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Leo Tolstoy
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A Confession (Dover Books on Western Philosophy) Kindle Edition

by Leo Tolstoy (Author), Aylmer Maude (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 319 ratings
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Despite having written War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, at the age of 51, looked back on his life and considered it a meaningless, regrettable failure. A Confession provides insight into the great Russian writer's movement from the pursuit of aesthetic ideals toward matters of religious and philosophical consequence.
Authentic and genuinely moving, this memoir of midlife spiritual crisis was first distributed in 1872 and marked a turning point in the author's career as a writer: in subsequent years, Tolstoy would write almost exclusively about religious life, especially devotion among the peasantry.
Generations of readers have been inspired by this heartfelt reexamination of Christian orthodoxy and subsequent spiritual awakening. Ranked among the best books on the subject, this timeless work is for anyone who has ever worried about the fleeting nature of life and speculated about the value of existence.

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  1. Print length
    98 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Dover Publications
  5. Publication date
    March 12, 2012
  6. File size
    955 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Novelist, essayist, dramatist, and philosopher, Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is most famous for his sprawling portraits of 19th-century Russian life, as recounted in Anna Karenina and War and Peace.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00A62YN0A
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications (March 12, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 12, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 955 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 98 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 319 ratings

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Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy

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Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote two of the great novels of the nineteenth century, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
319 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rashid Osmani
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Thesis
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2022
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It is impossible to find someone who writes so well – the clarity, the thought process and utter frankness. It has been more than 100 years since the passing away of this giant of literature who won the Nobel Prize and the way he describes his confession is wonderful to read. What he describes for irrational thoughts (like faith or religion), which must have a link between finite (our living life) and infinite (eternity) was very comforting to me. His classification of human philosophies and his notes on faith are equally enlightening. He doesn’t argue for the reader to change but gives out examples to think and ponder.
3 people found this helpful
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FF
5.0 out of 5 stars Another man searches for meaning
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020
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This book describes Tolstoy’s struggle to find a reason for living. Ultimately, he found God as a purpose for living. In the final part of the book he describes a dream where he hovers on a bed between a terrible void below, and where the bed is collapsing in and the thought of falling terrifies him. The void is a metaphor for meaningless suffering and death. But he describes in this dream that if he looks upwards to the heavens, a calm and trust settles over him that makes him forgets about falling into the void. Again, the symbol here is that the “heaven” is God. How I wish that I could do what Tolstoy did and find God! For me, there is a void below, and when I cast my eyes skywards, I see another horrible emptiness instead of God. I don’t mind that there is no meaning in life, after all the moon, a flower, an ant, a lion etc. lives without asking for a purpose to their lives. Lack of meaning is not the problem, at least for me, but the problem is the seemingly pointless suffering!

Tolstoy does talk about a cause of his suffering: the way he lived. He describes being vain, seeking fortune and fame, being self absorbed, failure to live with humility etc. as a large contributor to his misery. He turned not only top God, but to a kind of asceticism as an antidote. Which makes sense to me. Anyway, I loved this book. If you’re inclined to religion then this book will go a long way in giving you another reason to believe in God.
9 people found this helpful
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Pseudo D
4.0 out of 5 stars intense
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2018
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I had been worn out from a lengthy Russian novel so I went for something shorter and easier to
translate into English without so many long and confusing names. As the title suggests, this
is an intense spiritual and intellectual memoir. Tolstoy goes through all the major trends of
his period in history, with a familiarity with the Russian Orthodox faith. He then moved to a
faith in science and progress before getting into philosophy. There was a period where he
wanted to teach but didn't even know what to teach, he just kept teaching and writing because
that's what the people of his class and social circles did. The section on philosophy is intense
and personal. A major influence of his century was Schopenhauer, along with Buddhism,
Socrates, Plato and Solomon (Qoheleth or Ecclesiastes), all of whom had a pessimistic
attitude toward this world, at least in Tolstoy's interpretation, and led to contemplation
of suicide. But then he continued to live and rediscovered faith. To him faith is irrational,
at least in the beginning of his account. It is a source of affirmation of life that comes
from outside reason. It seems like he would match well with Kierkegaard but there
wasn't much discussion. But there is a strong Kantian emphasis that God cannot be
proven or demonstrated, just believed. Tolstoy continued to rebel against the intelligentsia
to which he belonged and embraced popular piety as more authentic and integrated.
He returned to communion and embraced tradition, but eventually found there were
things he couldn't believe in conscience. Toward the end there is a discussion of
war, punishment and the conflict among the divisions of Christianity, where each insists
that the other is wrong and heretical. It's a nuanced and subtle argument, but oddly
after all that journey his views end up like a lot of what you hear today, although
he continued to identify clearly as a Christian.
12 people found this helpful
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Rodrigo
5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed comparing his existential take with Rousseau's
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2018
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Tolstoy's is much shorter than Rousseau's 'Confessions"; is written with much less flowery language; and has far fewer "sins" or moral transgressions disclosed, even though I suspect Tolstoy deflowered many more virgins and abandoned more resultant babies than Rousseau did. Unfortunately Tolstoy's "A Confession" reeked of the religiosity of his Russian Orthodox upbringing. But as an atheist interested in religion, I enjoyed comparing his existential take with Rousseau's, which was imbued with his Calvinist Protestant and Catholic upbringing. Both men were true moral reprobates at certain points in their lives, and yet both arguably served as great positive moral forces in human history.
2 people found this helpful
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Theodore the Little
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding biog.
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019
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He was an incredible man and the story of his spiritual pilgrimage is inspiring. Well written and well worth reading.
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Fred M
5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had read it sooner in life
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2020
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I enjoyed this book. Great autobiographical tale of coming to Christ
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Anthony Marinelli
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent essay on faith and church institutions
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2013
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In a recent bok the Russian Cossmists which I looked at, pp 236-37 the witer states "american/western european intellectuals towards Russian traditions,valies,policies..whether in tsarist or soviet times..governing for royals and driven political leaders..in a very rich national culture." A good dollop of money is spent here, toward an abstract ideal of the nation, showcasing attractive girls and youger athletic men, muscles bursting with virility and women in attractive getups poses and clothes which is a change from soviet times..and lets go back. The ancient 19th century european courts, when everyone like to live like king louis and maria antoinette, "let them eat cake":\..and "the sun god." Everyone wa so estranged from the upper class..a split..here and if we watch those ancient czar films..from old Russia..he managed to create and foster in part at least a bond with people, the bulder of the nation and creed/culture, monks at the court, learning and balanced that with the upper crust, the nobility..who were focused on the upper classes outside of europe. Almost a mirror..and they bypassed the lower classes the upper classes, who were like Marie and Louis..a priveleged life at court..and if you entered the eateries and wherever..foreign phrases, and everything natives exorcised as at a nearby monastery. Tolstoy the military adventurer and nationalist tells us there was a almost a hatred of this foreign upper class..which didnt have much to do with money, that was an associated problem..they had a different culture..even quite different than what the Tsar espoused..who knows if all this led to the eventual revolution. The tsar ran the nation with key families throughout the nation, largely agrarian, and balanced that with the people and their and his culture, and he really over a period of time developed the nation and the families and poems and young girls and boys..a tiny few of the upper crust was religious, but Tolstoy tells us almost none..and there was almost a competing evisceration in this sense,,even between the more western Petersberg and the city of Moscow(a place many outsiders never really understood, even the neighbouring parts of the country)..many see communism as the ascent of a Moscow culture, the militarist against the age old imperialisms..and became anti tsar..eliminating the past..who knows? If we can also imagine in latrer years in Moscow, in a room, a party meeting, trying to find good managers at factorys, like american managers, interestin gwomen inclothes and jewellery, nylons and shoes.instead of smuggling from hee nd there across the border..a national identity diffused..im gettingon and too long..here we have Tolstoys book A confession, against the backdrop of circumstances which soon led to the russo japanese war? around 1905/6..and asian problems another problem for the tsar..and people to find this war for nation.."i killed men in wars and challenged men to duels"..here we have some ancient fight to bed some attractive young woman..an dhe had so many over the years he grew bored of this habit..the novel Anna Karenina tells us he often fell in love ands he knows women so well perhaps the ascent to spirituality..through his very pores..by the loves of women in his youth..leading him on..the passions..and retributions against him..and warring..p9 "driven to reflection"..he liked to read "newspapers"..within him was that spark"striving after perfection"..and he sought the same for the girls he knew..the loves..so he worked his way around the families of ancient Russia during the czars time..the nicely dressed,peffumed, educated and intelligent and it led to crime with all his military acumen..the life of Tolstoy..he admits so little and im reading between the lines..but he came to detest this upper class..found it foreign,,we see thast in the early pages..the nobility in the restaurants among the waiting staff..in communist times this type of culture and eateries were certainly gone..i dont want to go on and on..perhaps i have things wrong a different culture..he talks of progress..and its interesting that at this tim ein intellectual circles no one would ever think progress would come to a halt, regress, and yet he finds that the world given its moral nature..and problems which he finds "insoluble"..this was way before the first war..he finds progress an illusion way before the war this is a great insight..and the book talks of his faith, his turn to the lower class families, and his great wealth built on being one of the famous europeans of his time..and led to problems with important families and churches(which he tells us he never really understood)..but he gave all this nouveau riche lifestyle up and spent his time among poorer families..this allows us a glance at modern Russia with its oligarchs and churches and different foreign ideas and associations,,and i hardly think the current resident of the presidents chair(and we do have mayors)is really responsible for the virtues or the psychological development, divorce, or crime..much as the problem of the great decline of the middle claases a crisis in many western capitals and loss of industry is hurting the west..and east..thats a good way to understand this short book..after the october revolution the critic g.k.chestertonin apiece noted "i a book reading bourgeois..happy middle class circle in which i live..such artisans think too highly of the culture imposed on them..and too little of the culture from which they came"(the religion of bolshevism july 24/20)..which describes so much of the crisis these days between east and west and these cultural changes and the changes in middle class life..where exactly are we going and i dount whether the leader of Russia or America..is really to blame or to be heralded for much goin gon in their nation..but at least in some places we now have the office of mayor
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Ron
5.0 out of 5 stars Short and pivotal
Reviewed in Canada on November 8, 2018
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Tolstoy got all religious and anarcho pacificist in his later life, and this is why
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Joe Eastwood
5.0 out of 5 stars Important Read
Reviewed in Canada on October 6, 2014
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A nice short read on a very important topic, nice to trace the thought process of such a great thinker on the way to faith in God.
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