Polikúshka (novella)

Polikúshka: The Lot of a Wicked Court Servant ("Поликушка") is a novella by Leo Tolstoy written in 1860[1] and first published in 1862. According to Tolstoy's translator, Aylmer Maude, it is the story of a serf who loses some money that belongs to his mistress before hanging himself.[2]

Influence

According to literary critic and translator Leo Wiener, the book (along with The Cossacks) "evoked a mass of very favourable criticism," even receiving compliments from Ivan Turgenev, who traditionally opposed Tolstoy's works.[3] Oscar Wilde purchased a copy, along with The Pursuit of Happiness, and commented that Tolstoy can "crowd without overcrowding, the great canvas on which he works."[4]

In 1922, it was made into a Soviet film: Polikushka.

See also

References
  1. Leo Tolstoy (1905). Leo Weiner (ed.). The Complete Works of Count Tolstóy: Latest works. Life. General index. Bibliography. p. 313.
  2. Aylmer Maude (1930). The Life of Tolstóy. Oxford University Press, H. Milford. p. 294.
  3. Leo Tolstoy (1905). "Lev N. Tolstoy: An Analysis of His Life and Works by the Translator; Chapter 4". In Leo Weiner (ed.). The Complete Works. Vol. 24. p. 254.
  4. Thomas Wright (2009). Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde. Henry Holt and Company. p. 127. ISBN 9780805089936.


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