Hadji Murád by Leo Tolstoy (best mobile ebook reader .txt) 📕
Description
In this short novel, Tolstoy fictionalizes the final days of Hadji Murád, a legendary Avar separatist who fought against, and later with, Russia, as the Russian Empire was struggling to annex Chechnya and the surrounding land in the late 1840s.
The novel opens with the narrator finding a thistle crushed in a blooming field, which reminds him of Hadji Murád and his tragic tale. As the narrator recounts the story, the reader is quickly thrust into the rich, colorful history of the Caucuses, and its people’s fight against Russian imperialism.
Hadji Murád is portrayed as a legendary and imposing, yet friendly and approachable figure. Despite his reputation, it seems that his best days are behind him; as the novel opens, Murád is fleeing Shamil, a powerful imam who has captured Murád’s family. Murád finds himself thrust between the invading Russians on one side, and Shamil’s vengeance on the other.
As Murád and his tiny but loyal group of warriors try to forge alliances in their attempt to rescue Murád’s family, they quickly find themselves politically outclassed. The Russians are Murád’s enemies, yet only they can help him in his struggle against Shamil; and after years of losses incurred by Murád’s guerrilla tactics, the Russians would like his help but cannot trust him. Shamil, on the other hand, is a deep link to the region’s complex web of tribal blood feuds, vengeances, reprisals, and quarrels over honor. He’s one of the few powers left standing between the Russians and their control of the Caucuses, but Murád, having crossed him, can’t rescue his family from Shamil’s clutches without the help of the Russians.
Murád’s impossible position, the contradiction between his legendary past and his limping, dignified, and ultimately powerless present, and the struggle against a mighty empire by a people torn by internecine conflict, form the major thematic threads of the novel.
The novel was one of the last that Tolstoy finished before his death, and was only published posthumously in 1912. Tolstoy himself served in the Crimean War, and the war scenes portrayed in the novel echo his personal experiences. As the story progresses, Tolstoy characterizes various real-life historical personalities besides Hadji Murád and Shamil, including Emperor Nicholas I, Mikhail Loris-Melikov, and Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, making this a fascinating piece of historical fiction. Despite this being such a late entry in Tolstoy’s corpus, it has been highly praised by critics both contemporary and modern, with the famous critic Harold Bloom going so far as to say that Hadji Murád is “my personal touchstone for the sublime of prose fiction, to me the best story in the world, or at least the best I have ever read.”
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- Author: Leo Tolstoy
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“Well now! You’re going to tell me what it is.”
“But, my dear …”
“Don’t ‘my dear’ me! It was an emissary, wasn’t it?”
“Supposing it was, still I must not tell you.”
“You must not? Well then, I will tell you!”
“You?” ↩
Among the Chechens, a dzhigít is the same as a brave among the Indians, but the word is inseparably connected with the idea of skillful horsemanship. —A. M. ↩
“It is a thing of value.” ↩
“We must find an opportunity to make him a present.” ↩
An Oriental dish, prepared with rice and mutton, or chicken. ↩
“This is the opportunity! Give him the watch.” ↩
“You would do much better to remain at home … this is my business, and not yours.” ↩
“You cannot prevent my going to see the general’s wife!” ↩
A popular expression, meaning that the sender of the message is already dead. —A. M. ↩
A town thirty miles southwest of Smolensk, at which, in November 1812, the rearguard of Napoleon’s army was defeated during the retreat from Moscow. It is mentioned in War and Peace. —A. M. ↩
“Excellent, my dear!” ↩
“Simon has had good luck.” ↩
“How horrible!” ↩
“War is war.” ↩
“All this is thanks to you!” ↩
“He has had some unpleasantness with the commandant of the place. Simon was in the wrong.” ↩
Count Michael Tariélovich Lóris-Mélikov, who aftewards became Minister of the Interior and framed the Liberal ukase which was signed by Alexander II the day that he was assassinated. —A. M. ↩
Khansha: Khan’s wife. ↩
Sharovdry: Loose Turkish trousers. ↩
Lepéshki: A kind of flat cake. ↩
The military conspirators who tried to secure a constitution for Russia in 1825, on the accession of Nicholas I. —A. M. ↩
“His majesty has just returned.” ↩
“There’s someone there!” ↩
Widow of Nicholas’s brother Michael; a clever, well-educated woman, interested in science, art, and public affairs. —A. M. ↩
The Uniates acknowledge the Pope in Rome, though in other respects they are in accord with the Orthodox Russo-Greek Church. —A. M. ↩
A celebrated museum and picture gallery in St. Petersburg, adjoining the Winter Palace. —A. M. ↩
“Poland and the Caucasus are Russia’s two sores. We need about 100,000 men in each of those two countries.” ↩
“You say that Poland—” “Oh yes, it was a masterstroke of Metternich’s to leave us the bother of it. …” ↩
Each regiment had a choir of singers. —A. M. ↩
A way of doubling one’s stake at the game of shtos. —A. M. ↩
A highly prized quality of blade. —A. M. ↩
These expressions relate to the game of shtos and have been explained in Two Hussars. —A. M. ↩
Tulumbas: a sort of kettledrum. ↩
ColophonHadji Murád
was published in 1912 by
Leo Tolstoy.
It was translated from Russian in 1912 by
Aylmer Maude.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Alex Cabal,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2008 by
Sherurcij
for
Wikisource
and on digital scans available at
Google Books.
The cover page is adapted from
A Caucasian,
a painting completed in 1890 by
Jan Ciągliński.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.
The first edition of this ebook was released on
October 8, 2020, 11:23 p.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/leo-tolstoy/hadji-murad/aylmer-maude.
The volunteer-driven Standard Ebooks project relies on readers like you to submit typos, corrections, and other improvements. Anyone can contribute at standardebooks.org.
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