Sign up Log in. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. In most cases, I think, it happens thus: a man lives like everybody else, on the basis of principles not merely having nothing in common with religious doctrine, but generally opposed to it; religious doctrine does not play a part in life, in intercourse with others it is never encountered, and in a man's own life he never has to reckon with it.
Religious doctrine is professed far away from life and independently of it. If it is encountered, it is only as an external phenomenon disconnected from life.
Then as now, it was and is quite impossible to judge by a man's life and conduct whether he is a believer or not. If there be a difference between a man who publicly professes orthodoxy and one who denies it, the difference is not in favor of the former. Then as now, the public profession and confession of orthodoxy was chiefly met with among people who were dull and cruel and who considered themselves very important. Ability, honesty, reliability, good-nature and moral conduct, were often met with among unbelievers.
The schools teach the catechism and send the pupils to church, and government officials must produce certificates of having received communion. But a man of our circle who has finished his education and is not in the government service may even now and formerly it was still easier for him to do so live for ten or twenty years without once remembering that he is living among Christians and is himself reckoned a member of the orthodox Christian Church.
So that, now as formerly, religious doctrine, accepted on trust and supported by external pressure, thaws away gradually under the influence of knowledge and experience of life which conflict with it, and a man very often lives on, imagining that he still holds intact the religious doctrine imparted to him in childhood whereas in fact not a trace of it remains. On a hunting expedition, when he was already twenty-six, he once, at the place where they put up for the night, knelt down in the evening to pray - a habit retained from childhood.
His elder brother, who was at the hunt with him, was lying on some hay and watching him. Of them he writes: Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class […] these people spent their lives at hard labor and were less dissatisfied with life than the wealthy. To which I say, respectfully: Pah! These exaltations smack of noble-savage mythology. I am no expert on the Russian peasantry of the 19th century, but if they were anything like the modern poor of America, they endured or succumbed to sickness and tribulation with much resistance and a broad range of questions, they drew near to death with horror and repulsion, and they do not enjoy the greatest happiness, because he who attempts to escape from his current circumstances as the poor do2 cannot possibly be happy; he may be deluded about what will bring him happiness in the future e.
Tolstoy uses his severely misguided impressions of the Russian peasant as evidence the goodness of faith. Fresh as paint, this. Much more than a Boy-Meets-God rerun, Confession is Tolstoy telling you in earnest how it was for him. Early religious uncertainty gives way to youthful arrogance, and eventually, full-blown nihilistic malaise.
He becomes fearful of hunting with a gun lest he should become quarry for his thoughts; rope appears suddenly lovely and wonderful.
Though he longs to stop living, he cannot bring himself to end his life. The second half of Confession amounts to the bargain Tolstoy str Fresh as paint, this. The second half of Confession amounts to the bargain Tolstoy struck with the world that he might live and live happily. Parts of this bargain are standard fare namely the well-worn "leap of faith" but the nuance of Tolstoy's reconciliation with life is rich and compelling. He leaves us, finally, with images from a dream of lying suspended between two abysses.
What's one to do but choose to look up? Apr 29, UpdatedSpring rated it it was amazing. In this book Tolstoy seeks the answer to a question no doubt we all have: " What is the meaning of life? His despair was at a point where In this book Tolstoy seeks the answer to a question no doubt we all have: " What is the meaning of life?
His despair was at a point where he contemplated suicide, but described himself as "weak" because he couldn't go through with it.
Faith, as he defines it, is the way we connect our finite existence to the infinite: "Whatever the faith may be, and whatever answers it may give, and to whomsoever it gives them, every such answer gives to the finite existence of man an infinite meaning, a meaning not destroyed by sufferings, deprivation, or death. This means that only in faith can we find for life a meaning and a possibility. An interesting point in his journey is that he left his church because of the painful experience he had during communion where he was told that he was going to eat the flesh of Christ.
Since he couldn't believe in that, he opted to study the bible by himself without performing the rituals which made him painfully deny his reason. This book provides an interesting perspective that would be valuable to anyone interested in the meaning of our lives.
Mar 06, Laura rated it liked it Recommended to Laura by: Bettie. Shelves: non-fiction , read , audio-books , philosophy , russian-fiction. Episode 2 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can writing and family provide the answer?
Episode 3 of 10 Does death make life pointless? Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life read by Joss Ackland. Episode 4 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can philosophy provide an answer? Episode 5 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can simply living life provide an answer? Episode 6 of 10 Can doubting logical thoughts lead to an answer?
Episode 7 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can the irrational knowledge of faith help us? Episode 8 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can the search for God help to provide an answer? Episode 9 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can reason and belief exist in the same answer? Episode 10 of 10 Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life.
Can simplifying faith give us an answer? By the time he was 50, Russian writer Leo Tolstoy had found fame and success through his great literary achievements. He had a wife and family, and a large estate. But he hadn't found what was most important: the meaning of life. A Confession compellingly describes his search for the truth. Read by Joss Ackland. Abridged in ten episodes by Andrew Simpson.
Nov 17, Ali rated it it was amazing Shelves: biography , literature , religion , mind , psychology , spirtuality , philosophy. The only absolute knowledge attainable by man is that life is meaningless. Everything in the world-both folly and wisdom, wealth and poverty, joy and sorrow-all is vanity and emptiness. A man dies and nothing remains. And this is absurd," says Solomon. What will come of what I do today and tomorrow?
What will come of my entire life? Why should I wish for anything or do anything? Faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life, whereby the individual does not destroy himself but lives. If a man lives, then he must have faith in something. If he did not believe that he had something he must live for, then he would not live. If he fails to see and understand the illusory nature of the finite, then he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, then he must believe in the infinite.
Without faith it is impossible to live What makes this book so powerful for me is the fact that I too am struggling with similar issues, questions and doubts that Tolstoy experienced and wrote about in this concise book. I can almost feel the agonizing pain he suffers as he questions life, its meaning and his own purpose in it. I suppose anyone who spends a great deal of time on introspection will sooner or later go through this crisis that he writes about here. The part that I appreciated the most for its profundity was his statemen What makes this book so powerful for me is the fact that I too am struggling with similar issues, questions and doubts that Tolstoy experienced and wrote about in this concise book.
The part that I appreciated the most for its profundity was his statements on rationality and faith. By his assertions reason is unable to link man to the infinite but can only link man to the finite. Faith is the bridge to the infinite from the finite. It is not something explained or even completely understood but merely expereinced or aligned with. I cannot elaborate on it any clearer than he has. It was something that simply struck me and resonated with me Feb 16, Zachary Brown rated it it was ok.
I cannot fathom why I find Tolstoy so contemptible all throughout this book. Perhaps I project anger onto his noncommital tendencies. The journey from rich asshole to faithful commonman is a tale as old as the good book itself. In fact, as a man who proclaimed to have judiciously surveyed the scriptures as a youth, I cannot believe he ignored the parallels of many parables to his own life much earlier.
Perhaps we wrestle with th I cannot fathom why I find Tolstoy so contemptible all throughout this book. Perhaps we wrestle with the abyss too frequently in these times, but I found this infuriating and repetitive in none of the good ways.
Finding myself at 38 in much the same crisis as Tolstoy found himself at 51, I decided to read this to see if the so-called Russian master could help save me from the terrifying meaninglessness of existence.
Or some such useless shit. He should have followed his heart and Finding myself at 38 in much the same crisis as Tolstoy found himself at 51, I decided to read this to see if the so-called Russian master could help save me from the terrifying meaninglessness of existence. Jul 17, Simona rated it it was amazing Shelves: review. I read somewhere that this is the most important book for understanding his works.
I agree with this part, but I don't completely agree with his thinking Slightly socially critical, moving, an extraordinary insight into his thoughts about depression, faith, life, family Does anyone know the answer? Readers also enjoyed. About Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina , are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction.
Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist.
Books by Leo Tolstoy. Related Articles. Philippa Gregory's Favorite Fictional Heroines. Philippa Gregory is best known for reimagining the lives of famous royal women in bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Read more Trivia About A Confession.
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