{"product_id":"a-confession-9781779450098","title":"A Confession","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Confession or My Confession, is a classic Leo Tolstoy book and a short work on the subject of melancholia, philosophy and religion. It was written in 1879 to 1880, when Tolstoy was in his early fifties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question: \"If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?.\" Without the answer to this, for him, life had become \"impossible\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story begins with the Eastern fable of the dragon in the well. A man is chased by a beast into a well, at the bottom of which is a dragon. The man clings to a branch that is being gnawed on by two mice (one black, one white, representing night and day and the relentless march of time). The man is able to lick two drops of honey (representing Tolstoy's love of his family and his writing), but because death is inevitable, he no longer finds the honey sweet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTolstoy goes on to describe four possible attitudes towards this dilemma. The first is ignorance. If one is oblivious to the fact that death is approaching, life becomes bearable. The problem with this for him personally is that he is \u003cem\u003enot\u003c\/em\u003e ignorant. Having become conscious of the reality of death, there is no going back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTolstoy, Leo:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \"Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 - 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909.Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, Tolstoy's notable works include the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), [often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction, and two of the greatest books of all time.[2][3] He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852-1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. His fiction includes dozens of short stories such as \"After the Ball\" (1911), and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), Family Happiness (1859) and Hadji Murad (1912). He also wrote plays and essays concerning philosophical, moral and religious themes.\"","brand":"Binker North","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50869426979090,"sku":"9781779450098","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ee11c7bb-6382-49db-af77-7cb036a4a075.jpg?v=1748692945","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-confession-9781779450098","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}