Comments on: Battle of the dead Russian writers

By: Marianne Sturman, Tolstoy's War and Peace (Cliffs Notes)

Marianne Sturman, Tolstoy's War and Peace (Cliffs Notes) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:11:27 +0000

[...] TruePravda � Battle of the dead Russian writers Related books: [...]

By: Saturday Hotlinks | conservativeintelligencer.com

Saturday Hotlinks | conservativeintelligencer.com — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:30:28 +0000

[...] Church and Culture Dead Russian Writers from True Pravda Christian podcasts from Phil Johnson Chuck Colson on Ben Stein’s Expelled [...]

By: J. Wesley

J. Wesley — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:13:33 +0000

Sorry for the bad edit on that last post. I’m having some medical issues which are affecting my cognition. It plays out most in the area of language. I’m going to post on my blog about it soon. . . Bleh.

By: J. Wesley

J. Wesley — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:12:09 +0000

” It’s just too good an analysis of the human condition.”

That’s a very fair point. Anna Karenina is fantastic. I like Tolstoy when he’s working on an individual level. I just can’t stand him when he writes history, a la War and Peace.

*spoiler alert*

Even when he makes an delightful character, however, such as with the Holly Golightly-esque Natasha Rostova, he sometimes ruins them. I have -never- forgiven him for turning her into some Slavophiles fantasy of the perfect peasant woman. . . Until the end of the novel, she was one of my favorite characters in all of literature.

By: Jared Bridges

Jared Bridges — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:55:40 +0000

J. Wesley: I haven't read War and Peace, but Anna Karenina keeps me from writing off Tolstoy as precursor to 20th-century social gospel peddlers. It's just too good an analysis of the human condition. Matt: I'll concur with J. Wesley here and ask you to clarify your point, if you could. I don't really follow.

By: J. Wesley

J. Wesley — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:04:58 +0000

“How many of the nouns refer to tangible, verifiable things? Can this sentence be proved wrong or right, and what is the implication if it can’t?”

This doesn’t just apply to theology, but to virtually any philosophical statement. What is your point with this question?

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:39:48 +0000

Longtime reader, first time caller – your paragraph on Christian theology is a departure from a great post. Think for a second, how many of the words in that sentence have logical, definable meanings? How many of the nouns refer to tangible, verifiable things? Can this sentence be proved wrong or right, and what is the implication if it can’t? I’ve been reading Dostoevsky as a project and I think he, like other religious speculators, is getting a bit ahead of himself.

Other authors have written interest essay with a similar theme, from Nietzsche and his Apollonian vs. Dionysian to Tergenev’s division of the world into Hamlets and Don Quixotes.

Then there is DJW over at blogspot who thinks there are two kinds of people, those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t.

Anyway: great blog. etc. etc.

By: J. Wesley

J. Wesley — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:33:43 +0000

Jared-

I like Dostoyevsky much more as a person — his conservative political and religious views mesh much better with mine than the mystic, utopian Pan-Slavism of Tolstoy. I also despise Tolstoy’s approach to history, which reduces individuals to mere epiphenomena bubbling on the back of the aggregate mass of humanity.

That said, War and Peace remains one of my favorite novels. It ranks even with Crime and Punishment. So they take away a tie for actual writing.

By the way, my anti-spam program marked you as spam for some reason. I just rescued your comment from the bucket. . .