Tolstoy only read out loud once in his life to a small group of family and friends in 1864. Dickens, of course, wrote to perform. He wrote for you, he wrote for an audience Tolstoy went to places Dickens didn't go namely to the war. And I think Tolstoy at that moment actually any kind of flamboyance disgusted him. At the very end of his writing life he came back to the experience. He spoke many, many languages including some Caucasian languages like Turkmen. He came back to that experience and an astonishing story. Some of the greatest things that Tolstoy ever did are short stories. This one is called Hajim
This is the second instalment of a three-part episode. Dickens. Tolstoy. Their names and reputations shake the ground – and so do their books, if you drop one. But whose legacy is more enduring? Whose vision truer and more relevant today? Should you embark on War and Peace or Our Mutual Friend? To battle it out, in 2018 Intelligence Squared brought two celebrated writers, John Mullan for Dickens and Simon Schama for Tolstoy, to our stage. They called on a cast of star actors, including Tom Hiddleston, to bring their arguments to life with readings from the authors’ finest works. The debate was chaired by author, playwright and broadcaster Bonnie Greer.
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