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" Great look at the history of art. "
- Michael, 1/12/2014
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" A communist, yet still bourgeois view of artists as egocentric and parasitic. He raises good questions, such as how to recognize art, but seems to think that the inability to answer them is the fault of art and artists. I did like his definition of art as spiritual union. But what does that say about people who love reality TV? "
- Ann, 11/21/2013
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" Tolstoy raised some very interesting points and - as Kandinsky, Rothko, and others afterwards - he assaulted this self-indulgent notion of artists who created "art for art's sake" and devoid of any type of meaning to the individual (ie. Wagner, Baudeaire, Beethoven, etc. ...) I believe it to be one of the most important philosophical works stemming from the late 19th-century and have used this work in tandem with Kivy's "A Philosophy of Music" when teaching aesthetics and philosophy. "
- Brian, 10/4/2013
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" Tolstoy, thank you for writing this-- I now know most of what we call Art we should call Not Art. I know John Gardner thanks you as well, had you not written this he would have never pulled off _On Moral Fiction_. What is next for Team Tolstoy? Let's do brunch. "
- Jim, 9/23/2013
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" Read this way back in the day as an undergraduate for a seminar on Contemporary Art Issues. It indeed had an impact on forming my perception of art as an infection of feelings from artist to audience. 20 years later, it's probably worth a re-read... "
- Mark, 6/2/2013
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" so much about this pissed me off. "
- Beth, 3/19/2013
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" Brilliant. Love reading Tolstoy's thought process. "
- Morgan, 6/3/2012
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" This book very thoroughly said some stuff that might not have needed so much thoroughness. Agreed with some of it, didn't agree with some of it. It made me rebelliously make it's review vague and brief. "
- Shayna, 3/23/2012
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" Apparently art isn't art unless it's glorifying Christianity. His definition of art could have only been rendered more narrow if he claimed that portraits of Jesus himself are exclusively what constitutes "Art". "
- Joshua, 8/10/2011
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" and well book by tolstoy "
- Veysel, 7/18/2011
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" i just couldn't agree with Tolstoy's personal use of christianity as a rubric for evaluating art. and he also shoots himself in foot by saying that good art lacks superfluous detail! whoops! "
- Laurel, 7/4/2011
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" amazing the spin he put on art and beauty. "
- Nile, 5/31/2011
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" If anyone wants to know where Gandhi and MLK got their non-violence from, or where I originally got my Christian anarchy views from, check this book out. It's a classic, really, so it's unfortunate that not many people have heard of it.
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- J-luce, 5/12/2011
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" Just skip the first half. The latter half makes up for it.
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- Joseph, 1/19/2011
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" Little has changed from 19th Century Russia to 21 Century with regard to the hypocrisy & sophistry of Christians who profess faith in Christ without so much as making the attempt of the lifestyle and teachings he advocated. This is still relevant today.
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- Jonathan, 12/30/2010
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" For anyone serious about studying and adopting the way of non-violence, this book must be read. Tolstoy's greatest non-fiction work. This book inspired Gandhi as he was formulating his non-violent practices.
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- Matt, 11/3/2010
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" He sticks to his guns, but his guns are pretty stupid.
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- Stephen, 10/11/2010
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" Had to read it for class. Nobody would ever read this for pleasure. Five stars anyway! Why? It's Tolstoy.
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- Ted, 2/15/2010
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" good stuff fo the soul
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- Mugo, 12/5/2009
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" This is incredible...from the man who inspired ghandi and penned his feelings bout antiestablishment practices and non-violent response. enjoying it immensely, esp. after reading Abbie Hoffman...
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- Leah, 11/3/2009
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