A simple, ordinary and most terrible life

In recognition of the upcoming 100th anniversary of author Leo Tolstoy’s death, this blog is episodically reprinting excerpts from his works over the next few weeks.

On Nov. 20, 1910, Tolstoy died in a western Russian train station at age 82. The author of masterpieces War and Piece, Anna Karenina and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, among other fine works, Tolstoy has been called by many the greatest writer of all time.

“His descriptions – of battlefields or mushroom-picking or meals – are full of exactly the right amount of idiosyncrasy and detail. He gives us more than enough information and still leaves space for the reader’s imagination,” author A.S. Byatt says of Tolstoy.