Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Sevastopol'skie rasskazy [The Sebastopol Sketches, Sebastopol Stories]

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Although Lev Tolstoy's three prose works based on his experiences during the siege of Sebastopol in 1854 and 1855, are referred to as “stories” (

rasskazy

), following the title of the 1856 edition, the term is debatable. All three stories –

Sevastopol' v dekabre mesiatse

[

Sebastopol in December

],

Sevastopol' v mae

[

Sebastopol in May

] and

Sevastopol' v avguste 1855 goda

[

Sebastopol in August 1855

] – are largely plotless and lacking in conventional heroes. Indeed

December

was referred to as an “article” (

stat'ia

) by both Nekrasov and Turgenev, and critics (or translators) often use the word “sketch” (

ocherk

) to describe them. The work was not planned as a trilogy and, apart from a reference in

August

to the events described in

May

, the components are thematically independent.

1653 words

Citation: Pursglove, Michael. "Sevastopol'skie rasskazy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 June 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15843, accessed 22 November 2024.]

15843 Sevastopol'skie rasskazy 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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