The Cossacks

Leo Tolstoy's semi-biographical short novel is absolutely brilliant. The creation of identity, the lustre for a better world from this aristocratic dystopia is one to be admired. YES, I'm still on the Russian Fiction binge. There's a certain amount of dread when reading this novel as Tolstoy can get real deep and philosophical from time to time, but I have to say, this one is amazing. It's light for Tolstoy and weens itself away from political allegory - but retains its dark spearing sensation throughout. 

Again - here comes the Russian Fiction binge post. 

Characters:

My favourite character was Olenin. He was dark and charismatic a la Byronic Hero - but also had a twisted morality about him. Was he doing good things for his own self-gratifiction or was he just a kind person? Neither, he's somewhat kind and somewhat harsh - which I believe is meant to sustain this hyper-human image of him. A brilliant writing trait I believe is one of Tolstoy's many strengths. 

Themes:

I love the theme of darkness and uncertainty. Something that resides in Tolstoy's fiction often is the sense of uncertainty from the philosophical darkness - and well, it's done really well here. The fact that it's shorter sort of compresses the darkness and uncertainty together and makes it even more fluid. I loved it. 

Storyline:

I don't know about the storyline. I liked it, but it wasn't as compelling as Tolstoy's fiction normally is and I blame this on the fact that it was very short. I mean it was VERY short. Shorter than me even. I think the compression of the book was good for the themes but not so much for the story - something I felt could have been more adjusted for reader experience. But, I also figure that Tolstoy knows a lot more about this than I do - even if he is dead, he still knows more than me about this stuff. 

Verdict:

I give this book 8/9

100% for characters: Tolstoy's characters are always damaged and enthralling. Dark, deceptive, cunning, ironic and tragic in their own right. 

100% for themes: Tolstoy has proved to be one of the greats of not only Russian fiction, but a superpower of darkness and ambiguity. 

2/3 for storyline: Yes, I gave it two. Don't hate me, please.