Исповедь = Meine Beichte = A confession and other religious writings, Leo Tolstoy Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. By the time he was fifty, Tolstoy had already written the novels that would assure him of literary immortality; he had a wife, a large estate and numerous children; he was "a happy man" and in good health - yet life had lost its meaning. In this poignant confes...

”for in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases his knowledge increases his sorrow”.“My life came to a standstill. I could breathe, eat, drink, and sleep, and I could not help doing these things; but there was no life, for there were no wishes the fulfillment of which I could consider reasonable. I satisfied my desire or not, nothing would come of it.I could not even wish to know the truth, for I guessed of what it consisted. The truth was that life is meaningless.”“I should long ago ha...

3.5What I really learned from reading this is that Tolstoy and I would have really enjoyed each other's company.

At first glance, you would probably scoff at this typical account of a non-believer who finds his way back to God, something I'm sure everyone has been exposed to during their excruciating years on the desks of Jesuit classrooms. But you would find yourself intrigued and disconcerted when the author is none other than the Russian giant, Leo Tolstoy.And really, who am I to give a mediocre rating to a book by such an erudite writer and ingenious thinker? It is the man whose anarcho-pacifism inspir...

in his 50's, a severely panicked and depressed tolstoy wished for the strength to kill himself, but couldn't do it. instead he wrote this book detailing his discovery that life is 'evil and meaningless'. the first half is simply astonishing: i can't recall reading a more honest description of a life lived under the shadow of the inevitability of death; much less from a man who was, at the time, one of the world's most famous people. tolstoy's Confession is staggering in its simplicity, which is

Tolstoi’s struggle with the meaning of life, and his conclusion: it’s complicatedAn interesting pendant to Anna Karenina; you recognize a lot of Ljevin, Vronski and even Anna in Leo Tolstoy his tale about his life and spiritual awakening. General a.k.a. what's the meaning of life?I vividly remember a discussion with some friends during a dinner party, where the topic was the meaning of life. Despite it's importance, this proved a hard question, I think "living a good life" came around but the an...

It shouldn't surprise you when it happens, but it always does: you read someone's thoughts from over a hundred years ago and they mirror yours, exactly, in content if not in eloquence. Tolstoy's struggle extrating a faith he needs from a doctrine he abhors is a nearly universal intellectual journey. The book is most valuable for two reasons: it explains how the irrational conclusions of fate actually fit into a system of reason, by changing the expectations of reason, and it details how denomina...

An interesting little book. Unhappy with just being brilliant, famous and wealthy the author narrates the story of his personal quest to find the truth about existence: the point to being alive, and the correct way to happiness. First he challenges science and philosophy for answers. Then he contemplates suicide. Then he turns to the simplicity of the animals as he calls them, the peasants in the fields, and turns back to God and the church of his childhood. But once there he must challenge the

Love Tolstoy but judging by this book Tolstoy would have made a horrible dinner companion (or be really really bad at small talk)."The fish is really good" Tolstoy: "It is no good deceiving oneself. It is all vanity." "So how was your day"Tolstoy: "Why does everything exist that exists, and why do I exist? Because it exists" "The weather is pretty nice today"Tolstoy: "Surely that question has been asked since man began" Overall good book, it has provided me with enough "DEEP" one liners that I c...

When Tolstoy had a Massive Enlightenment experience in mid age, his illusions were irreparably shattered.He saw clearly now that he had goofed up - big time - with War and Peace and Anna Karenina, the very blockbusters that had made him a worldwide household name.Like Sartre, the irruption of the Absurd had set his world - and his Very Fame - on its head. And Tolstoy knew he had had it all wrong.For his vision of a happy family was based on a petit bourgeois sham, as Sartre saw. Instead of all h...

I'm not quite sure how to review this nakedly honest disclosure of the mid-life spiritual crisis of one of the greatest literary giants. This short work really left me stunned, and it took some time to quiet my mind enough to pen my thoughts. In the first part of the story, Tolstoy explains his frustration (which ultimately shapes into depression) over not understanding the meaning of life. He resorts to science, philosophy, metaphysics, and religious practices to learn the true meaning of life....

Much like Augustine's Confessions, this spiritual autobiography of the great Russian writer recounts the emptiness of the quite successful life he led until an existential crisis in late middle age compels him to find an answer to what he calls 'the problem of life'.Reason leads him to the conclusion that there is, and can be, no meaning to life and that, of possible responses to that truth, suicide is the only logical choice. He notices that he takes the "weaker" choice of continuing to live in...

I have been an avowed atheist for two years. I had mustered up enough courage to abandon the Christian life after a long battle of shattering the doubts. I was not able to do so because of the fear instilled in me that I would go to hell or not be saved from the Judgment Day. At that time, I was still an utter simpleton believing in something beyond logic. After reading some said heretical books such as of Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion ( 5 stars), Sam Harris’ A Letter to a Nation ( 5 stars ) and...

This is Tolstoy's desperate middle age search for the meaning of life. This is not just any search (this is Tolstoy we're talking about here), but an expansive, in-depth search of the mind. Despite this, he breaks it all down in simple terms and threads out the unnecessary, creating a short work in which each page is important, but also reads easy (Leo is a king of deduction). Tolstoy's crisis was major. He had come to the realization that life no longer had meaning. Writing popular, award winni...

I very much enjoyed this short novel that deals with life's struggles as it pertains with ones beliefs. Since I very much enjoy books on religion, spirituality and God, this book hit all the right buttons and then some.I could definitely feel Tolstoy's anguish and agony in trying to figure out the meaning of life. I feel we've all been there at some point in our life.This book probably isn't for everyone but, if you enjoy Tolstoy, then I encourage you to read this short novel and embrace his wor...

9.5/10.This work is absolutely essential for anyone who has thought about the fallibility of reason in relation to finding the purpose of (your) human life. How can your life have purpose when all of your family members, all of your friends, all of your writings, all of your physical makings (whether temples, skyscrapers, tables, or code) will turn into dust — all will be forgotten. How can anything you do have meaning, knowing that it will all be gone? Your pleasures — they will cease. Nothing

Anna Karenina being the work that inspired me to start writing, I unconsciously developed a tendency to write stories similar to it.So I realize, me like Tolstoy in “Confession”, the 'positive', anti-existentialist solution that we offer at the end of the story, we ourselves as authors do not believe in this solution; it does not satisfy us in the long term, yet, we perform tricks of magic and dishonesty just to end the story on a touch of joy.What meaning is there in life which is not destroyed...

This book is not for religious persons only. As an Atheist I was quite touched by Tolstoy's struggle with the absurdity of life and the inevitability of death. Tolstoy looks for answers to life's biggest question "Why?" in the fields of science and philosophy but he is dissatisfied. Reason cannot explain the absurdity of life. Because of this, Tolstoy turns his attention towards faith. I was quite impressed by the hardships he suffered in order to reach a truth that has meaning to him. All those...

One of the most terrific account I have ever read. This confession left me completely awestruck. Don't know what to say....Great people Great courage and Great sayings....."I did not myself know what I wanted: I feared life, desired to escape from it, yet still hoped something of it"."I began to understand that in the replies given by faith is stored up the deepest human wisdom and that I had no right to deny them on the ground of reason, and that those answers are the only ones which reply to l...

I read this because my friend Jenn said she was reading it. Last year I read Anna Karenina (which I loved) and decades ago I had read War and Peace and some of his terrific stories such as "The Death of Ivan Ilych", but I had never read this piece. I think of myself as an agnostic, brought up in a conservative Dutch Calvinist religion, and once taught Bible in a Christian school, so I am familiar with and have read theology and am always exploring spiritual issues in my reading, one way or the o...