The Sebastopol Sketches (Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

"He truly would have become a hero, if from P. he had gotten straight onto the bastions, but now he needed to go through a great deal of moral tribulations in order to mould into that calm, patient man, in toil and danger, the kind of man we are used to seeing in a Russian officer. But it was already too hard to revive enthusiasm in him." (Sevastopol in August 1855, Chapter 5, last paragraph")

Tolstoy shows here that eventually a lot of Russian officers get used to the danger and nearness of death and consequently become more at peace with themselves and vain no more. So there was objectivity in his reasoning! There was another episode in "Sevastopol in May 1855" about a naval officer who had gone through the same stages to become that "calm, patient" type.

I regard "Sevastopol" as a much better piece of prose than "Childhood, Boyhood and Youth", esp. "May" and "August". The descriptions are sometimes so realistic and characters so alive that one feels his/her personal involvement, you feel like "you're there"! The ugliness of war becomes vividly indelible, our moral obligation for peace and Christian love is put forth with as the only humanly acceptable option and as the previous reviewer noticed, you can see one of the greatest novelists ever, emerging on the literary field.

I really think that "Sevastopol" as well as a number of his other stories about war (The Invaders", "Cutting of the Forest", etc.) were a preparation for his giant "War and Peace". As any talented writer, or artist, rather, Tolstoy grew as he created and so he could not stop until he could fully realize himself and create something equal to his stature, something as beautiful and live as life itself, as opposed to something ugly and terrifying as war and death. All that was accomplished in "War and Peace", so if you like "Sevastopol" and the like, welcome to the world of "War and Peace": you will be fully gratified!

PS By the way, I read "Sevastopol" in Russian, and it was the uncensored (!) version. See, what happened was that in 1855-56 the censors cut out a great deal of the most poignant, critical text, without which the work became a literary cripple. Only years after that was it restored to its original condition. This "Penguin" edition seems to be not only very informative about the background of the work, but the translation is based on the CORRECT original version, and, of course, David McDuff did a wonderful translation job. "Penguin" is not known for durability of its copies, but in this case I highly recommend this particular translation. The difference between the correct and censored versions is outrageous! For example, in "Sevastopol in August" (see "Penguin/David McDuff" version), there is chapter 5 about a cowardly officer from P. In the other translations it is completely cut out! Of course, it is not the translators' fault. I could go on and on about it, but it is not necessary. I just want you to read the right stuff:)

The book is divide in three short stories stem from Tolstoy's military experience during the Crimean War: "Sebastopol in December," "Sebastopol in May," and "Sebastopol in August 1855."

During this time, the young Tolstoy gave himself over to the decadent life that was common for men of his class, catching a venereal disease as well as drinking heavily and sustaining enormous gambling debts which included the loss of some of his prized property at Yasnaya.

I really enjoy reading this book,Tolstoy's reactions to the fighting at Sebastopol are really crude, if you are interesting in The Crimean War but from the Russian side you may find what you are looking for in this great book