Table of contents:

Tolstoy's reading list: books that impress at different ages
Tolstoy's reading list: books that impress at different ages
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In one of his letters, Lev Tolstoy compiled a list of books that greatly impressed him in different years. Lifehacker tells what the classic of world literature was inspired by.

Tolstoy's reading list: books that impress at different ages
Tolstoy's reading list: books that impress at different ages

In 1891, the Pall Mall newspaper published an article entitled “One Hundred Great Books,” and publisher Lederle wanted to compile a similar list for his readers. Leo Tolstoy was asked to write the first article. But the list of Pall Mall seemed illogical to the writer and did not like it at all. The very idea of making lists of the best books, according to Tolstoy, is an unrealizable undertaking. But you can talk about books that greatly influenced you yourself.

Unfortunately, only a draft version of Tolstoy's notes has survived. He added to the list gradually, but the manuscript of the final text was lost. Although, even from the unfinished version, one can get an idea of which books the writer was interested in in different years.

Childhood up to 14 years

1. The story of Joseph from the Bible (buy at Litres.ru →).

2. Tales from the "Book of a Thousand and One Nights": "40 Thieves", "Prince Kamaralzaman" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →)

3. Anthony Pogorelsky "Black Chicken, or Underground Dwellers" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

4. Russian epics: Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich. Folk tales (buy on Litres.ru →).

5. Lyrics by Alexander Pushkin: "Napoleon" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

From 14 to 20 years old

6 … The Gospel of Matthew: Sermon on the Mount (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

7. Laurence Stern, “A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy” (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

8. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confession (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

9. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Emile, or On Education” (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

10. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, New Eloise (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

11. Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

12. Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

13. Nikolai Gogol, "The Overcoat", "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich", "Nevsky Prospect" (buy on Litres.ru →, buy on Amazon.com →).

14. Nikolay Gogol, Viy (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

15. Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

16. Ivan Turgenev, "Notes of a Hunter" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

17. Alexander Druzhinin, Polinka Sachs (buy at Litres.ru →).

18. Dmitry Grigorovich, Anton-Goremyka (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

19. Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

20. Mikhail Lermontov, "A Hero of Our Time", "Taman" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

21. William Prescott, The Conquest of Mexico (buy from Amazon.com →).

From 20 to 35 years old

22. Johann Goethe, Hermann and Dorothea (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

23. Victor Hugo, Notre Dame Cathedral (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

24. Poems by Fyodor Tyutchev (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

25. Poems by Alexey Koltsov (buy on Amazon.com →).

26. Homer, Odyssey, Iliad (read in Russian) (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

27. Poems of Afanasy Fet (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

28. Plato, Phaedo, Feast (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

35 to 50 years old

29. Homer, Odyssey, Iliad (read in Greek).

30. Epics.

31. Xenophon, Anabasis (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

32. Victor Hugo, Les Miserables (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

33. Ellen Wood, novels (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

34. George Eliot, novels (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

35. Anthony Trollope, novels (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

50 to 63 years old

36. Gospel (read in Greek).

37. The Book of Genesis (read in Hebrew) (buy at Litres.ru →).

38. Henry George, Progress and Poverty (buy from Amazon.com →).

39. Theodore Parker, “Researching Questions Relating to Religion” (buy from Amazon.com →).

40. Frederick Robertson, Sermons (buy on Amazon.com →).

41. Ludwig Feuerbach, "The Essence of Christianity" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

42. Blaise Pascal, "Thoughts" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

43. Epictetus (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

44. Confucius and Mencius (buy on Litres.ru →).

45. Lalitavistara (buy on Amazon.com →).

46. Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching" (buy at Litres.ru →, buy at Amazon.com →).

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