Where Every Scroll is a New Adventure
Leo Tolstoy - Blog Posts
hey sorry your boyfriend said that russian classics are about that life is bleak. yeah he meant dostoyevsky and tolstoy. no, he didn't look beyond any of the lowest lows of the stories. he didn't even see the overarching themes of beauty and hope and connection. frankly we have all been laughing about him and we're gonna beat him up now. sorry
It's so surreal to wake up after barely falling asleep, read about all the casualties caused by that russian attack at night, and literally next to that report is news of Trump once again saying that Russia is ready for peace and it's Ukraine that makes everything complicated and doesn't want to stop the war (for some reason stupid Ukrainians don't want to give up to Russia their land and people that live there, shocking).
I want to [redacted] this man with my own bare hands
"The children have just begun to live. We feel sorry for our country, they (russins) are killing us and no one is doing anything."
Locals have been bringing flowers and toys to the site in Kryvyi Rih since morning where children were killed in a russian attack on April 4. Nine children were killed in a russian Iskander missile strike. Six remain in hospitals, most of them in serious condition.
Source: Suspilne Dnipro
i cannot merely read words, i must consume. give me a sentence and watch as i carve it into my bones, tucked safely right over my heart
Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.
Leo Tolstoy
i think in war and peace tolstoy’s misogyny feels intrusive whereas in anna karenina it feels built in.
ummm okay thanks carolyn
I LOVE U NATASHA ROSTOVA!
i bought a copy of the “original drafts” version of war and peace cuz i saw ppl talking about it so much and i only knew some vague facts about it. it’s really interesting and i’m enjoying it but i do find it funny that the publisher describes it as “tolstoy’s intended version” when so much of what’s left out is the most self indulgent philosophizing prose from tolstoy.
oddly enough these are the major themes of any classic russian novel
most of war and peace is just men creating issues for themselves while women suffer the worst horrors imaginable.
there’s a lot of blatant misogyny in the epilogue, but then there’s also subtle things like natasha’s new dynamics with her family. she interacts with few people outside of the household at all anymore, but she’s really only friends with marya (seemingly because they’re both mothers), her friendship with nikolai has almost completely deteriorated (as if they can’t relate on any level anymore), and we barely see her interact with sonya. it’s unsettling to me to say the least.
muppets war and peace where the only human is andrei
"If he came across some worldly abomination he would say to himself, 'So-and-so's robbing the state and the Tsar while the state and the Tsar weigh him down with honours, is he? Well, let him get on with it - she smiled at me yesterday, she asked me round, and I love her, and nobody will ever know.'"
War and Peace, Tolstoy
no one else mirroring epilogue means everything to me so pls enjoy this edit i made a couple months ago (featuring a healthy amount of disrespect to andrei)
pierre being tolstoy’s self insert explains so much. like the several pages in the epilogue describing how happy everyone was to see him.
my most unpopular take on war and peace is that i dislike andrei. it’s not that i don’t understand him, he’s definitely an interesting character, but i’ve never been able to get over how he treated lise.
‘Anna Karenina’ Book Review
‘Anna Karenina’ is a beautiful novel. This novel is soft, simple and it is a very social novel. The upper/higher middle society of Russia has been represented very beautifully. Though the novel is quite longer but it is elaborated rhythmically.
The main story of the novel not only focuses on Anna but also on some other characters like Levin and the household of Oblonsky. But obviously Anna is the main character. From Anna’s point of view, the story shows that how human mind affects or works when one is in a miserable condition for a longer period.
And it is worth mentioning that the character Levin is also represented with much emphasis. So if we see from Levin’s point of view, it is seen that He is very self-esteemed. He values his works so much and considers every little matter carefully. He always thinks and thinks. He confuses himself in every little matter. He is always in an excited mood to find out whether he is doing right or wrong. But his life goes on like that even smoothly which he doesn’t even know himself.
I love the romance between Kitty and Levin soo much. No matter how many times Levin tries to put Kitty out of his mind, he just can’t. He loves her terribly. Levin is one of the best kinds of lovers that I will always prefer. He loves as well as respects Kitty. Eventually Kitty also realizes her secret affection for Levin. I really adore the conversation that has been taken place between Levin & Kitty while playing this chalk writing game. Kitty said “If you could forget and forgive what happened. Levin replied” I have nothing to forget and forgive, I have never ceased to love you.” These two sentences have just melted me.
I also love the character of Alexey Alexandrovich Karenin. He appears so hard and emotionless. But in real he is not at all like that. He does have a soft corner in his heart. I really fancy that part where he really cares for little Annie and how unconditionally he forgives Anna.
The miserable condition of the ladies then are also shown in the novel. Often it is seen that the husband had lost interest in their wives after some years of marriage. Such is the case of Dolly.
The whole plot has been represented in a beautiful manner. It is seen that Anna’s life becomes duller from the beginning to the end and on the other hand Kitty’s life becomes happier. And behind this there is only the event of one ball.
Sometimes I kept thinking why did the novel is named ‘Anna Karenina’? Here we can see other main character like Levin too. But I came to a conclusion that it was named so because the whole story had been created on the action of Anna’s one decision i,e to love Vronsky avoiding all the odds. It is one of the greatest novel obviously.
Honor, Maksym.
I think about every Ukrainian artist who could have lived a long and happy life and done wonderful things but was killed by russians.
I'm thinking about russian artists who are inherently fascists and state propagandists, and how in the West they are loved and praised.
Indifference to russian crimes, support for russian occupation culture, praising russian artists and justifying their silence about the war - all of this is having a terrible effect on Ukraine now and will have terrible consequences for everyone in the future.
ik people say you shouldn't read news first thing in the morning or reach for your phone but this is how many times my city was shelled by russians in the last 24 hours (almost each paragraph is a separate case)
Russian culture is nothing sacred
On Palm Sunday, Russia launched a missile strike on Sumy, slaughtering over 20 civilians and injuring many more. And they have used 'double tap' again.
Russia doesn't want a piece, they want to raise hell on Ukrainian lands. I don't have words to describe my hate towards that bloody country. I wish all of them to live through this level of pain for centuries. There's no forgiveness for such crimes.
Just two days after the previous strike, russia hits Kryvyi Rih again. They struck a residential area, next to a playground. In the early evening, when parents and children were outside.
As of now, 14 people are known to have been killed, including 6 children.
In the photo, parents stand over the body of their killed 15-year-old son.
Back in 2022, the world was saying "russian war of aggression will not be normalised". Today, in 2025, we are just numbers. Russia killing Ukrainians for the sin of existing has been normalised. Our lives are a boring statistic and our tragedies barely ever make it into the world news. Because this is no longer news.
Ukrainians on occupied territories are about to be deported from their homes if they don't obtain russian passport. This is genocide.
russia breaks the ceasefire two hours after they agreed to stop strikes on Ukraine’s energy sector - by bombing the power system of Slovyansk, Donetsk region, half of the city is without electricity.
Another 2 hours later they bomb a hospital in Sumy. Then launched attack drones all over the country.
“Ceasefire” my ass
Fuck you and fuck your “peace talks”
You don’t want peace. You want us to die more quietly.
"March 16, 2022. On the ground near the theater, large letters spelling out the word "CHILDREN" were visible - but this did not stop the russian murderers from committing a terrible terrorist attack in peaceful Mariupol exactly three years ago.
The russian occupiers dropped a bomb on the Drama Theater. This tragic place at that time became a refuge for many Mariupol residents seeking protection from the endless bombardment.
The number of victims is still impossible to determine for sure. However, it is estimated that between 300 and 600 innocent civilians died that day.
what a unique experience to live in a country next to russia. Only here, in Ukraine, you can wake up in the middle of the night, listen to a russian drone with a growing buzz hit somewhere nearby, recover for half a minute, look out the window as another drone flies right over your house, scratch your head, and watch as a third one is shot down even closer a couple of minutes later
russian kamikaze drone btw:
