The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories

Pozdnyshev is an unusual man. He rides the trains of Russia to seek for forgiveness for past misdeeds. Overhearing two other passengers arguing over marriage, love and divorce he tells the sad tale of his own marriage. Leo Tolstoy’s novella “The Kreutzer Sonata” was published in 1889 and was immediately censored by Russian authorities for its frank examination of sexual morality and the institution of marriage. Following the serialization of “The Kreutzer Sonata” in the United States in 1890, Theodore Roosevelt described Tolstoy as a “sexual moral pervert”. This edition also includes the short stories “Ivan the Fool”, “A Lost Opportunity”, “Polikushka and “The Candle”, as well as a brief biography of Leo Tolstoy and a bibliography with suggestions for further reading.