Former diplomat Fletcher Burton shows Tolstoy’s brilliance in depicting diplomats and diplomacy in War in Peace.
Tag Archives: War and Peace
An Iranian Hostage Recalls Tolstoy
In which one of the 1980 Iranian hostages explains why “War and Peace” meant so much to him at the time.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Emma, George Eliot, Homer, Iliad, Iranian hostage crisis, Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Life and Fate, Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice, Vasily Grossman Comments closed
Ukraine: What Would Leo and Fyodor Do?
Dostoevsky and Tolstoy’s novels work as indictments of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Anna Karenina, Brothers Karamazov, Child Abuse, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hadji Murat, Leo Tolstoy, Resurrection, Russian Invasion of Ukraine, sadism, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
The Very Model of a Modern Russian General
Tweeters have been busy finding literary allusions to capture the incompetence of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Gilbert and Sullivan, Importance of Being Earnest, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, Pirates of Penzance, Ukraine invasion, William S. Gilbert Comments closed
Putin Quoting Tolstoy? Puleeze!
Putin claimed to quote Tolstoy but didn’t in his meeting with Biden. What he says is reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit, however.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Flannery O'Connor, Good Man Is Hard to Find, Joe Biden, Leo Tolstoy, Soul, Vladimir Putin Comments closed
Is GOP a Death Cult? Ask Tolstoy
Has the GOP become a death cult. Tolstoy’s description of suicidal behavior from Napoleon’s soldiers suggests yes.
Tolstoy on Suicidal Cult Followers
Why do so many Trump supporters deliberately court coronavirus? Why do Napoleon’s soldiers in “War and Peace” throw themselves into a river to impress him.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged coronavirus protests, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Gov. Whitmer, Leo Tolstoy, settle in place orders Comments closed
H. W. Bush’s “War and Peace” Lessons
“War and Peace” was the late H. W. Bush’s favorite novel. Perhaps he imitated Gen. Kutuzov by withdrawing from Iraq after winning.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Iraq War, Leo Tolstoy, Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein Comments closed
Read to Resist: An Introduction
Thursday I share today the introduction to my upcoming book, which is still in draft form and whose title I keep changing. Latest title: Read to Resist: Classic Lit Provides Tools for Battling Trump and Trumpism. I’m still not entirely satisfied with that and so will keep tinkering. In any event, here’s my first attempt […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alexander Pope, Beowulf, Donald Trump, Dunciad, Go Set a Watchman, H. G. Wells, Harper Lee, Invisible Man, John Milton, Leo Tolstoy, Othello, Paradise Lost, To Kill a Mockingbird, Trump resistance, William Shakespeare Comments closed
