Lucerne (by Tolstoy)
"Lucerne: From The Recollections Of Prince Nekhliudof" ("Люцерн", ["Lyutsern"]) is a first person narrative, in the form of diary and based on personal experiences,[1] written by Leo Tolstoy in 1857 and translated into English in 1899 by Nathan Haskell Dole. It takes the form of a travel diary of someone in Lucerne, Switzerland.
History of the Work
Though classified by scholars as a short story, it is clear that this story is based on his personal experiences as noted in Tolstoy's Diaries, where Tolstoy also notes his travels through Zurich, Friedrichshafen, Stuttgart, Baden-Baden, Frankfurt, and Dresden.[2] According to historian Henri Troyat, during his time in Lucerne, Tolstoy gambled heavily, writing one night in his diary, "Lost every cent, you pig!"[3]
It was first published by Sovremennik ("The Contemporary") in 1857, after he first recited the work to the editor Nekrassof. His meeting with Nekrassof was in St. Petersburg, only a few weeks after his visiting Lucerne, and after getting it published, Tolstoy was back on the move toward Moscow.[4]
Literary Evaluation
One literary critic at the Yale Press has described the work as one of "pantheistic despair," which originated as a letter, and whose key moment is when Tolstoy watches a busker musician who is performing in the street being unrewarded by cruel tourists.[1]
See also
References
External Links
- Original Text
- Lucerne, from RevoltLib.com
- Lucerne, from Marxists.org
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