In "The Gospel in Brief: The Life of Jesus" the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) offers his retelling of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Through his poetic and moving account of the life of Jesus, we witness the power of Tolstoy's narrative range as well as the spiritual depth of these Biblical Gospels. Perhaps no novelist has been better qualified to offer his imaging of the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. Leo Tolstoy, in his later life, became a deeply religious man, writing a prolific amount on Christian spirituality and religious mysticism. "The Gospel in Brief" skillfully envisions the Bible as literature, lending his singular gifts as a novelist to perhaps the most important book in all of Western Civilization. Though Tolstoy never moves far away from his original sources and his rewriting of the life of Jesus only enhances and makes more real the historical and spiritual world of Jesus. This is essential reading for students of religion as well as fans of world literature.
Lev Nikolaevic Tolstoj nasce a Jasnaja Poljana, in Russia, il 9 settembre 1828 da una famiglia di tradizioni aristocratiche, appartenente alla vecchia nobiltà russa.
Questa condizione influenzerà tutta la sua esistenza: da un punto di vista positivo perché avrà opportunità che altri non avranno, ma anche da un punto di vista negativo perché lo distinguerà dagli altri letterati del suo tempo da cui si sentirà spesso escluso.
La madre morirà quando lui avrà solo due anni e dopo