The Kreutzer Sonata

Description

The Kreutzer Sonata is a work of philosophical fiction by Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1889. It was censored by Russian authorities, and the United States Post Office Department prohibited the mailing of newspapers which contained serialised installments of the book, with Theodore Roosevelt calling Tolstoy a 'sexual moral pervert'. The book's main character, Pozdnyshev, relates the events that lead to the killing of his wife, giving a detailed first-person description of jealous rage. The title of the book comes from the episode in which Pozdnyshev's wife performs Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata with a violinist, which triggers his jealousy.

Part of Anne Haight's List of Banned Books.

This book has 72 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1889. This is a translation by Benjamin Tucker.

Production notes: This ebook of The Kreutzer Sonata was published by Global Grey ebooks on the 19th January 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'Kreutzer Sonata' by René-Xavier Prinet.