Where Love Is, There God Is Also

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman

Length: 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Leo Tolstoy is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all novelists for such works as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He also wrote a number of outstanding short stories. This is one of his best.

Public Domain (P)1986 Jimcin Recordings

this book will bless your life and give you Direct

when problems come do for others and your problems will disappear this book and Leo Tolstoy is a blessing

Non-Religious Listeners, Beware

This story is an extremely simple Christian fable: a man who's had a hard life has fallen into depression. He starts to read the New Testament, becomes calm and content, and stops drinking. He then applies the teachings of the gospel and become blissful. That's basically it. Nothing wrong with it if you're religious, I suppose, but as literary fiction I found it, well, embarrassing. I kept waiting for some sort of plot development or non-trivial (to my taste, anyway) insight, but there was nothing. It's hard to believe that this is the same Tolstoy who wrote War and Peace or The Death of Ivan Ilyich. I personally have nothing against stories with a religious message in them -- I loved Ivan Ilyich, for example, or G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday -- but only if they have some literary quality as "compensation".

As for the narrator: I thought he was perfectly fine. True, he has a noticeable Boston accent, but personally I don't mind it -- after all, Tolstoy wrote in Russian, and a British or "General American" accent would be just as foreign to the piece.

The bottom line: Unless you're looking for an inspirational Christian fable, I wouldn't bother with this audiobook.

Flip over cassette?

Overall, I was curious about Tolstoy. This is the first of his works I listened to. The narration was not my favorite and I wonder if this is what other Tolstoy works are like. It was okay. The odd thing though is 90% of the way through the story the narrators suggests you flip the cassette to hear the rest of the story which seems very odd in the middle of an audible book.

Good but Predictable Tolstoy Short Story

This is a good story but is a bit predictable, simple, and preachy. The narration is solid and pleasant. This is far from a great short story, but is still worth the short time it takes and the one buck cost (don’t use a full credit).

Story which influenced Mahatma Gandhi

Perhaps, this is the story which influenced Mahatma Gandhiji most. In his autobiography, he has said that Tolstoy's writing had profound effect on his life.

Where love is, there God is also!

How very true! How very beautiful! I shall continue reading Tolstoy for his writing brings me closer to the heartof God ... to LOVE!

Thought provoking

Excellent, thought provoking story. Very well read, too.

Timeless Story of Generous Spirituality

This is the story of an aging cobbler bereft of his own family, who finds solace taking care of the poor and desperate people who pass by his little shop. It is a morality tale that applies to any time or place where me-first obsessions overrule the better angels of human nature. Advanced apologies if the story seems too religious for some secular readers. If Tolstoy was here, he would apologize too. Well, actually he wouldn't. He had the courage of his convictions.

An OK translation + an OK audiobook = MEH.

The translation was OK. The audiobook was OK. Not my favorite Tolstoy piece. Completely forgetable all in all.

Tops on my list

I loved it so much I would like to memorize it to tell my grandchildren.
I can't fault it in any way.