How Much Land Does a Man Need? By Tolstoy
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Show Notes
This week, Matt and Cameron will learn not to specifically challenge the devil in “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy. Hailed as “the greatest story that the literature of the world knows,” by James Joyce (honestly, it might be more notable if someone hasn’t lauded a work by Tolstoy as such), How Much Land makes use of the skaz storytelling style in order to convey a morality tale about a man who, in his greed, learns exactly how much land he needs.
Major themes: Koumiss, Skaz, Oddly aggressive conversation between siblings
17:10 - I got my wires crossed on this one. Gandhi was not a member of a Tolstoyan cult, although he did set up a cooperative farm in South Africa named after Tolstoy. Additionally, the two never met although they did exchange letters.
35:10 - “Greed is bad but koumiss is phenomenal.” Just wanted to savor that a bit more.
The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.
