The Cossacks

De: Leo Tolstoy

Narrado por: David Thorn

Olenin, a young nobleman who is disenchanted with city life, finds himself caught up in the wild beauty of the Caucasus and the simplicity of its people.

In the setting of what is present-day Kazakhstan, Tolstoy examines two psychological problems. The first dilemma is that of a young man who desires both fulfilling love and a place as a respected member of society. The other is the difficulty of a primitive society to accept domination by a higher culture that has no understanding of the traditions it asks its colonists to cast aside.

One of Tolstoy's lesser-known novels, The Cossacks is one of the finest pictures of Cossack society in all of Russian literature.

Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude.

Published by arrangement with Alcazar AudioWorks; (P)2006 Alcazar AudioWorks

Quick way to try Tolstoy

I can't agree with Chris above. Somebody has to translate Tolstoy into English or most of us in the US couldn't read his books. For example, I loved the Audible version of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" but had a hard time following "The Brothers Karamazov." A professor friend of mine read a different translation and it's one of his favorites.

This book could be a quick way to see if you want to do "War and Peace".

The Cockney Cossacks.

Why Blackstone Audiobooks' reader felt the need to anglicanize this title, employing ridiculous British accents to define the relative social classes of its Russian characters, is beyond this listener's understanding. Add to that the nauseating synthesizer interstitial music which separates the chapters and you end up with a patronizing Mary Poppins-esque Tolstoy indeed. Do not waste your money on this recording unless such esthetic "choices" appeal to you.