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The Sebastopol Sketches (Penguin Classics) |  | Author: Leo Tolstoy
Creator: David McDuff
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $12.00
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 859499
Media: Paperback
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0140444688
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.733
EAN: 9780140444681
ASIN: 0140444688
Publication Date: July 1, 1986
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Product Description
In the winter of 1854 Tolstoy, then an officer in the Russian army, arranged to be transferred to the besieged town of Sebastopol. Wishing to see at first hand the action of what would become known as the Crimean War, he was spurred on by a fierce patriotism, but also by an equally fierce desire to alert the authorities to appalling conditions in the army. The three "Sebastopol Sketches" - December', May' and August' - re-create what happened during different phases of the siege and its effect on the ordinary men around him. Writing with the truth as his utmost aim, he brought home to Russia's entire literate public the atrocities of war. In doing so, he realized his own vocation as a writer and established his literary reputation.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
A Vital Prologue to War and Peace May 29, 2007
R. A Forczyk (Laurel, MD USA)
For readers who enjoy War and Peace, The Sebastopol Sketches provides interesting insight not only in the military career of the author, Count Leo Tolstoy, but gives ample evidence of where he found the human experience to make such a classic novel. The book is set during the Crimean War in 1854-55, when Tolstoy was a 25-year-old artillery officer. A 31-page introduction by David McDuff lays out the background of Count Leo Toltsoy's life, his entrance into the Russian Army and the beginning of the Crimean War. This introduction is well-written and informative. The sketches are divided into three chapters.
December 1854
This opening section is the shortest, at only 16 pages, and covers a brief visit that Tolstoy made to Sebastopol in search of supplies for his battery on 5 December 1854. Tolstoy was a very keen observer of detail and although brief, this section acts as a "you-are-there" sort of tour of the city, from the harbor quays out to one of the bastions. Here, Tolstoy makes several interesting observations, such as noting the conversations of several gunners and remarking that, "a feeling...of savage hatred for the enemy, and a wish to have revenge on him, a feeling that lurks in the soul of every human being." Tolstoy was also impressed with the Russian character, claiming that, "the strength of the Russian people cannot possibly ever falter, no matter in what part of the world it may be put to the test." This is the kind of tough talk of a chauvinistic young officer in love with his country, but one wonders what Tolstoy thought of his earlier writing when he lived long enough to see Russian arms humiliated in Manchuria in 1905.
May 1855
In Tolstoy's second visit to Sebastopol, he initially focuses on a card game between several Russian officers (Tolstoy was an inveterate gambler, himself). This provides a useful literary device for sketching several "types" of Russian officers of the period. For example, one snobbish noble officer exclaims, "I really don't see how men in dirty underwear, suffering from lice and not even able to wash their hands, can possibly be capable of bravery." This is interesting commentary on how Russian upper-crust officers viewed the enlisted men who doing most of the fighting and dying (this theme appears again in War and Peace). Then, Tolstoi shifts as the card game ends and several officers make their way by a casualty dressing station, with them witnessing the suffering of these "dirty" enlisted soldiers. Later, Tolstoy notes the removal of dead Russian soldiers, and one of the characters says, "What a God-awful stink! That was all that remained of this man in the land of the living." Tolstoy makes interesting comment along the way, noting that "once fear has found its way into the soul, it does not readily give way to any other emotion." Indeed, there are no heroes in this account (Tolstoy says, my hero is truth), and Tolstoy describes junior Russian lieutenants as, "each is a little Napoleon, a little monster ready to start a conflict and kill a hundred or so men simply in order to obtain another star or an increase of a third in his pay." The second section is 50 pages long and begins a shift towards a more critical view of warfare.
August 1855
This 73-page section is told through the eyes a Lieutenant Kozeltsov, a seasoned officer who returns to Sebastopol after being wounded. Kozeltsov is a common-sense fellow, not high-born and is the kind of protagonist Tolstoy enjoys using as his narrative vehicle and to demonstrate the true Russian warrior (similar to the artillery captain in War and Peace). Sebastopol has changed greatly in the past eight months, with heavy damage from artillery fire and "all the pubs are closed ...its as cheerful as a morgue." This suggests a change from the carefree, adventurous view of war in the opening sections to a sober, war-is-hell-and-carnage' view. Kozeltsov is eventually sent out with his unit to one of the bastions under fire and we see that his relationship with his troops is quite good. He is up front with them in a bunker, not back in the rear playing cards and bad-mouthing them. Not all the officers up front are of the same caliber and Tolstoy notes those who display fake bravery, or stupid conceited bravery and those who are apathetic - sort of the bell curve of warfare. This section ends with a major French attack on the bastion, with dire consequences for the inhabitants (similar to the defense of the Raevsky Redoubt in War and Peace).
Penguin provides two maps in this edition, one of the Crimea and one of Sebastopol itself. Overall, the Sebastopol sketches is an excellent literary and historical effort and clearly written by someone who has experienced both the giddy exuberance and horror of war firsthand.
Everyone is spelling the name of the city wrong! January 15, 2005
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
It is great that so many people are interested in the history of this city, but you are all spelling it wrong! The correct spelling is "Sevastopol", and "Sebastopol" is just a crazy American adaptation of it. The actual word is pronounced with a soft "L".
P.S. This is an AMAZING city to visit! I went there the summer before last, and had a wonderful time.
[...]
Tolstoy at War June 21, 2001
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The young Tolstoy took part in the defence of Sebastopol (1854-55) during the Crimean War, and these sketches (parts of which were written under fire) record his impressions of the drama and tumult of war. The first sketch, "Sebastopol in December" was published anonymously and attracted the attention of Tsar Alexander II and Turgenev. It is a short, emotionally patriotic piece recording the author's empathetic reaction to the bravery of the ordinary soldiers and sailors during the siege. "Sebastopol in May" is more ambitious and more ambiguous, recording the experiences of a group of Russian officers during an attack by the Allies on the 4th bastion of the defences, a position dreaded by everyone on the Russian side. There are no heroes in this piece, says Tolstoy, except "truth," as he depicts flawed human beings struggle to reconcile their petty vanities with the "higher" duties that have brought them to that terrible place. The final sketch, "Sebastopol in August," records the fall of Sebastopol through the eyes of the doomed Kozeltsov brothers and features some of the finest battle descriptions I have ever read. Tolstoy published it openly under his own name, and it seems to have helped him finally to choose literature rather than the army for his future career. "The Sebastopol Sketches" is a marvellous book not only for its own merits but also for the insight it gives us into a literary master trying out his wings for the first time.
a witness to many atrocities. October 31, 2000
Eduardo J. Tellez A (Miami, Florida)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
In 1855, Tolstoy was a soldier in the Crimean War and a witness to many atrocities. One that would stay with him was the image of two children killed in a shelling. His experiences during the war made up the contents of his work The Sebastopol Sketches, many of which he drafted on the battlefield.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
The Beginnings of a Great Writer July 20, 2000
Samuel W. Harnish, Jr. (Oak Park, Illinois USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a first work (one of the first), these sketches bear the identifying marks of a genius in the beginning of his career.What better place to start, and what more challenging scene, than the defeat of the Russians by the British and French at Sevestopol during the same war that brought us "The Charge of the light Brigade" from the other side. This is obviously written by a man who had been in War, and had experiences the combination of fear, duty, and bravery that it takes to survive. The world has suffered through several more senseless wars since then, but few stories capture the truth of it all better than these.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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