Hadji Murat

You read, and you read, and you read. You read lots of different books, most of them good, some of them great. Then you decide to read some Tolstoy again, because it's been such a long time.
So you dive in, and after a few lines you wonder why on earth anyone would read anything except Tolstoy... Every page steals your heart, every page breaks your heart (and how does Tolstoy create living, breathing people in just two sentences, how!?), and the sheer quality of the writing is such that you are gasping for air.

This is my introduction to Tolstoy. I'm sure there's little to be said about Tolstoy at this point, especially by a first-time reader, but doggone it I'm committed to my review-all-the-books-I-read policy.

Even in translation Tolstoy is a writer of astonishing craft. While reading this novella, I found myself thinking about the Mennonites out in the country building plain and sturdy wooden furniture with a masterly understanding of their material and their tools. Simple, religious, and strong. Tolstoy's sentences are direct and unadorned. He writes sympathetically, but not sentimentally. His characters are given to the reader in a few telling brush strokes, and while that might be all they get, it's always enough. His sentences are show more straightforward, but not in an affected, stylized manner.

It would be difficult to describe any novella as sweeping, but this one comes close. Hadji Murat is in some ways a conventional story, the tragedy of a great warrior being made obsolete by the winds of change. At each turn of the story, however, Tolstoy brings our attention to the background players, unseen but significant, whose actions ultimately doom Hadji Murat. We see the aristocrats, functionaries, officers, and peasants who stand as Hadji Murat's enemies, and how their actions give shape to his story.

Hadji Murat's own role in the story is interesting. In some ways, he's a cipher. He says little, expresses little, and takes actions that are sometimes difficult to understand. Tolstoy is interested in helping us to understand him, though, and his way of doing this is to give us Hadji Murat's actions then give us all the context that preceded it and to allow us to draw the connections ourselves. Put this way, it may not be entirely apt to describe the novella as a tragedy. Hadji Murat is not doomed by his own flaws--not to say that he has none--but by his circumstances. The real tragedy of the novella is not Hadji Murat's death, but the fact that his life becomes impossible.

Tolstoy's apparent admiration of Hadji Murat makes his death especially poignant. Like any good tragedy, the hero's death is not an isolated phenomenon: it tells us something about ourselves. Only here it is not that we are to see ourselves in Hadji Murat--the thistle being crushed by the great plow tells us nothing about the thistle and everything about the plow. show less

Hadji Murat is a remembered story: "an old story from the Caucasus, part of which I saw, part of which I heard from witnesses, and part of which I imagined to myself." The story depicts the life of soldiers, of nobility, of family life, of the politics of war and the larger-than-life character of Hadji Murat.

Hadji Murat was a real Chechen leader and Tolstoy probably first heard of him while he was serving in the Caucasus, based on his own letters home to his brother. Although it is historical the story reads like a myth in spite of its realism. The primary theme is Murat's struggle to resist his enemies while remaining faithful to himself and his family. But there are many other ideas that can be found in the novel, such as determinism, show more the struggle between a Christian Russia and Muslim Chechnya, and the classic West versus East theme.
The story is told in short chapters or vignettes that ultimately introduce dozens of characters from all levels of Russian and Chechen society. The first two pages of the story are like an overture that depicts the discovery of a thistle bloom in the field that will not "submit" and that reminds the narrator of his memory of the hero, Hadji Murat. The story as remembered begins with Murat and two of his followers fleeing from Shamil, the commander of the Caucasian separatists, who is at war with the Russians. They find refuge at the house of Sado, a loyal supporter of Murat. However, the local people learn of his presence and chase him out of the village.

Murat decides to make contact with the Russians and sends his aide to them eliciting a promise to meet Murat. Arriving at the fortress of Vozdvizhenskaya, he joins the Russian forces, in hopes of drawing their support in order to overthrow Shamil and save his family. Before his arrival, a small skirmish occurs with some Chechens outside the fortress, and Petrukha Avdeyev, a young Russian soldier bleeds out in a local military hospital after being shot. There is a chapter-length aside about the childless Petrukha who volunteered as a conscript in place of his brother who had a family of his own. Petrukha's father regrets this because he was a dutiful worker compared to his complacent brother.

While at Vozdvizhenskaya, Murat befriends Prince Semyon Vorontsov, his wife Maria and his son, and wins over the good will of the soldiers stationed there. They are at once in awe of his physique and reputation, and enjoy his company and find him honest and upright. The Vorontsovs give him a present of a watch which fascinates him.
On the fifth day of Murat's stay, the governor-general's adjutant, Mikhail Loris-Melikov arrives with orders to write down Murat's story, and through this some of his history is told. He was born in the village of Tselmes and early on became close to the local khans due to his mother being the royal family's wet nurse. When he was fifteen some followers of Muridism came into his village calling for a holy war (ghazavat) against Russia. Murat declines at first but after a learned man is sent to explain how it will be run, he tentatively agrees. However, in their first confrontation, Shamil—then a lieutenant for the Muslims hostile to the Russians—embarrasses Murat when he goes to speak with the leader Gamzat. Gamzat eventually launches an attack on the capital of Khunzakh and kills the pro-Russian khans, taking control of this part of Dagestan. The slaughter of the khans throws Hadji and his brother against Gamzat, and they eventually succeed in tricking and killing him, causing his followers to flee. Unfortunately, Murat's brother is killed in the attempt and Shamil replaces Gazmat as leader. He calls on Murat to join his struggle, but Murat refuses because the blood of his brother and the khans are on Shamil.

Once Murat has joined the Russians, who are aware of his position and bargaining ability, they find him the perfect tool for getting to Shamil. However, Vorontsov's plans are ruined by the War Minister, Chernyshov. A rival prince who is jealous of him, and Murat has to remain in the fortress because the Tsar is told he is possibly a spy. The story digresses into a depiction of the Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, which reveals his lethargic and bitter nature and his egotistical complacency, as well as his contempt towards women, his brother-in-law, Frederick William IV of Prussia, and Russian students.
The Tsar orders an attack on the Chechens and Murat's remains in the fortress. Meanwhile, Murat's mother, wife and eldest son Yusuf, whom Shamil hold captive, are moved to a more defensible location. Realizing his position (neither trusted by the Russians to lead an army against Shamil, nor able to return to Shamil because he will be killed), Hadji Murat decides to flee the fortress to gather men to save his family.

At this point the narrative jumps forward in time, to the arrival of a group of soldiers at the fortress bearing Murat's severed head. While Maria Dimitriyevna—the companion of one of the officers and a friend of Murat—comments on the cruelty of men during times of war calling them 'butchers', the soldiers then tell the story of Murat's death. The nightingales, which stopped singing during the battle, begin again and the narrator ends by recalling the thistle that had been the catalyst for his original remembrance of Hadji Murat.

The story is filled with realistic details that bring the family of Murat and his comrades to life. His original decision to go over to the Russian side, while understandable, ultimately puts Murat in an untenable position. A scene between his son and Shamil, who his holding him captive, is both poignant and terrifying when Shamil tells the boy that he will slice off his head. The two cultures seem to be both very different yet similar. For example, the Tsar demonstrates condescension and enmity for his peers but this is also true of Shamil. The literary style of Tolstoy where every detail is important and the structure is held together by the mystical union of man and nature makes this short novel a major masterpiece. show less

É uma ótima novela histórica, mas realmente não consegui me conectar, a não ser com a Maria Dimitrievna (que aparece pouco) e a analogia da morte de Murat na primeira página que mais parece a descrição de um estupro. Essa coisa de homens em guerra foge um pouco do meu escopo de empatia, mesmo quando é para criticar o horror e violência dessa "arte" puramente patriarcal.

Hadji Murat feels like an epic read in spite of its relative brevity.
The story contains portents for our modern era especially in understanding historic grievances between the Caucasus and Russia, Islam and Christianity, which have survived the Communist Soviet era. This tale of power and brutality,subterfuge and corruption, personal and military loyalties divided or switched in unlikely and unholy alliances depending upon who needs what most and when, kidnappings, human shields, sham religiosity, and so on resonates strongly today only the cult of personality, with princes and tsars inspiring military loyalty, was stronger pre World War 1 than the nationhood which supercedes it today especially with the demises of dictatorship.
Tolstoy show more even manages to throw in romantic interludes with the rugged and elegant rebel dangerously and familiarly attractive to the otherwise loyal concubines.
Ultimately it is a personal story which ends in sheer futility and the lesson that nothing changes so long as bad and morally weak men can inspire loyalty to the death in return for power and influence.
Although at times I found keeping up with the various factions a little difficult and re read many passages for clarification, the book had my attention throughout and what I believe was the desired effect. show less

Hadji Murad is a story difficult to interprete. Tolstoy seems to be taking shots at Czarism and Russian imperialism holding up for us with admiration Hadji Murad, a muslim and a Chechen repel commander. Bound by honor and duty and reverence for his religion. Yet there’s brutality on each side - maybe more a disillusionment attitude towards war of any kind seems to be preeminent in Tolstoy’s retelling of this story - a mixture of history and fiction, facts and myth.

This novella explores themes of loyalty and the consequences of violence in this novel, which delves into the conflict between the Russian Empire and the Muslim Chechens. I might have enjoyed it more had I been better acquainted with the Caucasian War and the different perspectives involved. The story shifts between various viewpoints and time periods, which gives it a less cohesive feel compared to some of Tolstoy’s more famous works like [War and Peace] or [Anna Karenina]. The pacing is slow and drawn-out, with lengthy passages of philosophical musings or war descriptions that can feel repetitive. These extended sections seem to serve as a substitute for deeper emotional engagement with the characters. Additionally, the novella's show more relatively brief length—just 104 pages—likely contributed to the underdevelopment of its characters. This was Tolstoy’s final work, published posthumously. show less