition
Foreword

1 Origins
2 Joseph and his Brethren
3 The History of Yesterday
4 Kinderszenen in the Caucasus
5 Crimea
6 Bronchitis is a Metel
7 Travels
8 Marriage
9 Alchemy
10 War and Peace
11 The Shadow of Death
12 Anna Karenina
13 The Holy Man
14 Real Christianity
15 The Kreutzer Sonata
16 Terrible Questions
17 Resurrection
18 Sad Steps
19 Last Battles
20 Escape

Notes



Contents

In this biography of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, A. N. Wilson narrates the complex drama of the writer's life: his childhood of aristocratic privilege but emotional deprivation, his discovery of his literary genius after aimless years of gambling and womanizing, and his increasingly disastrous marriage.

Wilson sweeps away the long-held belief that Tolstoy's works were the exact mirror of his life and instead traces the roots of Tolstoy's art to his relationship with God, with women, and with Russia.

He also re-creates the world that shaped the great novelist's life and art - the turmoil of ideas and politics in 19th-century Russia and the literary renaissance that made Tolstoy's work possible.


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Listening Length 21 hours and 30 minutes
Author A. N. Wilson
Narrator John Telfer
Audible.com.au Release Date 11 June 2015
Publisher Audible Studios

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5.0 out of 5 stars MagisterialReviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 September 2019
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This is a reissue with a new preface. It is superb, with numerous comments by the author. The gestation of the masterpieces is explained in great depth, and in addition the spiritual writings are given due weight. Tolstoy was a literary genius, and a flawed saint. Reading this book is strongly recommended.
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Exactly what I ordered. This is a super book and a highly rated biography of Tolstoy. This edition is even more interesting as it has an updated preface by the author.

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How is it possible adequately to praise War and Peace? This is the second time I have read this immense work of fact and fiction and I found myself so over-awed by the immensity of its scope and the depth of its penetrative insight - into both the nature and causes of the Napoleonic wars as they affected Russia in the early 19th century and into their interplay in the lives of several Russian families. The analysis of the ways in which the war was conducted - especially in 1812 is precise, lucid and deeply philosophical; the examination of the loves and lives of the Rostov, Bolkonski, Kuragin and Bezukhov families, a mixture of tenderness and close observation, sometimes sensitive, sometimes critical.

The book is huge. It's party for that reason that the complete reading of it involves actually living through it: it requires a substantial passage of time and this creates the effect that one is part of its history. To move slowly ( which is almost a necessity ) through the events - in the treatment of which there are no short cuts, no convenient circumnavigations - is to be part of a slowly-unfolding history, as vast as the Russian steppe lands and sometimes as unforgiving.

I can guarantee that no one who reads War and Peace will ever be the same again. It impinged on me the first time I read it ( as a young man and eager to 'get through' it ) but now, as a much older man, it effected a change in me. No one should not have read this book at least once in their life time!
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In this biography of Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, A.N. Wilson narrates the drama of the writer's life: his childhood of aristocratic privilege but emotional deprivation, his discovery of his literary genius after aimless years of gambling and womanizing, and his increasingly disastrous marriage. Wilson traces the roots of Tolstoy's art to his relationship with God, with women, and with Russia, and breaks new ground in re-creating the world that shaped the great novelist's life and art-the turmoil of ideas and politics in nineteenth-century Russia and the incredible literary renaissance that made Tolstoy's work possible.
Tolstoy: A Biography


A.N. Wilson
4.05
376 ratings48 reviews

In this landmark biography of Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, A.N. Wilson narrates the complex drama of the writer's life: his childhood of aristocratic privilege but emotional deprivation, his discovery of his literary genius after aimless years of gambling and womanizing, and his increasingly disastrous marriage. Wilson sweeps away the long-held belief that Tolstoy's works were the exact mirror of his life, and instead traces the roots of Tolstoy's art to his relationship with God, with women, and with Russia. He also breaks new ground in recreating the world that shaped the great novelist's life and art--the turmoil of ideas and politics in nineteenth-century Russia and the incredible literary renaissance that made Tolstoy's work possible. 24 pages of illustrations.


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626 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Literary awards
Whitbread Award for Biography (1988)
Original title
Tolstoy: A Biography

Published
March 17, 2001 by W. W. Norton Company



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About the author
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A.N. Wilson
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Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.

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4.05
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Chrissie
2,651 reviews
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June 21, 2017
Why should I continue reading a book that is making me miserable?

I have completed 1/4 of this very long book. I have had enough. What follows explains why I dislike it.

The language used is sophisticated rather than clear. At times one is even unsure who exactly the author is speaking of!

The author sees Tolstoy as the greatest writer of all time. He doesn't approach the man or his writing with balance.

Sweeping, judgmental statements are made that can surely be questioned!

Much is devoted to an explanation of how we should interpret Tolstoy's books. I am looking for a biography, a book that instead tells me of the events in his life, rather than an explanation of his books. The book’s focus is wrong for me, but may fit others.

In chapter 3, the author states that a novelist should not leave it up to a reader to ponder the message that is to be drawn from a book; all questions should be given crystal clear answers. We readers should not have to think; that is the author's job, not ours. I quite simply do not agree. I want to be nudged to think about interesting questions. I enjoy considering diverse alternatives on my own! I want to be given alternatives, not fast and firm answers.

Information is repeated. It is as if the different chapters were written at different times, and who ever put the book together hasn't checked the content of previous chapters.

Neither do I like the narrator of the audiobook - John Telfer. He over dramatizes. He turns the information into theatrics, He whispers to increase suspense. He changes volume and speed to help us understand the import of the author's lines. Seriously, I neither appreciate nor need this help! I do understand what he is saying so the narration I have given 2 rather than 1 star.

I very, very rarely dump a book, but I am doing this now. I am rating and reviewing the book because I think it is helpful for people to be provided with different points of view. I am fully aware that what another is looking for may be very different from what I am seeking. It is for this reason I have stated what it is that displeased me.

ETA: This audiobook is based on the 2012 edition of the book.
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Nathan
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July 15, 2009
This is almost two books in one. Wilson begins the book with glittering literary praise, flushed with admiration for Tolstoy's novels and driven by an obsessive fan's knack for relating the fiction to Tolstoy's life and Tolstoy's Russia. Wilson is obviously well-acquainted with these substantial works, and his easy expertise is impressive, if rather showy.
When the narrative reaches Tolstoy's revolutionary period, there is a jarring shift in tone: the breathy te deums are replaced with a sneering paternalism and brutal cynicism, and Tolstoy quickly degenerates from brilliant artist to starry-eyed idealist.

This tension between Wilson's unabashed admiration for Tolstoy's novels and his barely-contained contempt for his political views disrupts the flow of the narrative, which, when detailing the objective facts rather than Wilson's opinion, is nicely intimate and well-crafted. If Wilson had stayed in the background as an historian, rather than playing judge and jury, his book would have been infinitely more valuable.
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Richard Newton
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February 11, 2019
I enjoyed the excellently written, insightful and thoughtful biography of Tolstoy.

This is the first material I have ever read on Tolstoy's life. I have learnt there are different viewpoints and interpretations from the mass of materials he left, as well as the materials many of the others who knew him wrote. I cannot therefore comment on the accuracy of AN Wilson's particular interpretation or the choices of which elements of Tolstoy's life he has chosen to emphasise. I can only comment on my enjoyment of reading the book.

Wilson has a fluid and engaging writing style, and a fairly intellectual interpretation of Tolstoy's novels. What I liked was both the greater understanding of Tolstoy's life the book gave, but as important for me, was the historical and cultural context in which he wrote as this context flavours his writing and is helpful to understand to enjoy those books to the highest degree. War and Peace is one of my favourite books, and I will get more out of it the next time I read it. In contrast, I am not a huge fan of Anna Karenina, but I will now re-read it and suspect I will enjoy it more.

It is worth knowing this was published in 1984, and references to the Soviet Union as a currently existing and geographically unified country under a communist regime seem a bit quaint. But this does not remove from the main points or quality of the biography.

As a good biography of Tolstoy, I definitely recommend this, with the caveat that if you really want to understand Tolstoy, you will need to read other materials as well.
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mark
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April 11, 2014
The only Tolstoy I’ve read is what has been excerpted in this book … so I am at a huge disadvantage to the author, A.N. Wilson. However, I suspect he is probably one of only a handful of people who have read The Complete Works of L.N. Tolstoy. I suspect David Foster Wallace might be one of those handful, who has bragged, Wallace, that he’s read everything you have. I say this because I see things—things that make me think Wallace got some ideas, not only philosophical ideas, but ideas for characters (The character Mario in Infinite Jest. That’s all I’ll say here about that.); phrases, and situations, also, from Tolstoy. In addition to that, I see similarities in the genius of both writers – the way in which they saw the world was in so much more detail than the average and/or ‘normal’ person. Wilson describes it thus: “One of the things which makes him [Tolstoy, and I will say, Wallace, too] such a memorable writer is his extra-consciousness, or super-consciousness, of existence itself.” [p.19] Wilson goes on: “We all know that there is such a thing as life, that we are alive, that the world is there, full of sights and sound. But, when we read Tolstoy (Wallace) for the first time, it is as if, until that moment, we had been looking at the world through a dusty window. He flings open the shutters, and we see everything sharp and clear for the first time.” [105] “Tolstoy, like all true writers, carried his life about with him, created the very cocoon of observant detachment, indolence and sensuality in which a creative mind flourishes. [p.105] Like many detached minds, Tolstoy was perfectly capable of deriving enjoyment from the company of those he despised. [p. 106] We will never know how much is embellishment, and how much the truth.” [p. 22] And both men had the education, background, and abilities to put that down on paper, using precise language and words. Both men were privileged white boys in their respective countries. But there does seem to be one big difference, besides the fact Tolstoy was born in Russia in 1828 & the Literary Field was in its infancy, and that is the anxiety factor. Wallace appears to have been born with an anxiety disorder, while Tolstoy’s troubles didn’t manifest until after he was mature. So … everyone has heard of Tolstoy’s novels, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877) which Tolstoy finished at age 49; but he continued to write up until his death at age 82, mostly non-fiction – personal, political and religious books and essays. He progressed in his thinking and writing from Historical Fiction (W&P); to Contemporary Fiction (AK) to memoir (A Confession) to philosophical and religious books & pamphlets (What I Believe, 1883; Where Love is, God Is, 1885; What Then Must We Do, 1886; On Life, 1887; The Kreutzer Sonata, 1889; Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves?, 1891; The First Step, 1892; The Kingdom of God is Within You, 1893; Christianity and Pacifism, 1894; What is Art?, 1898; What is Religion?, 1902; I Cannot Be Silent, 1908; among others, one of which was Resurrection, a novel, 1900, which got him formally excommunicated. Like Wallace, he suffered because of his genius and, like Wallace, thought of suicide after finishing his great works of fiction. Like Wallace, Tolstoy was complicated and conflicted and saw the ambiguities and paradoxes that living a meaningful life present. But unlike Wallace – he married young and had many, many children and responsibilities; and his readers and followers began to think of him as a holy man. And maybe he, Tolstoy, began to believe that, too. The author, Wilson, asserts that Ghandi learned the idea of passive resistance from Tolstoy (p.411). Maybe that’s so, I certainly don’t know. Wilson is very opinionated and makes a lot of assertions, conjectures, and assumptions. Such as: Male’s make great [better] fiction writers because of their innate ogling prowess developed out of the drive for sexual conquest. I don’t disagree. As Wilson says, we, males, see a lot more than just the girls. (Trust me, it’s true!) And that, “… prodigious literary geniuses” elements’ of genius tend to only “… coalesce after a period of total indolence.” [p.64] And but so I think he, Wilson, has every right to these assertions – he’s qualified, having read everything there is to read from and about Tolstoy (including the diaries of the man and his wife) as well as being a journalist, biographer, and fiction writer himself. We’ll never know what and how Wallace might have progressed had he lived past his great work, Infinite Jest, and the unfinished The Pale King. The thing about Tolstoy is that his writing and thinking seemed to evolve, whereas Wallace’s didn’t – he was stuck, kept worrying the same problems of being human. Maybe Tolstoy was crazy, thinking himself Christ-like … but times were different then. Darwin had published The Origin of Species in 1859 and evolution and atheism were hardly accepted ways of thinking about the world. Science was in its infancy, also. Freud didn’t come onto the scene until Tolstoy was nearly finished, so the idea of unconscious motivation was something unbeknownst to the Russian genius. All thought was God/Christ centered. There was no psychotherapy or Alcohol Anonymous or 12-Step programs. And but so I think the two great writers had similar minds, just in different times with different influences. I’m looking forward to reading War and Peace and Anna Karenina; but I’ll probably skip the rest – time is running out for me. So many books, now. However, if you’re young and love literature, I think a PhD dissertation comparing and contrasting the work and lives of Tolstoy and Wallace would be a very worth while project. Should you read this biography? Yes, if literary genius is of interest to you. If the process of fiction writing is of interest; and Russian history. And marital relations. And of course, the life and times of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy.
PS
YouTube is a great resource. There are clips of Tolstoy; and Anna Karenina is available as audio book – free! (Which I’m going to indulge. The reader, a woman, does all the hard work for you – all the Russian names.)
April , 2014

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Neil Randall
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January 17, 2014
Excellent biography of one of the most complex of all literary figures. Wilson concentrates on the striking contradictions between the man and the artist, how Tolstoy struggled to reconcile his human weaknesses, failures and faults with his religious beliefs, and how his work, in the latter part of his life, suffered as a result, and how his family life and marriage (especially) broke down. Beautifully written and very well put together. Recommended.

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Steve Gordon
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June 19, 2020
Garbage. I find it fascinating how half wits are both published and acclaimed in the literary world. I only finished the book because my curiosity about Tolstoy's life, being provoked, overwhelmed my abhorrence of the writer. First and foremost of the crimes here - the constant sniping at Tolstoy's ideology. The author writes from a Christian perspective. If you believe in one version of fantastical beings, you can't really comment on other people's interpretations of fantasy can you? Furthermore, how does the mention that Napoleon III was Napoleon Bonaparte's grandson make it past an editor? How can a book use the term "negro" in 1988? How can an author use "menopause" out of the blue to define a woman's action? And finally, the attributing of spurious comments to Lenin and Trotsky, who played no role in Tolstoy's life, to impugn the Russian Revolution (which was an underlying seeming necessity for the author) was the final straw. Sometimes, I can overlook an author's nauseating political views to get what I can from the subject at hand (Tolstoy). Unfortunately, I couldn't do it here.

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Jeff Netting
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January 10, 2023
This was an interesting book. It made me question the nature of literary biography and the ideal shape of it. I love Tolstoy, and wanted to know more about his later life especially, when he essentially gave up writing fiction (with the exception of Resurrection and some stories), and chose to become a saint. What I found most surprising was how the biography wasn’t particularly useful or interesting for trying to form some new opinion or interpretation of Tolstoy’s books themselves. The nature of the relationship between fiction and history, even if that history is the author’s life, seems to be very complicated and never clean or simple.

Wilson gives a relatively concise overview of Tolstoy’s life. He’s a good writer, and the writing is accessible and the book is very readable. My main complaint is how quick Wilson is to express judgments of both Tolstoy and the subjects Tolstoy was engaged with. He is quick to call Tolstoy’s opinions and thoughts absurd or ridiculous, to evaluate the strengths or weaknesses of Tolstoy’s fictions, and even expresses his own views on Christianity, art, and politics. This padded the book a good deal in my opinion. To paraphrase Blake, “Give me the facts, and I will make a judgment for myself.” What does it matter what Wilson thinks of all of this? I had never heard of him before getting this biography, and I’m much more interested in what Tolstoy, a massive figure in literature and history, thinks. I also didn’t find Wilson’s interpretations of Tolstoy’s works particularly interesting or helpful. In other words, this would have been a great book if it had stuck more closely to its subject.

All in all, I’ve come to think that, in general, the chronology of an author’s life included with any good edition is a fair amount of information. Reading this much detail was interesting, but at times it felt like I was indulging in gossip, scandalous information that just isn’t necessary for reading War and Peace or Anna Karenina. Not a bad book, glad I read it, but I’ll never reread it and perhaps my time would’ve been better spent reading Tolstoy himself.

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Philip Pajakowski
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May 7, 2020
Very good on Tolstoy’s context in Russia and his personal relationships. Wilson indulges in a bit too much pop psychology and seems obsessed with reminding us that Stalin was no good.

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Matt Griffith
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July 29, 2011
The main puzzle this book poses for the reader is: who has the biggest ego - Tolstoy or A N Wilson? Watching the two of them go mano et mano is a good scrap, and Wilson does well to cut through the Tolstoy excesses, but by the end I found them both slightly monstorous. The book also lacks in the historical depth that later Russophiles would expect (I think Wilson lacked access to much of the historical archive when writing this back in the 70s and is not that insightful of the Russian cultural setting compared to later authors) and he doesn't give that much insight into Anna K or War & Peace, with too much weighting on the last confused period. So can't really recommend.

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Toby Frith
4.0 out of 5 stars A journey into one of literature's most compelling figures
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 11 February 2012
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A N Wilson's authoritative biography is an excellent starting point for further knowledge of one of literature's giants. Having only read part of Anna Karenina, I took great enjoyment from reading about his life and his maddeningly irrational approach to it and have now purchased all his books for later consumption. He is somewhat pragmatically dismissive of Tolstoy's latter stance on religion, but don't let this detract from what is a fine book.
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P B
1.0 out of 5 stars One star for quality of printing, but yet not sure I will return.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 26 June 2020
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I would have expected more from W.W. Norton. All the text in this paper back is a low quality photocopy of a bitmap print of the original hardback.

Each and every letter of text in the book is created from a checkerboard of black and white made to conform to the shape of the letter, so that the overall color of the text is grey. The spaces between words and lines are filled with "dust" of black dots such as occur with low-quality printouts.

The photos in the book are also low bitmap quality, so you really cannot discern the faces. For example, there is a photo of Turgenev taken in lighting that creates a shadow over his eyes. With the poor quality of of the bitmap print, that portion of Turgenev's face is obscured in grey, so you cannot discern much of who he is.

I am not sure I will return this book, as I am very interested in reading of Tolstoy's life. If I can get a hardback by the time the return window closes, I will. Otherwise it will be a painful slog though the poor quality of print.
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Jameson Brooks
4.0 out of 5 stars Poor publication quality
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 7 April 2020
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Subject matter and writing are thus far very engaging (I am a mere 50 pages in). I do feel it necesssary to point out something bibliophiles (or anyone, really) might take issue with.

Unfortunately the publication is of somewhat poor quality. The type has the look of being pixilated and blurred, as if it was printed onto the page from a lo-resolution file, or maybe upsized from a smaller image. It is definitely still legible; life goes on.

You might be better off looking for an older edition or a current hardcover than the paperback currently being sold new here. Not a huge deal by any means, but something I myself would’ve liked to have known. Alas, the perils of buy books online.
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Nukuheva
2.0 out of 5 stars Outdated Take on Tolstoy
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 9 July 2021
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Wilson's take on Tolstoy is woefully dated at this point. Three-plus decades old and counting it relies on old-fashioned psychoanalytical perspectives excessively--too much formulaic talk, for example, about Tolstoy's relationship with the mother he never knew. Moreover the book misses out entirely on current discourses on gender, sexuality, and race. It dismisses possibilities about the author that he didn't dismiss about himself, especialy with regard to his attraction to other men. If anything justifies the time commitment--and the cost--it's passages that speak more to a cultural than biographical history. But one can get that other places.
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SBS829
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolstoy In Situ
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 29 May 2010
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A.N. Wilson's biography of Tolstoy is quite different from a traditional by the dates hagiography. Instead, Wilson succeeds both in telling the story of Tolstoy's life and placing it in the turbulent times in which he lived. The result is a very satisfying work that ranges widely in Russian history, Russian literature and a touch of Christian theology. Wilson's writing also departs from the typical just-the-facts narrative of so many biographies; his own observations and wit are laced through the book. Mostly that style is very effective, although occasionally I felt like Wilson was simply showing off his erudition.

Beyond simply reporting the details of Tolstoy's life, Wilson offers an overview of most of Tolstoy's fiction and some additional analysis of his non-fiction work, particularly his later life essays on religion and government. One of the great insights in the book is how carefully Wilson ties the events and characters in War and Peace and Anna Karenina to the people who shaped Tolstoy's life. While it is a commonplace to say that novelists recycle themselves in their work to some degree, Wilson demonstrates how Tolstoy's life and fiction were thoroughly interwoven. For me, Wilson's analyses of Tolstoy's other fiction was so compelling that I immediately added a number of them to my short-term reading list.

It is not possible to discuss Tolstoy without considering the era in which he lived and his own role in 19th century Russian history. Tolstoy lived through the period in which Russia awoke from centuries of torpid slumber as the nascent intelligentsia and later the radicals sowed the seeds of the Russian revolution and the tragedy that became 20th century Russia. As others have done, Wilson tells how Russia's tiny educated class grew increasingly hostile to the entrenched and largely repressive monarchy and bureaucracy. While Wilson's focus is one Tolstoy's personal disaffection, and how Tolstoy's idiosyncratic quest for God shaped the evolution of his views, he also puts in the context of the growing atmosphere of radicalization. Wilson also makes the point that as Tolstoy's charismatic cult grew, many of his followers were indifferent to or cared little about his literary works. To them he was simply a holy man who would no more traffic in the machinery of the Tsar. One fact that I had not known was that Tolstoy's views on disengagement were an influence on Gandhi's thinking about passive resistance to government.

For all these reasons I highly recommend this biography.
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Interview

AN Wilson: 'Everyone writes in Tolstoy's shadow'
Interview by William Skidelsky

The prolific author on the mystique of Tolstoy, his spat with Richard Evans and the limitations of the Kindle

AN Wilson photographed at the Edinburgh festival in 2007
AN Wilson: 'I’m like Jane Austen – I work on the corner of the dining table.' Photograph: Murdo Macleod
Sun 22 Apr 2012
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/22/an-wilson-tolstoy-hitler-interview


AN Wilson – biographer, historian, novelist, columnist, provocateur – is the author of more than 40 books, including, most recently, Hitler: A Short Biography. His 1998 biography of Tolstoy, which won the Whitbread prize, is now being reissued.

You wrote recently that you used to regard Tolstoy as a mystery but he now makes sense. What did you mean?

I was perhaps a little bit too inclined to think of a great conversion in the middle of his life. But when you go back and read the stuff he wrote as a soldier, and the war passages in War and Peace, it's clear he's moving towards the position of pacifism and hatred of war that dominated the second half of his life. Similarly, in War and Peace, the emphasis on peasant wisdom and the vacuity of the upper classes in Russia, it's all there.


How would you sum up his writing?

The word that leads you in is realism. When I was writing this book, Anthony Powell said to me: "Why do you want to waste your time writing about him, his books are just cinema?" I know what he means, particularly if you turn to Dostoevsky, and there's all that agitation and innerness, as if you're inside people's heads. Whereas with Tolstoy it's as if you're in the room. In many ways, he's an extraordinarily detached writer. As I've got older, I've become keener on this.

Which novelists would you place alongside Tolstoy?

He really wrote in the tradition of history writing, which confuses people. He was writing between history and art, and to that extent the only writer who is remotely like him is Walter Scott. And Balzac to a certain extent.

And today's historical novelists?

Everyone writes in Tolstoy's shadow, whether one feels oneself to be Tolstoyan or not. His influence on the dissident writers of the Soviet Uniton was enormous. Figures like Grossman or Solzhenitsyn, although their language is less elevated, were dominated by a Tolstoyan desire to use fiction to tell the truth of history.

You seem to be publishing at a furious rate – a Dante biography last year, Hitler last month and a novel later this year.

A historical novel, in fact…

How do you manage it?

If you imagine writing 1,000 words a day, which most journalists do, that would be a very long book a year. I don't manage nearly that… but I have published slightly too much recently.

Richard Evans's very critical review of your Hitler book led to a heated exchange of letters. Do you enjoy spats?

No. I thought that Evans's review was just incredibly rude. We've all been rude in our time and you have to put up with that sort of thing. He did point out one or two howlers but the rest was rather absurd of him. Dons sometimes do that to generalists.

Do you think facts are overrated?

I think they're sacred and it's quite right to point out mistakes.

Where do you work?

I've never had a study in my life. I'm like Jane Austen – I work on the corner of the dining table.

Do you have a Kindle?

I do, but funnily enough it's very difficult to get any books on it you actually want. The first thing I thought I'd put on it was Froude's Life of Carlyle, which is one of my favourite biographies, but it's quite impossible. Then you try to download the Pléiade Proust rather than some crap Proust and you can't. Then I downloaded the complete works of Yeats, and the poems give out halfway through. So I think it's of very limited use. It's fine for aeroplanes and trains but it won't replace the dear old book.


[PDF] The Social Life of Things | Semantic Scholar

[PDF] The Social Life of Things | Semantic Scholar

The Social Life of ThingsA. Appadurai
Published 1986

Economics

The meaning that people attribute to things necessarily derives from human transactions and motivations, particularly from how those things are used and circulated. The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Focusing on culturally defined aspects of exchange and socially regulated processes of circulation, the essays illuminate the ways in which people find value in things and things give value to social relations. By looking at things as if they lead social lives, the authors provide a new way to understand how value is externalized and sought after. They discuss a wide range of goods - from oriental carpets to human relics - to reveal both that the underlying logic of everyday economic life is not so far removed from that which explains the circulation of exotica, and that the distinction between contemporary economics and simpler, more distant ones is less obvious than has been thought. As the editor argues in his introduction, beneath the seeming infinitude of human wants, and the apparent multiplicity of material forms, there in fact lie complex, but specific, social and political mechanisms that regulate taste, trade, and desire. Containing contributions from American and British social anthropologists and historians, the volume bridges the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, and marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture. It will appeal to anthropologists, social historians, economists, archaeologists, and historians of art.

(PDF) The Social Lives of Chinese Objects European Studies in Asian Art and Archaeology Editorial Board Volume 2 The Social Lives of Chinese Objects

(PDF) The Social Lives of Chinese Objects European Studies in Asian Art and Archaeology Editorial Board Volume 2 The Social Lives of Chinese Objects

BookPDF Available

The Social Lives of Chinese Objects European Studies in Asian Art 

and Archaeology Editorial Board Volume 2 The Social Lives of Chinese Objects

Authors:

Abstract

The Social Lives of Chinese Objects is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s well-known argument on the social life of things to the discussion of artefacts made in China. The essays in this book look at objects as “things-in-motion,” a status that brings attention to the history of transmissions ensuing after the time and conditions of their production. How does the identity of an object change as a consequence of geographical relocation and/ or temporal transference? How do the intentions of the individuals responsible for such transfers affect the later status and meaning of these objects? The materiality of the things analyzed in this book, and visualized by a rich array of illustrations, varies from bronze to lacquered wood, from clay to porcelain, and includes painting, imperial clothing, and war spoils. Metamorphoses of value, status, and function as well as the connections with the individuals who managed them, such as collectors, museum curators, worshipers, and soldiers are also considered as central to the discussion of their life. Presenting a broader and more contextual reading than that traditionally adopted by art-historical scholarship, the essays in this book take on a multidisciplinary approach that helps to expose crucial elements in the life of these Chinese things and brings to light the cumulative motives making them relevant and meaningful to our present time.

Appadurai_The_Thing_Itself.pdf

Appadurai_The_Thing_Itself.pdf

The Thing Itself Arjun Appadurai