Sevastopol
by Leo Tolstoy
Read by David Wales
Sevastopol Sketches (Russian: Севастопольские рассказы, Sevastopolskiye rasskazy) are three short stories written by Leo Tolstoy and published in 1855 to record his experiences during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) in the Crimean War (1853-1856). The name originates from Sevastopol, a city in Crimea. The book has also been released under the anglicized title The Sebastopol Sketches and is sometimes titled Sevastopol Stories. These brief "sketches" formed the basis of many of the episodes in Tolstoy's magnum opus, War and Peace.
Sevastopol in December: In Sevastopol in December, Tolstoy uses second person narrative (with the pronoun 'you') in an introductory tour of life in Sevastopol. The detailed tour is arguably similar to one Tolstoy may have been given upon arrival in Sevastopol in November, 1854…. Tolstoy also uses Sevastopol in December to introduce the reader to the settings, mannerisms, and background he uses in Sevastopol in May and Sevastopol in August. For example, when referring to the enemy, either the British or the French, but only the French are featured in the Sketches; they are referred to as " 'him', as both soldiers and sailors say".
Sevastopol in May In Sevastopol in May, Tolstoy examines the senselessness and vanity of war. The story examines many aspects of the psychology of war, heroism, and the misleading presence of humanism in truces (misleading because countries continuously go to war with one another, despite past truces). Tolstoy concludes by declaring that the only hero of his story is truth.
- Summary by Wikipedia and david wales
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Reviews
Groundbreaking narrative
Jon Mark Wilson
Before Steinbeck's Once There Was a War, before Crane's Red Badge of Courage, Tolstoy described the humanity and emotional life of officers and soldiers: how petty points of honor loomed large during the lulls, the noise of artillery batteries, the blood and stench of field hospitals, the dreams and fears of the green and the stolidity of the veterans, the fog of battle, the exaggerations and rumors and confusion, the patience and perseverance of non combatant civilians. Vivid, brilliant, and still relevant as the Crimeam War bridges the realities of the Napoleonic era toward the modern industrial battlefield. Brilliantly read.
Good narration - boring story
Zgietzen
The story was fine but it was more of a bunch of random details than a coherent and captivating novel.
Belisarius Smith
Tolstoy has a very good eye for the mundane, dull and simple bits of life.
Sevastopol
Calledphil
The reader did a good job.