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The Reasons for the “Non-meeting” of F.M. Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy
- Authors: Basinsky P.V.1
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Affiliations:
- Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing
- Issue: Vol 26, No 3 (2021): F.M. DOSTOEVSKY: MODERN RECEPTIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS
- Pages: 392-397
- Section: LITERARY CRITICISM
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/literary-criticism/article/view/27641
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9220-2021-26-3-392-397
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Abstract
The well-known historical and literary paradox is considered again: the contemporaries F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy were not personally acquainted, although they had the opportunity to do so more than once. The assumption is substantiated that the main reason for such a “non-meeting” was not only a combination of random circumstances, but also the incredible intuition of both writers: constantly reading each other, feeling the deepest spiritual closeness and understanding the mutual significance for literature and society, both avoided everyday meetings even on literary occasions, because they were afraid that a possible verbal discussion would lead to an involuntary, even temporary profanation of their views.
About the authors
Pavel V. Basinsky
Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing
Author for correspondence.
Email: basinski2006@yandex.ru
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Literary Excellence, Head of the Prose Seminar
25 Tverskoy Bul’var, Moscow, 123104, Russian FederationReferences
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