"Kholstomer" ( rus, Холстомер, p=xəlstɐˈmʲer), also translated as "Strider", is a work by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

that has been referred to as “one of the most striking stories in

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

”. It was started in 1863 and left unfinished until 1886, when it was reworked and published as "Kholstomer: The Story of a Horse". Georgi Tovstonogov staged it in his theatre in 1975. The horse was played by Yevgeni Lebedev. This story prominently features the technique of

defamiliarization Defamiliarization or ''ostranenie'' ( rus, остранение, p=ɐstrɐˈnʲenʲɪjə) is the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way so they could gain new perspectives and see the world diffe ...

by adopting the perspective of a horse to expose some of the irrationalities of human conventions. Strider's altruistic life is recounted parallel to that of his selfish and useless owner. At the end of the story Strider dies but his corpse gives birth to a new life - that of wolf cubs:

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* English Text *
''Kholstomer''
from RevoltLib.com *

from Marxists.org *
''Kholstomer''
from TheAnarchistLibrary.org * Commentaries *

1886 books Short stories by Leo Tolstoy Horses in literature {{1880s-story-stub

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