War and Peace is among the greatest books I've ever read. TY for this.

Great book and great review.

" Anna Karenina, a small but immensely beautiful novel. You must wonder why I should include a novel in my list. Just because I am crazy! I like all kinds of things. Anna Karenina is one of my most loved books. How many times I have read it I can’t remember. I mean the number of times - I remember the book perfectly well, I can relate the whole book. If I was drowning in the ocean and had to choose just one novel out of all the millions of novels in the world, I would choose Anna Karenina. It would be beautiful to be with that beautiful book. It has to be read and read again; only then you can feel it, smell it, and taste the flavor. It is no ordinary book. Leo Tolstoy failed as a saint, just as Mahatma Gandhi failed as a saint, but Leo Tolstoy was a great novelist. Mahatma Gandhi succeeded as - and will remain forever - a pinnacle of sincerity. I don’t know of any other man in this century who was so sincere. When he wrote to people ‘sincerely yours’ he was really sincere. When you write ‘sincerely yours’, you know, and everybody else knows, and the person to whom you are writing also knows, that it is all bullshit. It is very difficult, almost impossible, to really be ‘sincerely yours’. That’s what makes a person religious - sincerity. Leo Tolstoy wanted to be religious but could not be. He tried hard. I feel great sympathy with his effort, but he was not a religious person. He has to wait at least a few more lives. In a way it is good that he was not a religious man otherwise we would have missed Resurrection, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and dozens more beautiful, immensely beautiful books. Nobody is more worthy of a Nobel Prize than Leo Tolstoy. His creativity is immense, he was unsurpassed by anyone. He was nominated, but refused by the committee because of his unorthodox stories on Christianity. The Prize committee opens its records every fifty years. When records were opened in 1950, researchers rushed to see whose names were nominated and cancelled and for what reason. Leo Tolstoy was nominated, but never given the prize as he is not an orthodox Christian. Leo Tolstoy is one of Russia’s wisest men of the 20th century and his ideas on non-violence deeply influenced Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology. Mahatma Gandhi declared three persons his master. The first was Leo Tolstoy, the second was Henry Thoreau, and the third was Emerson. Once Leo Tolstoy was asked - How many experiences did you have of divine ecstasy in your life? Tolstoy started crying. He replied - Not more than 7 in my life of 70 years, but I am grateful for those 7 moments and miserable too. In those moments it was evident that is could have been the flavor of my whole life but that didn’t happen. Those moments came and went on their own. But I am still grateful to God that even without any conscious effort on my part, once in a while He has been knocking at my doors.""

This is a book I've read a couple times every year for the past few years. It helped me out of a deep nihilistic slump. The part where you're talking about how certain assumptions will only give rise to certain conclusions is very VERY important, and is the cause of much circular thinking. One thing I enjoy the most in this book is the intellectual integrity, he takes assumptions and follows them all the way down the rabbit hole. He's just such a good writer, very clear and profound. I especially enjoyed his dream at the end. You seem to really enjoy classic Russian literature. Perhaps you might also enjoy the very short story "A Heavenly Christmas Tree" by Dostoevsky (if you haven't read it already). It's like two pages long, but is another work like this one which helped me in a tough time. Probably my favorite Christmas story. Thanks for the review.

I clicked as fast as I could when I saw the notification pop up. I read Tolstoy's A Confession a few months ago and it really made me think, it was a fascinating read for sure, and I really enjoyed your review on it. Keep up the good work Alex!

You truly value quality over quantity, love the video!

Great job dude! love your expression, going to explore your other vids now :)