G is for God: "What Men Live By" by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Nathan Haskell Dole)

 3-707

Other G words: Good and Evil and Government

Summary: An angel is banished to Earth to learn about love. It's like It's a Wonderful Life: Silver Age Thor Edition

Bonus: Final Fantasy VII is peak MIDI.

Commentary: I picked this one out a while ago, and I'm a little surprised I picked God for my G word. I'm guessing I just did it as an excuse to read Tolstoy. 

First impressions: Wow, that's a lot of epigraph! 

I like the cobbler almost giving the guy his hat, but then changing his mind since he's bald and the guy has hair. 

The ending is really the most interesting part. It starts out in the OT "God is a dick, hurray!" mode that I spent so much time complaining about last year, but veers into a more NT "Love each other" lane. It's interesting to see the two (often separate) aspects blended in one story. Classics grade 2/5: Worth reading, but not required.

I'm thankful for finally having an excuse to read some Tolstoy. Now I can be even more of an insufferable hipster.