Childhood (novel)
Encyclopedia
Childhood is the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy
, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary
.
It is the first in a series of three novels and is followed by Boyhood
and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev
, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature.
Childhood is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Nikolenka, and one of the books in Russian writing to explore an expressionistic
style, mixing fact, fiction and emotions to render the moods and reactions of the narrator.
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary
Sovremennik
Sovremennik was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in St. Petersburg in 1836-1866. It came out four times a year in 1836-1843 and once a month after that...
.
It is the first in a series of three novels and is followed by Boyhood
Boyhood (novel)
Boyhood is the second novel in Leo Tolstoy's autobiographical trilogy, following Childhood and followed by Youth. The novel was first published in the Russian literary journal Sovremennik in 1854....
and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature.
Childhood is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Nikolenka, and one of the books in Russian writing to explore an expressionistic
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
style, mixing fact, fiction and emotions to render the moods and reactions of the narrator.