Voskresenīe

Resurrection, the last complete novel written by Leo Tolstoy, was published in 1899 after ten years of preparation. A humanitarian cause (the pacifist Doukhobor sect, persecuted by the Russian government, needed funds to emigrate to Canada) prompted Tolstoy to finish the novel and dedicate the resulting proceeds to alleviating their plight. Ultimately, Tolstoy's actions were credited with helping hundreds of Doukhobors immigrate to Canada.

The novel focuses on the relationship between Nekhlúdoff, a Russian landowner, and Maslova, a prostitute whose life took a turn for the worse after Nekhlúdoff harmed her ten years before the events of the novel. After Nekhlúdoff serves on the jury in a trial in which Maslova is accused of poisoning a merchant, Nekhlúdoff begins to understand the harm he has inflicted on Maslova (and the harm the Russian state and society inflict on the poor and marginalized) as he embarks on a quest to alleviate Maslova's suffering.

Nekhlúdoff's process of spiritual awakening in Resurrection serves as a framework for many of the novel's religious and political themes, such as the hypocrisy of state Christianity and the injustice of the penal system, which were also the subject of Tolstoy's nonfiction treatise on Christian anarchism, The Kingdom of God Is Within You. The novel also explores the “single tax” economic theory proposed by American economist Henry George, which drives an important subplot in the novel about the management of Nekhlúdoff's estates.

Previews available in: Russian Chinese English Yiddish

Subjects

Continental European Fiction (fictional works by one author), General Fiction, Historical Fiction, General, Russia (federation), Fiction, Atonement -- Fiction, Russia -- Social Conditions -- 1801-1917 -- Fiction, Aristocracy (social class) -- Russia -- Fiction, Prostitutes -- Russia -- Fiction, Trials (Murder) -- Russia -- Fiction, Change -- Religious Aspects -- Fiction, Social Justice -- Russia -- Fiction, Fiction, Social Conditions, Russian Fiction, Russian Literature, Social Life and Customs, Historical Fiction, Classical Literature, Juries, Manners and Customs, General, Prose, Tolstoy, Psychological Fiction, Long Now Manual for CivilizationPeople

Leo Tolstoy Graf (1828-1910)Places

RussiaTimes

1801-1917Showing 11 featured editions. See all 250 editions?

Book details

Editing notes

Translation of: Voskresenie.