Tolstoy’s Children’s Stories
Steve Dodson,
Languagehat,
May 11, 2020
This article serves as a reminder that there are varying opinions as to what is appropriate for children. It's also a good reminder that Tolstoy's children's stories are not for the faint of heart. "A boy catches a bird in a cage. His mother says he shouldn't do that. He leaves the door of the cage open. The bird flies out, straight into a glass window, knocking itself out. It suffers for a few days, then dies. The end." Reviewer John Byron Kuhner writes, "Do not give this book to children. Anything is better than this. Jude the Obscure. Maybe some Elie Wiesel. Spengler." The book is called The Lion and the Puppy And Other Stories for Children and though it's surely out of copyright (Tolstoy died in 1910) I was not able to find an open access copy online.
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