My son who is away at college, George Wythe College, see http://gw.edu is reading Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy for his class on family culture. I was amazed to text him last week and discover that instead of watching the BYU football game he was actually reading that famous Russian novel. When I found out that he is reading it reminded me of two points.

The first point is that one of the really cool aspects of Fascinating Womanhood, a much maligned-somewhat- cheesy-but-is-worth-reading-and-applying book about how to increase the happiness in your marriage, is all the references to classical literature. I love it! The author, an LDS woman named Helen Andelin, who was about the age of my grandmother, tells a story of an author of classic literature, Tolstoy. She tells the story to illustrate the principle that you shouldn’t try to change your husband. You should accept him as he is.

Leaving home for the second time…after a visit to see his ortho here at home.

She writes that Tolstoy converted to Christianity after they married. His new religion changed his views on materialism. He decided to give away his wealth to the poor. His wife hated that and begged him not to. She became very unhappy. because she did not accept his new religion and died a bitter woman. I love hearing stories like this that show the power of Christianity. This is something that you don’t hear in public school! I have been Googling Tolstoy to see if I can confirm this story and so far I have been unable to. But I hope it’s true, at least the part about him becoming Christian.

Some web site authors write that Tolstoy didn’t really become Christian. I am wondering if he did, but he just didn’t fit into the Christianity that was prevalent in that day, or the Christianity that is prevalent today, so they discount his conversion. It seems like he had a broader view of the universe and man’s place in it that fits right in with the Mormons.

Here’s a video that claims he did become a Christian.

This reminded me of my point number 2, that Tolstoy had something to say about “the new American religion,” Latter-day Saint Christianity, or Mormonism. I can’t remember where I heard this, was it in my BYU Honors History of Western Civ class, or at church? Probably in my BYU class, because the professor had an affinity for Russians. He believed that more of the blood of the tribes of Israel was in Russian than any where else.  Anyway, I did some sleuthing and found this cool video that tells what my faded memory was grasping for. This is  what Tolstoy thought of Mormonism. It makes me wonder, maybe if LDS missionaries had found him, maybe he would have been baptized! Now I am thinking I want to read Anna Karenina, or at least get it free at http://librivox.org and listen to it, in my spare time, that would be my multitasking  time when I drive, dejunk, or organize. He sounds like a fascinating man!