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Rating: 
Summary: A real find
Review: Here's a book that not many people know about which should be read by all. It was really just what I needed to read, having just dropped out of university myself. Also, does anyone else think that this book must have greatly influenced Hemingway? It sounds just like him, and he says in A Moveable Feast that he was reading lots of Russian stuff at the start of his career. I realize it might just be that the translator liked Hemingway, but even so it's amazing how much it ends up reading like one of his novels and is so unlike the rest of Tolstoy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Novella
Review: Timeless. While the novella centers around a Russian Tribe known as the 'Cossacks', it also tells the story of a young nobleman disenchanted with the high society Moscow crowd who sets out to find himself and discover the joys of youth.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Short Fiction From Tolstoy
Review: Tolstoy is one of the most famous names in Russian literature. Sadly, the sheer size of most of his celebrated works, i.e. War and Peace, tend to make many readers anxious. However, readers fail to realize that Tolstoy has quite a phenomenal collection of short fiction, such as this 178-page novella. Tolstoy explores the dissatisfaction a young Russian aristocrat holds towards the emptiness of high-society, and his subsequent journey in search of meaning. The aristocrat finds himself as a young Russian army officer, serving at a remote Cossack outpost in the Caucasus. Here he finds that his wealth and breeding do not garner him respect. Instead he is looked upon as an outsider, and an unwelcome one at that. Nevertheless, the aristocrat finds himself in love with a beautiful Cossack girl, who is promised to a Cossack warrior. Tolstoy discusses the emotions that rise between these three parties regarding love, class, and sacrifice. Indeed, The Cossacks is great first exposure to Leo Tolstoy and his descriptive writing style is sure to lead the reader to explore more of his works.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Short Fiction From Tolstoy
Review: Tolstoy is one of the most famous names in Russian literature. Sadly, the sheer size of most of his celebrated works, i.e. War and Peace, tend to make many readers anxious. However, readers fail to realize that Tolstoy has quite a phenomenal collection of short fiction, such as this 178-page novella. Tolstoy explores the dissatisfaction a young Russian aristocrat holds towards the emptiness of high-society, and his subsequent journey in search of meaning. The aristocrat finds himself as a young Russian army officer, serving at a remote Cossack outpost in the Caucasus. Here he finds that his wealth and breeding do not garner him respect. Instead he is looked upon as an outsider, and an unwelcome one at that. Nevertheless, the aristocrat finds himself in love with a beautiful Cossack girl, who is promised to a Cossack warrior. Tolstoy discusses the emotions that rise between these three parties regarding love, class, and sacrifice. Indeed, The Cossacks is great first exposure to Leo Tolstoy and his descriptive writing style is sure to lead the reader to explore more of his works.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding tale of aristocrats and peasants.
Review: Truly the best novella that I have ever read. The story of a young Russian aristocrat disillusionned with the life of a city gentleman who looks to the simpler life of a soldier in the Caucasus for his completion. An outstanding read.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding tale of aristocrats and peasants.
Review: Truly the best novella that I have ever read. The story of a young Russian aristocrat disillusionned with the life of a city gentleman who looks to the simpler life of a soldier in the Caucasus for his completion. An outstanding read.
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