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Rating: 
Summary: Stimulating reading from the whole of Tolstoy's life
Review: I agree with the previous two reviewers and join them in recommending this book, especially to those who have not yet read much Tolstoy. Rather than repeat what's been said, let me add one caveat and two complaints.First, the caveat. If you already own a lot of Tolstoy's short fiction, you should preview this book to decide whether it offers enough new material to warrant buying. This anthology includes a number of familiar classics (mentioned in the other reviews), but you may decide it's still worth purchasing for the less common and early works. Now for the complaints. _Kreutzer_Sonata_, or _Father_Sergius_? If I had to make an either-or choice, I think I would choose _Father_Sergius_. The editor chose _Kreutzer_Sonata_. A defensible choice, but not my preference. A more serious complaint I have regards an omission. I would think that a Tolstoy anthology with "courage" and "conflict" in the subtitle would have to include _Hadji_Murat_. Its absence seems an oversight to me. Despite these minor criticisms, I'm still giving this collection 5 stars on the merits of the works themselves. You will never regret time spent reading Tolstoy.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful Fiction by the Master of Fiction
Review: There should be a higher number of stars that could be used for really classic fiction, and if there were, this book would warrant them. It includes many of Tolstoy's greatest short stories. The ones that made him famous. The ones that first showed his talent. These stories span a period of over forty years, from "The Invaders" (1842) to "Walk in the Light While There is Still Light" (1893). We get a chance to not only read great stories, but to see the growth of a talent that started out better than most ever achieve. "Recollections of a Billiard-Marker" (1855) is a less well known example of Tolstoy's ability to show the degeneration of a character. In this case it is by addiction to gambling that destroys a man, and the boy who works in a billiard hall who narrates. If this was the only story in the book, it would be worth buying, but it is not. It's not even the best one here. Has there ever been a better description of men at war than "The Sevastapol Letters"? All three are here. Has anyone caught loneliness and despair better than "The Death of Ivan Ilyitch"? It's here. No one catches class difference in fewer words. No one describes the ways we look at each other, the words we use, the words we don't use, better than this man. Since this is a foreign novel, one must also mention the translation (by Isabel F. Hapsgood for the Sevestapol Letters, and Nathan Haskell Dole for everything else). They are good, they allow the language the feeling of another time, while allowing it to sound also current and easily readable. A great way to cover much of the short fiction of one of the greatest fiction writers of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Stimulating reading from the whole of Tolstoy's life
Review: This collection of Tolstoy's work covers a period from 1852 (The Invaders) thru 1893 (Walk in the Light While There is Light). From the first published writing that marked him as a talent too good to ignore, through his religious conversion, and his soul-searching conclusions. Some of his greatest short works are here. "The Recollections of a Billiard-Marker" is one of the early writings, and one of the bet descriptions of the effects of addiction (in this case an addiction to gambling) I have ever read. The Sevestopol Sketches (there are three of them) give one of the closest descriptions of men in war possible (the defense of Sevestopol during the Crimean War, which fell to the British and French). A group of religious parables. "The Death of Ivan Ilyitch" is a fantastic description of the internal battles waged when fighting with death. And "The Kreutzer Sonata" is a discussion of the place of men and women in society that should be required reading by anyone who thinks they understand the opposite sex. There is enough in these stories to give the reader a chance to understand the author before attacking the larger and more famous major works.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Collection of Tolstoy's Career
Review: This collection of Tolstoy's work covers a period from 1852 (The Invaders) thru 1893 (Walk in the Light While There is Light). From the first published writing that marked him as a talent too good to ignore, through his religious conversion, and his soul-searching conclusions. Some of his greatest short works are here. "The Recollections of a Billiard-Marker" is one of the early writings, and one of the bet descriptions of the effects of addiction (in this case an addiction to gambling) I have ever read. The Sevestopol Sketches (there are three of them) give one of the closest descriptions of men in war possible (the defense of Sevestopol during the Crimean War, which fell to the British and French). A group of religious parables. "The Death of Ivan Ilyitch" is a fantastic description of the internal battles waged when fighting with death. And "The Kreutzer Sonata" is a discussion of the place of men and women in society that should be required reading by anyone who thinks they understand the opposite sex. There is enough in these stories to give the reader a chance to understand the author before attacking the larger and more famous major works.
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