"Leo Tolstoy's 20 Greatest Short Stories" Interview with Andrew Barger

"Leo Tolstoy's 20 Greatest Short Stories" Interview

(August 6, 2009)

Andrew Barger

Q1: Here we are in August of 2009 and the new book you have edited and introduced: "Leo Tolstoy’s 20 Greatest Short Stories Annotated" is launching. Tolstoy is known for writing long novels like “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina.” He was obviously very good at it. Was he also good at writing short stories?

A1: Tolstoy had no problems with short stories either. The ones you will find in “Leo Tolstoy’s 20 Greatest Short Stories” are proof of this. Great storytellers, like Tolstoy, can fit their material, their concepts, into any size package. After handwriting “War and Peace” seven times I think he needed a break from the long novel.

Q2: Do you think he could have fit it into a short story?

A2: That would require a really big shoehorn.

Q3: You titled your introduction to the book, “The Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy: Muzhík to My Ears.” Who were the Russian muzhíks and why did Tolstoy write stories for them?

A3: The muzhíks were Russian peasants who did much of the manual labor on farms. Most lacked education as they were forced into the fields at a young age to make money for their families. Tolstoy had a deep Christian compassion for the muzhíks. He simplified a number of his stories for these less educated readers to ensure his moral point got through and a hard lesson was taught. He touched upon the evils of heavy drinking time and again.

Q4: On a lighter note, what are the greatest of the greatest of Tolstoy’s short stories?

A4: You mean my favorites of the lot of twenty?

Q5: Don’t be shy.

A5: That’s a really tough question. They are all good.

Q6: Top five.

A6: Fair enough. I like “Does a Man Need Much Land?,” “The Long Exile,” “Lucerne,” “The Empty Drum,” and “Recollections of a Scorer.”

Q7: On your blog you are counting down to the top thirteen horror short stories from 1800-1849 that you will be publishing in “The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849.” Does Tolstoy have any supernatural stories?

A7: Tolstoy is no Poe and many people are thankful for that. “Does a Man Need Much Land?” is horrific in its ending. “Memoirs of a Lunatic” has a specter in it. “The Long Exile” is also frightening in parts.

Q8: Are you editing anything else by Tolstoy?

A8: Right now I am working on a few of my own short stories. I hope to publish my own collection in 2010. But yes, I am thinking of a new Tolstoy collection. He is inescapable.

Barnes & Noble | Target | Tower Books

Alibris | AbeBooks | Books-A-Million | Waterstone's