Childhood

By Leo Tolstoy

"Childhood" 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. "Childhood" is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Nikolenka, and one of the books in Russian writing to explore an expiressionistic style, mixing fact, fiction and emotions to render the moods and reactions of the narrator.
(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Otbebookpublishing
• Release date: Dec 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9783956761621

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is the author of War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and other classics of Russian literature.

Book preview

Childhood

By Leo Tolstoy

Translated by C.J. Hogarth

CONTENTS

I   THE TUTOR, KARL IVANITCH

II    MAMMA

III    PAPA

IV    LESSONS

V    THE IDIOT

VI    PREPARATIONS FOR THE CHASE

VII    THE HUNT

VIII    WE PLAY GAMES

IX    A FIRST ESSAY IN LOVE

X    THE SORT OF MAN MY FATHER WAS

XI    IN THE DRAWING-ROOM AND THE STUDY

XII    GRISHA

XIII    NATALIA SAVISHNA

XIV    THE PARTING

XV    CHILDHOOD

XVI    VERSE-MAKING

XVII    THE PRINCESS KORNAKOFF

XVIII    PRINCE IVAN IVANOVITCH

XIX    THE IWINS

XX    PREPARATIONS FOR THE PARTY

XXI    BEFORE THE MAZURKA

XXII    THE MAZURKA

XXIII    AFTER THE MAZURKA

XXIV    IN BED

XXV    THE LETTER

XXVI    WHAT AWAITED US AT THE COUNTRY-HOUSE

XXVII   GRIEF

XXVIII  SAD RECOLLECTIONS

I — THE TUTOR, KARL IVANITCH

On the 12th of August, 18— (just three days after my tenth birthday, when I had been given such wonderful presents), I was awakened at seven o'clock in the morning by Karl Ivanitch slapping the wall close to my head with a fly-flap made of sugar paper and a stick. He did this so roughly that he hit the image of my patron saint suspended to the oaken back of my bed, and the dead fly fell down on my curls. I peeped out from under the coverlet, steadied the still shaking image with my hand, flicked the dead fly on to the floor, and gazed at Karl Ivanitch with sleepy, wrathful eyes. He, in a parti-coloured wadded dressing-gown fastened about the waist with a wide belt of the same material, a red knitted cap adorned with a tassel, and soft slippers of goat skin, went on walking round the walls and taking aim at, and slapping, flies.

Suppose, I thought to myself, that I am only a small boy, yet why should he disturb me? Why does he not go killing flies around Woloda's bed? No; Woloda is older than I, and I am the youngest of the family, so he torments me. That is what he thinks of all day long—how to tease me. He knows very well that he has woken me up and frightened me, but he pretends not to notice it. Disgusting brute! And his dressing-gown and cap and tassel too—they are all of them disgusting.

While I was thus inwardly venting my wrath upon Karl Ivanitch, he had passed to his own bedstead, looked at his watch (which hung suspended in a little shoe sewn with bugles), and deposited the fly-flap on a nail, then, evidently in the most cheerful mood possible, he turned round to us.

Get up, children! It is quite time, and your mother is already in the drawing-room, he exclaimed in his strong German accent. Then he crossed over to me, sat down at my feet, and took his snuff-box out of his pocket. I pretended to be asleep. Karl Ivanitch sneezed, wiped his nose, flicked his fingers, and began amusing himself by teasing me and tickling my toes as he said with a smile, Well, well, little lazy one!

For all my dread of being tickled, I determined not to get out of bed or to answer him, but hid my head deeper in the pillow, kicked out with all my strength, and strained every nerve to keep from laughing.

How kind he is, and how fond of us! I thought to myself. Yet to think that I could be hating him so just now!

I felt angry, both with myself and with Karl Ivanitch, I wanted to laugh and to cry at the same time, for my nerves were all on edge.

Leave me alone, Karl! I exclaimed at length, with tears in my eyes, as I raised my head from beneath the bed-clothes.

Karl Ivanitch was taken aback. He left off tickling my feet, and asked me kindly what the matter was. Had I had a disagreeable dream? His good German face and the sympathy with which he sought to know the cause of my tears made them flow the faster. I felt conscience-stricken, and could not understand how, only a minute ago, I had been hating Karl, and thinking his dressing-gown and cap and tassel disgusting. On the contrary, they looked eminently lovable now. Even the tassel seemed another token of his goodness. I replied that I was crying because I had had a bad dream, and had seen Mamma dead and being buried. Of course it was a mere invention, since I did not remember having dreamt anything at all that night, but the truth was that Karl's sympathy as he tried to comfort and reassure me had gradually made me believe that I HAD dreamt such a horrible dream, and so weep the more—though from a different cause to the one he imagined.

When Karl Ivanitch had left me, I sat up in bed and proceeded to draw my stockings over my little feet. The tears had quite dried now, yet the mournful thought of the invented dream was still haunting me a little. Presently Uncle [This term is often applied by children to old servants in Russia] Nicola came in—a neat little man who was always grave, methodical, and respectful, as well as a great friend of Karl's. He brought with him our clothes and boots—at least, boots for Woloda, and for myself the old detestable, be-ribanded shoes. In his presence I felt ashamed to cry, and, moreover, the morning sun was shining so gaily through the window, and Woloda, standing at the washstand as he mimicked Maria Ivanovna (my sister's governess), was laughing so loud and so long, that even the serious Nicola—a towel over his shoulder, the soap in one hand, and the basin in the other—could not help smiling as he said, Will you please let me wash you, Vladimir Petrovitch? I had cheered up completely.

Are you nearly ready? came Karl's voice from the schoolroom. The tone of that voice sounded stern now, and had nothing in it of the kindness which had just touched me so much. In fact, in the schoolroom Karl was altogether a different man from what he was at other times. There he was the tutor. I washed and dressed myself hurriedly, and, a brush still in my hand as I smoothed my wet hair, answered to his call. Karl, with spectacles on nose and a book in his hand, was sitting, as usual, between the door and one of the windows. To the left of the door were two shelves—one of them the children's (that is to say, ours), and the other one Karl's own. Upon ours were heaped all sorts of books—lesson books and play books—some standing up and some lying down. The only two standing decorously against the wall were two large volumes of a Histoire des Voyages, in red binding. On that shelf could be seen books thick and thin and books large and small, as well as covers without books and books without covers, since everything got crammed up together anyhow when play time arrived and we were told to put the library (as Karl called these shelves) in order. The collection of books on his own shelf was, if not so numerous as ours, at least more varied. Three of them in particular I remember, namely, a German pamphlet (minus a cover) on Manuring Cabbages in Kitchen-Gardens, a History of the Seven Years' War (bound in parchment and burnt at one corner), and a Course of Hydrostatics. Though Karl passed so much of his time in reading that he had injured his sight by doing so, he never read anything beyond these books and The Northern Bee.

Another article on Karl's shelf I remember well. This was a round piece of cardboard fastened by a screw to a wooden stand, with a sort of comic picture of a lady and a hairdresser glued to the cardboard. Karl was very clever at fixing pieces of cardboard together, and had devised this contrivance for shielding his weak eyes from any very strong light.

I can see him before me now—the tall figure in its wadded dressing-gown and red cap (a few grey hairs visible beneath the latter) sitting beside the table; the screen with the hairdresser shading his face; one hand holding a book, and the other one resting on the arm of the chair. Before him lie his watch, with a huntsman painted on the dial, a check cotton handkerchief, a round black snuff-box, and a green spectacle-case. The neatness and orderliness of all these articles show clearly that Karl Ivanitch has a clear conscience and a quiet mind.

Sometimes, when tired of running about the salon downstairs, I would steal on tiptoe to the schoolroom and find Karl sitting alone in his armchair as, with a grave and quiet expression on his face, he perused one of his favourite books. Yet sometimes, also, there were moments when he was not reading, and when the spectacles had slipped down his large aquiline nose, and the blue, half-closed eyes and faintly smiling lips seemed to be gazing before them with a curious expression. All would be quiet in the room—not a sound being audible save his regular breathing and the ticking of the watch with the hunter painted on the dial. He would not see me, and I would stand at the door and think: Poor, poor old man! There are many of us, and we can play together and be happy, but he sits there all alone, and has nobody to be fond of him. Surely he speaks truth when he says that he is an orphan. And the story of his life, too—how terrible it is! I remember him telling it to Nicola. How dreadful to be in his position! Then I would feel so sorry for him that I would go to him, and take his hand, and say, Dear Karl Ivanitch! and he would be visibly delighted whenever I spoke to him like this, and would look much brighter.

On the second wall of the schoolroom hung some maps—mostly torn, but glued together again by Karl's hand. On the third wall (in the middle of which stood the door) hung, on one side of the door, a couple of rulers (one of them ours—much bescratched, and the other one his—quite a new one), with, on the further side of the door, a blackboard on which our more serious faults were marked by circles and our lesser faults by crosses. To the left of the blackboard was the corner in which we had to kneel when naughty. How well I remember that corner—the shutter on the stove, the ventilator above it, and the noise which it made when turned! Sometimes I would be made to stay in that corner till my back and knees were aching all over, and I would think to myself. Has Karl Ivanitch forgotten me? He goes on sitting quietly in his arm-chair and reading his Hydrostatics, while I—! Then, to remind him of my presence, I would begin gently turning the ventilator round. Or scratching some plaster off the wall; but if by chance an extra large piece fell upon the floor, the fright of it was worse than any punishment. I would glance round at Karl, but he would still be sitting there quietly, book in hand, and pretending that he had noticed nothing.

In the middle of

Reviews for Childhood

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Cruciaal is de ontmoeting met Huckleberry Finn. Vinnige dialogen; Mooie impressie van jongensachtige gevoelens en leefwereld, genre Witte van Zichem (Claes is duidelijk maar een doordrukje van Twain). Toch maar matig boek.

[abergsman-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Borderline 3.5 stars, but not quite. Mainly because I didn't begin to truly enjoy the story until 2/3 of the way through.

This is the first time I have ever read Mark Twain, and wanted to read this as a precursor to Huck Finn. I respect Mark Twain and his influence on many popular authors. For me, this particular novel does not hold water against some of the other American greats (Steinbeck, Edgar Allen Poe, Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, etc).

A lot can be said in regards to the portrayals of African-Americans and Native Americans in the book (particularly the character "Injun Joe"), and Tom Sawyer is often censored or banned due to the language. Without a doubt, parts of the novel were certainly uncomfortable to this modern reader. I actually appreciated this, as it gives a glimpse of what life was like--from the perspective of Mississippi River dwelling, Southern, white children--in the pre-Civil War South. Racism and all. I enjoyed the satirical approach and exaggeration to some of the customs and superstitions of that community during that time period.

Having said that, I concurrently read some of Twain's (Sam Clemens') other writings on American Indians, and it is atrocious. Product of the times or not, it left a bitter aftertaste while reading Sawyer. Hence the 3 stars.

I do feel any use of this text in school should include a discussion on racism, fear, discrimination, freedom, etc.

[dougcornelius_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think I was supposed to read this in college. But never did. There were more important things to do like... (never mind).It was time to make up for the mistakes of my youth and take in a classic. That the audiobook was narrated by Nick Offerman was a bonus that moved Tom Sawyer to the top of my to-read list.

[kaitanya64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am adding this book as one of our family read-alouds. While often read by high school students as "classic" literature, this book proved a hit with my family audience, ages 8, 14,17 and middle aged.
It is funny and suspenseful and the characters are vivid, all requirements for making it on our read aloud picks.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Cruciaal is de ontmoeting met Huckleberry Finn. Vinnige dialogen; Mooie impressie van jongensachtige gevoelens en leefwereld, genre Witte van Zichem (Claes is duidelijk maar een doordrukje van Twain). Toch maar matig boek.

[anagarika · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think Mark Twain is overrated.

[penguinasana · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My dad read this book to me as a kid and I loved it. I had the best time re-reading it as an adult - remembering parts of the dialogue I knew by heart and enjoying the social satire bits that don't always register when you're a kid. A classic!

[christopher.kyle1706 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really doubted this book would be a thriller, or energetic to read. This book makes you want to fall asleep while reading it. I am so sorry, but this book had so many POV'S I could not keep up. MY REVIEW; This book was a serious letdown. I thought there would be more action because it tells about a boys and his friends life in this story. NO ACTION. I liked some parts like when they were trying to find treasure and couldn't find it for like 3 chapters! No. Terrible absolutely did not like the writing. There was also different related stories to read while you finish Tom Sawyer but I decided NOT to read it.

[dasam-5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had never read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer except in a childhood version in Golden Books or something like that. I skipped right over to read Huck Finn. While this is definitely a children's book in many ways, Twain writes in such a way that adults still enjoy Tom and his picaresque adventures, both as nostalgia for our own childhoods and because the adult voice of Twain cannot help inserting his snide commentaries on humanity.

[jon1lambert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the books that I thought I had read but hadn't. It rushes along, adventure after adventure, capturing what it is is to be a child growing up.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'd forgotten what a little trouble maker Tom was. It was a nice enjoyable read.

[foof2you · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Never read this during all my school years so I thought I had to give it a shot. I was surprised. I found the book to be rather enjoyable and unlike many other "classics" that fail to live up to the hype. A great story and definitely a classic.

[kimmyd76 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Why had I never read this classic before?... who knows! But i'm glad I have now read it and will move right into listening to the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

[unclebob53703 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Always preferred this to Huckleberry Finn--which puts me on the wrong side of just about everybody else's opinion. If the ending in the caves doesn't get your pulse racing, you probably don't have one. Found a beautiful like-new copy of the Heritage Edition, with color plates and numerous illustrations by Norman Rockwell.

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My advice would be to drop whatever you're reading and read this now, before you're thirty-eight and can appreciate it but never love it.

[leandrod-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One point less for mocking Christianity

[norwayken · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a classic in American literature. What more can be said.

[chrisblocker · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've returned to the river.A year ago I spent a weekend on the Missouri River attending a Writers Workshop. In typical Chris Blocker fashion, I thought it prudent to read something riverish. I selected Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. Thus a new association was born and once I decided I was returning to the river, one of my first considerations was what Mark Twain book I'd read this year.I was hesitant to get into the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn story-arc. I had a feeling I'd be underwhelmed or offended. I was leaning toward a different selection, but at the last minute, I decided to go with a classic. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer wasn't that bad?not as bad as I imagined it could be?but it certainly didn't impress me too much. Part of the issue is that Tom Sawyer feels slightly underdeveloped?ideas are used seemingly haphazardly and are recycled throughout the story. And part of the issue is that some of the novels better moments have become clich?. I recognize that Twain was likely the originator of some of these ideas?at least he was probably the prominent figure who introduced them into the American narrative. But I've seen enough Our Gang to know that children who play pirates will find treasure, children who fake death will convince everyone, and that little boys will always win a kiss from the girl of their dreams. It's not Twain's fault that his story has been resurrected repeatedly, but the familiarity minimized any sense of wonder and adventure I might have had had I come across this book 130 years ago.In a different time, this book may have had a much different impact on me. This is a strong story of adventure from a unique child-like perspective. Those who enjoy a little swashbuckling or hijinx will likely eat this story up like blackberry pie. (Why blackberry pie? I don't know. It just feels like something I'd expect from these characters.) With a different person, there would've been different results: I'm not one for adventure; I was never a child. It's a good, simple story, very much plot-driven, but I didn't see much else to it.Sadly, this book didn't hold to the river like I thought it would. There are a few mentions, a few explorations, but I have the notion that Huckleberry Finn is the more river-centric of the two. Will I explore the river someday with Huck? I don't know. I probably should, but I have the same hesitance I did with Tom Sawyer. Maybe I'll leave it up to the river. If it's able to pull me back another time, I'll consider it.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a classic piece of 19th century literature penned by Mark Twain. It recounts several adventures in the life of a young, Missouri boy living in a small town on the Mississippi River. While it is at times amusing, the rural, 19th century slang and extremely superstitious beliefs of many of the characters, explained at length, soon becomes tiresome and annoying. Taken in small doses, the escapades of Sawyer and his compatriot Huck Finn can be tolerable, but combined in book length form, they soon lose their charm.

[sluper1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

From this novel I have learned that one can be the person who opens the door to someone in need in a time of desperation and changes his or her life for best. This message is portrayed by the characters of Will and Mr. Tom because when in need Mr. Tom provided Willie with a home, food, and most importantly of love and care he had never received from his mother. This novel contain historical episodes. For example Zach dies in an air raids. If one was not careful could die at any moment. Also, women were looked down to and were not expected to get a good eduction. This book is consider a classic in the literature. The way the story is written transport the reader to each scene.

[lynleys-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book would've been given to one of my brothers at some stage and it's ended up in my possession. I'm sure no one ever read it the whole time its faded spine graced the family bookshelves. I think if I'd picked it up as a kid I would've found the dialect a bit difficult. It's only after watching plenty of TV that I have an inkling as to how those boys would've actually spoken. I must've read the first part at some stage, because the scene of Tom swindling the neighbourhood boys into white washing the fence is a resonant one.Anyhow, I'm glad I read the whole thing and can't believe it never got spoilered for me. Next I'll be cracking the spine on Huckleberry Finn.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tom Sawyer, orphaned and living with his Aunt Polly, befriends Huck Finn, the son of the town drunk. They, along with some of their friends, share in youthful adventures of a time and place when it was safe to romp around without adult supervision nearby. 19th century Missouri was also a time and place where racism still existed. Some will object to the terminology being used to refer to those of other ethnicities, but it can provide a good springboard for discussion if used with students about why those terms are no longer socially acceptable and about how social norms evolve. The story line with Becky Thatcher is also an interesting one that should generate discussion among readers. This was a re-read for me. It's a classic tale that while dated in some respects will probably continue to be enjoyed for some time to come.

[platicorn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i absolutely loved it!

[rosenstern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Twain's bold themes are wonderfully depicted in this novel where Tom gets into all sorts of mischief. I love Twain's literary style and humor. Worth reading it at least once, if not more.

[noah_schumacher-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This classic is a brilliant book. Mark Twain writes at his finest. It took me back to the days of getting into mischief, hastening the growth of silver hairs upon my parent's heads. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a great book for those seeking an escape from an overly serious world with pretentious aspirations to be noticed. Tom Sawyer and his group of ruffians do a great job of reminding the reader that life isn't always about being a "someone"; its about the adventure. I highly recommend the book. Later into the next year... the sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

[krizia_lazaro_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was okay. I really found it slow and dragging at times just like Huck Finn. I didn't really like Tom. Huck Finn is a more funny storyteller. I think this is more of a boy's book and also good for the big screen.

[occassionalread · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the preface to Tom Sawyer Mark Twain writes that the book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls but that he hopes that men and women will not shun it on that account.Adults, by and large, have not shunned Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Pudding Head Wilson, or other Twain stories with children protagonists. Kids and their parents alike will enjoy the adventures, the hijinx and tricks, the fun and make believe, the freedom of unfettered play and the torturous confinement of Sunday sermons and the one room school house. But there's a lot more to Tom Sawyer than the famous tableau of the painted white picket fence. There's real danger in Injun Joe, a near death experience getting lost in a cave for three whole days, and the heartache of puppy love with Becky Thatcher. And it may be these darker elements of the story (though not nearly as edgy as Huck Finn which deals more directly with the issue of slavery and uses the infamous N word a lot more freely) that makes this story transcend that of mere entertainment for young ones. Tom Sawyer, is a story about children, intended for children, written with the greatest respect, without condescension, with a pitch perfect ear for dialogue and character. Twain was, and may forever be, America's greatest story teller.

[alanwpowers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At the risk of repeating myself, I have taught Tom Sawyer many times as the novel in my five-book freshman intro to lit at MA community colleges. Of course Huck Finn is the novel most taught in colleges; Huck is the son of the town drunk, just as Edwin Land who invented the Polaroid was slanderously reputed to be. In HF, Twain does get the dialects well, and Jim is so well drawn, while the subject of race is paramount. But Tom Sawyer is actually a better critique of two major American institutions: schools and churches. Regarding schools, Tom Sawyer is the best critique of English composition--or preacher's rhetoric--in American lit.It's also a good critique of forms of adventure now so prevalent in film and TV; Tom compares forms of heroic withdrawal from the world, and finds a pirate preferable:"You see, a pirate don't have to do anything, Joe, when he's ashore, but a hermit, he has to be praying considerable, and then he don't have any fun, anyway, all by himself that way"(ch 13). True, the action plot with Injun Joe etc leads to a lame conclusion more like Horatio Alger; Tom invests at 5% to his greater glory. But here in the 21st C such a conclusion still holds appeal for retired readers.The freshman course I assigned this in always involved one play like an August Wilson or usually Shakespeare's Much Ado or Measure For Measure, one book of short stories, often by one author like VS Naipaul or Hemingway of Flannery O'Connor, a collection of poems, sometimes some essays, and a novel like TS or Seize the Day or Slaughterhouse-Five or Confederacy of Dunces or Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes local author Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World.

[karen.lea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The unabridged version, though racist and somewhat ignorant, looses the charm of the characters when edited. This book is an accurate reflection of an awkward time in the youth of our nation, and rather than glossed over, needs to be appreciated as such. We have come a long way!

[juliettehendrikx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have heard about this American classic for so long, and I love other Twain books, I thought it was going to be the end all of end alls, but I was disappointed.