Before They Were Titans Essays on the Early Works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy [Paperback]

Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are the titans of Russian literature. As mature artists, they led very different lives and wrote vastly different works, but their early lives and writings display provocative kinships, while also indicating the divergent paths the two authors would take en route to literary greatness. The ten new critical essays here, written by leading specialists in nineteenth-century, Russian literature, give fresh, sophisticated readings to works from the first decade of the literary life of each Russian authorfor Dostoevsky, the 1840s; for Tolstoy, the 1850s. Collectively, these essays yield composite portraits of these two artists as young men finding their literary way. At the same time, they show how the early works merit appreciation for themselves, before their authors were Titans.This collection of essays by some of the most accomplished scholars, themselves titans, in the field of Slavic literary studies brings to bear their extensive knowledge and profound insight on the nascent genius of the young Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The collection is bookended by Elizabeth Cheresh Allens introductory essay and by Caryl Emersons Afterword On the Wondrous Thickness of First Things. These orient and lend coherence to a collection that is in fact very diverse in form and thickness: while some of the pieces are akin to pensees, others are full-fledged scholarly articles with significant research behind them. In short, no standard measure can be applied; each essay is unique in its aims, scope, and approach.The collective format works well forBefore They Were Titans, allowing for the inclusion of disparate critical voices and approaches. The essays' diversity in this regard is a strength of the volume and the resulting collection is a pleasure to read ... Thoughtfully selected, arranged and composed, these fresh readings of texrs showcase the vibrant experimentation and impressive literary scope of the young Dostoevsky and Tolstoy on their own tlãÜ