Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 at Yasnaya Polyana, in the Tula
province, and educated privately. He studied Oriental languages and
law at the University of Kazan, then led a life of pleasure until
1851 when he joined an artillery regiment in the Caucasus. He took
part in the Crimean War and after the defence of Sebastopol he
wrote The Sebastopol Sketches (1855-56), which established his
reputation. After a period in St Petersburg and abroad, he married
Sofya Andreyevna Behrs in 1862. The next fifteen years was a period
of great happiness; they had thirteen children, and Tolstoy managed
his vast estates in the Volga Steppes, continued his educational
projects, cared for his peasants and wrote War and Peace (1869) and
Anna Karenina (1877). A Confession (1879-82) marked a spiritual
crisis in his life, and in 1901 he was excommunicated by the
Russian Holy Synod. He died in 1910, in the course of a dramatic
flight from home, at the small railway station of Astapovo.
Judson Rosengrant has translated and edited a wide range of Russian
literature and historiography, including works by Olesha, Lydia
Ginzburg, Iskander, Limonov and Radzinsky. He has taught Russian
language, literature and culture at the University of Southern
California, Indiana University and Reed College in the United
States, and translation theory and practice at St Petersburg State
University in Russia.
Tolstoy's first published work, Childhood, is unquestionably one of
his most engaging and profound narratives, and he followed it in
short order with the other two parts of the trilogy. We have
several competent English translations, but none of them comes
close to matching Judson Rosengrant's in capturing the young
writer's astonishing precision, stylistic variety, and range of
moods [...] The introduction breaks new critical ground in
presenting Tolstoy's language and thought. The deft, unpretentious
annotations are the most thorough in any English-language edition.
I cannot think of a better place to start for new readers of
Tolstoy, or a more insightful, enjoyable refresher for experienced
Tolstoyans
*William Mills Todd III, Harvard University*
This superb new translation of the early trilogy, intelligently
introduced, is a miracle of persuasive storytelling
*Caryl Emerson, Princeton University*
Judson Rosengrant's stunning new translation of Leo Tolstoy's first
literary masterpiece reveals the Russian novelist's talent in all
its startling and visionary originality [...] Rosengrant's
Childhood, Boyhood, Youth is an example of the art of translation
at its finest, combining critical acumen, a specialist's
understanding of Tolstoy's art, and a profound sympathy with the
original's subtle narrative 'moods,' shifting melodies of language,
and deployment of stylistic registers. Thanks to Rosengrant's
passionate respect for the integrity of the text and the power of
the precisely chosen word to illuminate experience, Tolstoy has
found an English voice worthy of his own.
*Lena M Lencek, Reed College*
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