Product Description

Hadji Murad (also known as Hadji Murat) is a novel written by Leo Tolstoy and not published until after his death in 1912. The final work of Tolstoy, Hadji Murad is about an Avar revel commander who seeks personal revenge and forges an uneasy alliance with the Russians who he had been previously fighting. Hadji Murad is highly recommended for those who enjoy the writings of Leo Tolstoy and also for those who are discovering Leo Tolstoy works for the first time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #378499 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Download Description
This Hadji Murad was Shamil's naib, famous for his exploits, who used never to ride out without his banner and some dozens of murids, who caracoled and showed off before him. Now wrapped in a hood and burka, from under which protruded a rifle, he rode, a fugitive with one murid only, trying to attract as little attention as possible and peering with his quick black eyes into the faces of those he met on his way. -- Note: Tolstoy's last novel.

From the Back Cover
“[Tolstoy is the] greatest of all novelists.” —Virginia Woolf

Customer Reviews

One of the greatest novellas ever written
Certainly, the life and death of Hadji Murad left trenchant impression on young Tolstoy. So much so that Tolstoy wrote this novella few years before he died, and obviously did not intend to publish it. However fortunately it was published against his wish and it turned out to be the one of the most sublime novellas ever. The plot is based on what Tolstoy personally heard about legendary Hadji Murad; The "Red Devil", when he served in Caucasus . you will immediately figure out Tolstoy indeed meticulously researched background information about all Hadji Murad , Shamil business and rapacious Russian expansionism .All of this are conveyed through the objective and impartial lense of a narrator.
It's a great literary work .In spite of it brevity, it succeeds to show whole gamut of human behavior such as cruelty, vanity,avarice,hatred ,betrayal, and heroic courage that could redeem just mentioned humanly follies. And, the subtle moral of story Tolstoy give readers far exceeds the mere scope of historicity and relevance of the story to current situation in Caucasia and the revival of Russian expansionism. For example, there is the death Petrukha Avdeyev which Tolstoy intentionally inserted . Petrukha is a minor character ,but through his character Tolstoy shows Russian peasant soldiers and their suffering for vanity of imperial cause. In addition to that , the death of Petrukha and his family reaction , especially his unfaithful wife who is pregnated by another man, contrasted to Hadji Murad's effort to save his family hostaged by Shamil. Stylistically , the work shows the Tolstoy's superb technique. The opening chapter of thistle and its dual purpose both symbol and a mean of flashback is immaculate. It's a novella but its resounding power perhaps excells any book has 10 time longer than "Hadju Murad".

Awkward Translation
Hadji Murad is an interesting little novel, but probably only for real Tolstoy fanatics like myself. This translation isn't terrible but it is clearly written by someone who doesn't know English rules of grammar very well. There are some very awkward passages and the worst punctuation and capitalization errors I've ever seen in a published book. I do not think Amazon should be selling this edition. It is not a professional product. There are other translations of this work available in collections of Tolstoy short stories. I recommend you buy one of those.

Buyer beware
Oops! My book group wanted to do a "short" book with "meat" and we thought Hadji Murad by Tolstoy would be perfect. Without thinking I purchased the cheapest new Hadji Murad I saw.It's the Filiquarian Pulishing,LLC book I'm talking about. It turned out I'd purchased a book that reads like it was translated from the Russian by computer. It certainly never had a human editor. The spelling was bad but the grammar was worse. What I could tell was a wonderful, exciting and relevant story had no charm. Shame on Amazon for selling this. Shame on me for not sending this copy back and reading Hadji Murad as Tolstoy intended.