Childhood (novel)
| Childhood | |
|---|---|
 Tolstoy and his grandchildren, c. 1909 |
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| Author(s) | Leo Tolstoy |
| Original title | Детство (Detstvo) |
| Translator | Dora O'Brien (2010) |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Publisher | Sovremennik |
| Publication date | 1852 |
| Pages | 358 p. (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-1-84749-142-8 |
| Followed by | Boyhood |
Childhood (Russian: Детство, Detstvo) is the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary.[1]
It is the first in a series of three novels and is followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature.
Childhood is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Nikolenka, and one of the books in Russian writing to explore an expressionistic style, mixing fact, fiction and emotions to render the moods and reactions of the narrator.
[edit] Excerpt
"Will the freshness, lightheartedness, the need for love, and strength of faith which you have in childhood ever return? What better time than when the two best virtues -- innocent joy and the boundless desire for love -- were the only motives in life?"[2]
[edit] References
- ^ O'Brien, Dora. Trans. Dora O'Brien (2010). "Translator's Note" in Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. London: Penguin Books. p. 358. ISBN 978-1-84749-142-8.
- ^ Original Translation of Вернутся ли когда-нибудь та свежесть, беззаботность, потребность любви и сила веры, которыми обладаешь в детстве? Какое время может быть лучше того, когда две лучшие добродетели — невинная веселость и беспредельная потребность любви — были единственными побуждениями в жизни? from Chapter XV of Детство
[edit] External links
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Childhood at Project Gutenberg (transl. by C.J. Hogarth)
- Full text of Childhood in the original Russian
- Audiobook of Childhood in the original Russian
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