THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Russian House in Thiruvananthapuram, in association with the Honorary Consulate of Russia, is organising a month-long literary festival as part of the 195th birth anniversary celebrations of renowned writer Leo Tolstoy.
Noted filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan inaugurated the festival on Thursday. Former diplomat T P Sreenivasan, writer, and director of the Centre for Performing Arts under the University of Kerala, Raja Warrier, literary critic Pradeep Panagad and Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation and director of the Russian House Ratheesh C Nair spoke on the occasion.
In his inaugural address, Adoor said Tolstoy was a master of realistic fiction and one of the world’s greatest novelists. Tolstoy not only drew from his own life experiences but also created characters in his own image.
His writing style is characterised by realism, psychological depth, and philosophical insight. Tolstoy’s works such as ‘How much land does a man need’ and ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich’ reflect the lust of man for wealth.
These works have had a long and lasting influence on readers, said Adoor Sreenivasan, who had served as India’s ambassador to many countries, said that Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ were two classics that make him one of the greatest writers. Some critics consider ‘Anna Karenina’ as the supreme masterpiece of 19th-century literature.