Leo Tolstoy's 186th birthday: Here's War and Peace in 186 words
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"What Is Art?" (Russian: Что такое искусство? [Chto takoye iskusstvo?]; 1897) is an essay by Leo Tolstoy in which he argues against numerous aesthetic theories which define art in terms of the good, truth, and especially beauty. In Tolstoy's opinion, art at the time was corrupt and decadent, and artists had been misled.
Well, for those who don't quite have time to get through all 561,093 words (Oxford World's Classics edition) of it,The Independent has produced its own marvellously abridged version.
So, on the 186th anniversary of Tolstoy's birth, here it is; in 186 words.
Petersburg, 1805: glitzy party at Anna Scherer’s. Napoleon is on the march. Kuragins? Flashy, dodgy crowd, especially minx Helene. Rostovs? Nice, penniless Moscow clan, with headstrong son, Nikolai.
Gauche, thoughtful Pierre Bezukhov: a count’s bastard, super-rich (when dad dies) but adrift. Unhappily wed Andrey Bolkonsky’s the real warrior toff, but those dark nights of the soul! Pierre marries flighty Helene.
Catastrophe! Rows, affair, duel, break-up (and Helene’s bad end) guaranteed. Andrey, Nikolai confront Napoleon at Austerlitz: Russian debacle. Widowed, Andrey falls for blooming Natasha, who’s ensnared by married cad Anatol Kuragin.
Do-gooding Pierre tries to save the world: fails.
1812: here’s fateful Napoleon again, making history (but what is history?), invading Russia. Bloody slaughter at Borodino; Russia resists. Andrey’s injured, Pierre a fugitive, then PoW. Rostovs flee as Moscow fall.
Amid the misery, Natasha grows up fast; Pierre too, helped by saintly peasant. Nikolai rescues Maria, the dying Andrey’s sister. Napoleon retreats. Hurrah!
Liberated, Pierre bonds with Natasha; Nikolai and Maria spliced. Poor cousin Sonya, Nikolai’s long-suffering intended! Two new families: happily ever after?
Almost but what does it all (time, history, freedom, destiny) really mean?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
托爾斯泰《藝術論》耿濟之譯，台北:晨鐘，1972/82，
此譯本可能有不少小錯譬如說 p.28/95 Schiller 雪萊/席勒
上周末，台北懷恩堂有一場關於此論文的解說會. 我缺席.
本書以"基督教藝術的任務就是實現人類友愛的連合."為結語.
The task for Christian art is to establish brotherly union among men.
What Is Art
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MS.,
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
AYLMER MAUDE
http://archive.org/stream/whatisart00tolsuoft/whatisart00tolsuoft_djvu.txt
英文本有附錄譯文為此本漢譯所略去
Tolstoy and His Problems - Page 38 - Google Books Result
books.google.com.tw/books?isbn=0766190013
Aylmer Maude - 2004 - Biography & Autobiography
and to-day we are told by many that art has nothing to do with morality — that art should ... I went one day, with a lady artist, to the Bodkin Art Gallery, in Moscow.