The Last Station
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
Starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, & James McAvoy
In 1910, Count Leo Tolstoy, the most famous writer in the world, is caught in the struggle between his devoted wife and an equally devoted acolyte over the master's legacy. Sofya Andreyevna fears that she and the children she has borne Tolstoy will lose all to Vladimir Chertkov and the Tolstoyan movement, which preaches the ideals of poverty, chastity, and pacifism.
As Tolstoy seeks peace in his final days, Valentin Bulgakov is hired to be his secretary and enlisted as a spy by both camps. But Valentin's loyalty is to the great man, who in turn recognizes in the young idealist his own youthful struggle with worldly passions.
Deftly moving among a colorful cast of characters, drawing on the writings of the people on whom they are based, Jay Parini has created a stunning portrait of an enduring genius and a deeply affecting novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Alternating narrators from Count Leo Tolstoy's household tell of his attempts to balance his philosophy of poverty and his privileged lifestyle by living humbly in his final days. ``In the end, it is not the people around him who speak most eloquently for Tolstoy, but the sincerity of his own words--and those of Parini in his kaleidoscopically rich and skillful novel,'' said PW.
