Tolstoy's Phoenix: From Method to Meaning in "War and Peace"

by George R. Clay

Overview

By examining Tolstoy's techniques and analyzing the structure of War and Peace, essayist George R. Clay offers a fresh perspective and jargon-free analysis of one of the world's greatest novels. Beginning with Tolstoy's strategies, devices, and structural elements, Clay moves beyond previous approaches and reveals the novel's larger thematic concerns, showing how all the pieces fit into an overall pattern that he calls the phoenix design.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810116214
Publisher:	Northwestern University Press
Publication date:	12/09/1998
Series:	Studies in Russian Literature and Theory
Edition description:	1
Pages:	142
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.70(d)

What People are Saying About This

Edwina Cruise

A magnificent achievement. . . It ranks among the most illuminating and engaging commentaries on War and Peace that I have read in Russian or English.

Gladys Swan

Beginning with the smaller elements of Tolstoy's style, Clay shows both brilliantly and in an eminently satisfying way how all the pieces fit into the larger picture.

Ellen Lesser

A groundbreaking theory about Toltoy's narrative technique.

Sven Birkerts

It moves marvelously. I like the careful discriminations Clay makes, the examples he chooses, and the way he keeps moving toward evergreater subtlety.

Editorial Reviews

Tolstoy's Phoenix, George Clay's brilliant study of War and Peace, might make Tolstoy himself appreciate his masterpiece.
— Book/Mark

Judith Ripp

Clay approaches Tolstoy...as another writer.... This perspective makes possible a number of unique and very profound insights into Tolstoy's artistry.
— Tolstoy Studies Journal

David Sloane