The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo TolstoyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this should have been called The Destructive Power of Jealousy.. It was grim from start to finish, but Tolstoy is a masterful storyteller; I did not like what I was reading, but I read on without stopping once.
To say that the book takes a dim view of marriage, true love, and women doesn't really do twisted and disillusioned Pozdnyshev (our central character) proper justice.
I haven't read what more learned individuals have to say about this short book, but I am not prepared to accept that the author of Anna Karenina and War and Peace, is as hateful and small-minded and demented as was Pozdnyshev in this story.
The music for which the book is named - Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata No. 9 - played in the background as I read on, and it was as tortured as was old Pozdnyshev.
A tale of misery; I'm glad it was short.
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