Sonata for Crozer

Book name: Sonata for Crothers Author: Lev Tolstoy Publisher: Al-Mada Book classification: Novel Brief about the book: This famous text which sparked many debates, imagine it Tolstoy after he surpassed sixty. And the author takes a stance regarding the marital problem and towards music art alike. And before we tackle the first problem, let us briefly mention that Tolstoy loved music very much since his youth and at all times of his life. But after his great religious and moral crisis that led him to hate art and literature, and to reject the works of his main contemporaries, he ended up with hatred for music itself, which he considered overly emotional. And in "What is Art" he mocks Wagner's operas, and denies Beethoven, emphasizing that the Ninth Symphony "divides people instead of uniting them." What he particularly fears is the power of magic in music, which in his view, its effect is not based on elevating the soul, nor lowering it, but rather it excites it and awakens its demons. Therefore, "what a terrible thing, that music!" as the hero of the Sonata for Crothers exclaims.