Author : Leo Tolstoy
Year of Publication: 1886
PLOT: 5/5
CHARACTERS: 5/5
WRITING: 5/5
CLIMAX: 5/5
ENTERTAINMENT: 5/5
Leo Tolstoy, the renowned Russian novelist, essayist, and short story writer of the 19th century, wrote a short story titled “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Originally published in 1886, Louise and Aylmer Maude translated the story into English in 1906 and included it in a collection of Tolstoy’s short stories called Twenty-Three Tales (1906).
Plot
A Russian folktale about a peasant’s thirst for land and its consequences is retold in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” The peasant farmer thinks that if he buys more land, all of his issues would be resolved. He therefore lives in a never-ending cycle of selling and buying land elsewhere. When he finally arrives in a remote location, he is presented with an excellent proposition. The offer is intriguing because it requires him to walk in the intense heat for a whole day in order to mark the perimeter of the land. Then this will be his plot. It sounds good, doesn’t it? The focus of this discussion is human greed and how it affects behavior.
What I loved about the story?
When Tolstoy wrote the novel in his late 50s, he strictly believed in the notion that all literature ought to include a moral lesson.
Hence this story conveys a potent lesson and caution that might inspire thoughtful contemplation and appraisal of one’s life and goals. Book gives us the chance to consider what matters most to us in life, if our actions are in line with those values, and whether we will be able to look back on our lives and say that we made a difference.
Tolstoy has a remarkable talent for hitting you with the scenarios to make that lesson come to life, and his short story approach of imparting the moral lesson is highly powerful and unforgettable.
readingthatbook.com 