We can't talk about Realism without talking about Leo Tolstoy. Why? Because he wrote two of the greatest works of Realism… ever: War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

Tolstoy was a Russian aristocrat who, despite his upper-class status, had a real interest in the lives of peasants. His work often deals with big moral and philosophical questions, and his novels are truly epic in scope.

War and Peace

That's right, folks: this is one of the longest novels ever written. But it's also one of the best. And, after you get past the first couple of hundred pages, it's a legit page-turner.

War and Peace tells the story of various members of Russian society during the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in the early 19th century. It provides a panoramic view of Russian society and history at the time, and it's full of rich details, philosophical discussions, and even romance. It's also got over 500 distinct characters, and not just one but two epilogues.

Talk about epic.

Anna Karenina

You've probably heard of Anna Karenina: she's the tragic heroine of Tolstoy's second great novel, married to a man she doesn't love and in love with a man she can't marry. Sigh.

But believe it or not, only half the novel is actually about Anna herself. It's actually all about a couple of distinct, vividly characterized families, and they way they deal with love and marriage. It's also, like War and Peace, a panoramic view of Russian society and the issues it was facing in the 1870s. Who said a tragic love story couldn't also be an epic meditation on society, religion, family, and the meaning of life?

Chew on This

War and Peace isn't just about war and peace. It's about family, domestic life, everyday life, and even the meaning of life. Check out how Tolstoy deals with the family theme in the novel.

Anna Karenina is all about class and the hypocrisy of Russian high society. Here's an analysis of the theme in the novel.