A Confession Paperback – June 27, 2017

A great testimony of one of History's greatest Russian writers. Written in 1879 during his Christian Conversion, he exposes the shallowness of wealth (he was a Count) and the finding of true riches in Jesus Christ. A very moving portrait of a man valuing the Word of God over what man calls treasures--things destined to be destroyed or given away to others when a man dies, leaves his body and will be lost forever if he has never been born again through faith in Christ's being put to death in our place. Tolstoy discovered that only by Grace through faith can a man be saved. All man's works are as "dust in the wind. Salvation cannot be earned. Tolstoy's life merely exemplified what truly matters in life. This book will literally transform the reader--in light of Tolstoy's life before his "Confession."

I found great pleasure and also fear in the similarities between mine and Tolstoy’s thoughts on existence. I myself was raised an evangelical Christian and rejected the church at an early age for the very same reasons Tolstoy did in his late 30’s. I was also shocked to see that he wrestled with the same unjustified suicidal ideation: “I see no meaning to existence, so why have I not killed myself?”. Though we had different reasons for why we did not kill ourselves the questions we posed were the same. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a disdain for Christian tradition, it helped me to distill some truth out of what my parents and upbringing forced upon me in my early childhood.

This translation of Tolstoy's "A Confession" proves an excellent and engaging text for following the spiritual journey of one of mankind's greatest writers. The only drawback is the frequency of typographical errors which remain a consistent minor annoyance throughout the text (about one every 3 or 4 pages). None is of a severity to make understanding the text difficult, but perhaps it should have been given a more thorough editing. Nevertheless, if you are willing to put up with this then you will surely be rewarded with an incredibly valuable literary experience, especially for so short a read.

Good read. Quick.

I read this while oscillating between growth and strength post difficult relationship, and staying stuck in the existentialist crisis I was thrust.It resonates with any modern reader seeking wisdom about the here and now and tackles the question we often ask, “why are we here?”I love the rawness with which Tolstoy confesses he was just as lost as we all will get at some point in our suffering lives.And that through his quest for faith through reason, logic and pragmatic she eventually was capable of taking a “leap” away from his contemptuous thoughts and into a new realm.His conclusion with a literal dream that brings him comfort is icing on the cake for me. I myself, an avid dreamer, identify with his lucid recall to wakefulness.

I've read many of his books and always gather much insight and knowledge from them. Any one who wants to question themselves and their life in general should read Tolstoy. If you are cozy and undoubting, then Tolstoy might make you uncomfortable. I found an absolute faith many years ago, but I still love to read Tolstoy. He stands as one of the greatest men in human history, though I know he would be ashamed to have such praise given to himself.

Although Tolstoy’s account of his own back-and-forth journey through belief and disbelief is often repetitive—I have found the same to be true of “War and Peace”—the overall tale he tells is likely to provoke thought and lively discussion. The author’s characteristic honesty, directness, and clarity are remarkable.A note on the text: There are countless small errors throughout this version of “A Confession.” Nothing I couldn’t navigate around, but a “clean” version would be appreciated.

I found Tolstoy very readable in most parts; in the (few) more difficult passages I could still grasp the general meaning even if I could not grasp the finer point of his intent. The ebook has several typos which the publisher should review and correct. Recommended read to better understand the emptiness of the secular life.

The book is a personal treatise of Leo Tolstoy about his search for meaning of life. Tolstoy talks about his early days when and how he left his Christian beliefs in order to pursue many worldly pleasures to get away from ultimate question of life, the questions which inevitably haunts him later. His reasonings leads him to conclude that life is evil and has no inherent meaning. He turns to both science and philosophy for the answer to stop himself from committing suicide. He argues that we will never find answer to the question of life through reason and rationality rather meaning to life can only be given by the irrationality of faith. Human can live only if he is searching for God, the moment one stops believing he is as same as dead. He turns back to faith at the end but his idea of faith is different from the one held by the Church. His ideas being somewhat influenced by the ideas of Buddhism. His ideas led to the birth of Christian anarchism. He is clear and concise in his ideas and his contradictions. His constant trouble with belief and disbelief is apparent in the text.I personally feel one should definitely read this for understanding the meaning of faith and why it is important for the millions of people. Penguin great ideas series has good paper and font size.

If you love the author, then this is a must buy.

Starts off in dark place and ends in a beautiful one. I related very well to his story and who wouldn’t? Came across this after reading Frankl’s “mans search for meaning” and Peterson’s “12 rules for living”. I have a new creed: “Turn the handle” or biblically “seek and you will find”

A small book about a big question. Tolstoy asks: "Why do I live?" And the conclusions he comes to - about God, faith and meaning in life - felt so relevant to me, so profound and true, it's strange to think they were written by a Russian nobleman nearly a century before my birth. Tolstoy was excommunicated by the Orthodox Church for writing A Confession - definitive proof, surely, that no good deed goes unpunished.

यह एक काफी दिलशास्प किताब है । Must read by all the lovers of literature।