The Kreutzer Sonata

The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

"Nightmare, product of a sick imagination" - Emil Zola.
I totally agree.
In this book Leo Tolstoy totally condemns sexual and maternal instincts.
According to the main character , the only human, or godly way of life is total abstinence. If it is going to lead to the end of human race, so be it.
Author himself, two years after book publication, stated: there is something hideous in The Kreutzer Sonata, something evil in motives which led me to write it.
Nothing to add.
I read a version available on Project Gutenberg. Translation by Benj. R. Tucker. I felt comfortable for most of the book but what about this:
"But he who wrote Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ knew well ..."
He who wrote Beethoven's sonata?
Did not Tolstoy know who wrote it?
I had to check the Russian original - "Ведь тот, кто писал хоть бы Крейцерову сонату, – Бетховен, ведь он знал, ..". Direct transalation - "After all, the one who wrote the Kreutzer Sonata, Beethoven, he knew...".

So Tolstoy was not totally mad.

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