“The Awakening” is a book by Leo Tolstoy written during the period of 1889—1899.
This is the translation by William E. Smith, which is easy to read and understand. It is one of the best translations of the work ever published.
It tells the story of a nobleman overburdened with the sin he has committed. This sin concerns a young peasant woman whom he seduced and then left. He lives the ordinary life of a self-proud rich man until he encounters his former lover. The place where they see each other is the court, and the girl is being accused.
Being a religious person, baptized in the Orthodox faith, Tolstoy declared expressly in a number of his works written during the last two decades of his life, especially in the novel “Resurrection,” that he denied some of the major dogmas of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In “Resurrection,” he depicted the clergy as perfunctory ritual performers. Many found the cold and cynical Toporov to resemble K. Pobedonostsev, the Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Synod succeeded in insisting on banning Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” for “disrespectful statements on the Orthodox Church and Christianity” back in 1901.
Leo Tolstoy criticized the Russian Orthodox Church in harsh terms for postponing the original Christian ideals to its own interests.
The Russian Ministry of Interior passed a circular order prohibiting the publication of any telegrams, news, and articles expressing sympathy with the writer and criticizing the Synod’s decision.
However, Russian glass plant workers presented Tolstoy with a large lump of glass. The lump had the following engraved in gold on it, “You share the fate of many great people in advance of their time, dearest Leo Tolstoy! They used to be burned at the stake and sent to rot in prison or exile before. Let the pharisaic ‘high priests’ excommunicate you. Russian people will always be proud of you, outstanding, much appreciated and greatly admired as you are.”
In a conversation, Tolstoy said, “There are both pages of rhetoric and those of fiction in ‘Resurrection.’ They are agreeable when taken individually. But it is terrible to combine them in one work. What made me publish them this way is my eagerness to help Doukhobors right now…”
This is the translation by William E. Smith, which is easy to read and understand. It is one of the best translations of the work ever published.
It tells the story of a nobleman overburdened with the sin he has committed. This sin concerns a young peasant woman whom he seduced and then left. He lives the ordinary life of a self-proud rich man until he encounters his former lover. The place where they see each other is the court, and the girl is being accused.
Being a religious person, baptized in the Orthodox faith, Tolstoy declared expressly in a number of his works written during the last two decades of his life, especially in the novel “Resurrection,” that he denied some of the major dogmas of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In “Resurrection,” he depicted the clergy as perfunctory ritual performers. Many found the cold and cynical Toporov to resemble K. Pobedonostsev, the Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Synod succeeded in insisting on banning Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” for “disrespectful statements on the Orthodox Church and Christianity” back in 1901.
Leo Tolstoy criticized the Russian Orthodox Church in harsh terms for postponing the original Christian ideals to its own interests.
The Russian Ministry of Interior passed a circular order prohibiting the publication of any telegrams, news, and articles expressing sympathy with the writer and criticizing the Synod’s decision.
However, Russian glass plant workers presented Tolstoy with a large lump of glass. The lump had the following engraved in gold on it, “You share the fate of many great people in advance of their time, dearest Leo Tolstoy! They used to be burned at the stake and sent to rot in prison or exile before. Let the pharisaic ‘high priests’ excommunicate you. Russian people will always be proud of you, outstanding, much appreciated and greatly admired as you are.”
In a conversation, Tolstoy said, “There are both pages of rhetoric and those of fiction in ‘Resurrection.’ They are agreeable when taken individually. But it is terrible to combine them in one work. What made me publish them this way is my eagerness to help Doukhobors right now…”
