“It is always easy, but not always comforting, to read Mr. Birrell. When he is writing about books he is commonly delightful, though even here he cannot resist the temptation to ‘get his knife into’ something or somebody that he dislikes.”
+ + – Spec. 96: 97. Ja. 20, ’06. 1160w.
Birukoff, Paul. Early life of Leo Tolstoy, his life and work. **$1.50. Scribner.
The work of a man who was a friend of Tolstoi’s and in his employ. The outlines of M. Paul Birukoff’s biography were filled in by notes furnished by Tolstoi himself which fact lends a serious and authoritative value to the work. This first volume gives an account of the origin of the Tolstois, the novelist’s childhood, youth and manhood, and ends with his marriage. “A great deal of attention is devoted to the moral development of the young prodigy and very little to those amusements and external interests that probably were of far more importance in shaping his character.” (Acad.)
“It is indeed a most serious work and suggests that the author was much more anxious to exhibit Leo Tolstoy as a prophet and teacher than as a literary artist whose province it is to hold the mirror up to nature.”
+ – Acad. 70: 498. My. 26, ’06. 2030w. (Review of v. 1.)
“This most interesting publication ought to find many readers.”
+ Ath. 1906, 2: 178. Ag. 18. 1360w. (Review of v. 1.)
“There can be no doubt that this work will be a mine of information to the more critical biographer as well as in itself of much value.”