The world of

Childhood

The smallest moments become the memories that shape a life.

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The whole library

All 127 Worlds, $99.99

Every World, and every book to read in full. One payment, yours to keep.

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The collectionThe Russian Masters10 Worlds

This collection includes Childhood, along with Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Dead Souls, Notes from the Underground, Oblomov, The Idiot and The Inspector-General.

$19.99

Counts in full toward the library. See the collection · Give it as a gift

A scrollable world for your phone

How you explore Childhood on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

  • Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
  • A feed, not a wall of text. 24 characters, 13 places, 19 objects and 7 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
  • The author’s own words. 45 passages of Childhood sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Leo Tolstoy wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
  • The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Leo Tolstoy instead.

The Childhood feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of Childhood

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

  • The Morning at Petrovskoe
  • Papa Announces Moscow
  • Country Life and Natalia Savishna
  • The Parting
  • The Letter and Moscow
  • The Mazurka
  • Grief

The author's pen in Childhood

The passages themselves, Leo Tolstoy's own words, as Literah maps it.

  • Karl Ivanitch Wakes Mech. 1
  • The Youngest Tormentedch. 1
  • Karl's Sympathych. 1
  • The Children’s Librarych. 1
  • Forgotten In The Cornerch. 1
  • Karl No Longer Wantedch. 1
  • Mamma Through Tearsch. 2
  • Mamma Not Noticingch. 2
  • Beauty In a Smilech. 2
  • Why Did You Crych. 2
  • Counting Expected Roublesch. 3
  • A Mistake In The Accountsch. 3
  • Taken To Moscowch. 3
  • Goodbye to Milkach. 3
  • Tears Over a Lessonch. 4
  • Expect No Gratitudech. 4
  • Karl Ivanitch No Longer Wantedch. 4
  • The Hideous Stranger Entersch. 5
  • Pity Grief And Fearch. 5
  • The Mysterious Purple Forestch. 7

The characters of Childhood

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

  • Nikolai Irtenyevmajor
  • Mammamajor
  • Papamajor
  • Karl Ivanitchmajor
  • Volodyamajor
  • Grishasupporting
  • Lyubochkasupporting
  • Katyasupporting
  • Mimisupporting
  • Nikolasupporting
  • Yakov Mikhailovichsupporting
  • Natalia Savishnasupporting
  • Grandmammasupporting
  • Fokaminor
  • Ignatminor
  • Turkaminor

The locations in Childhood

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

  • The Schoolroomroom
  • The Children’s Bedroombedroom
  • The Drawing Roomroom
  • Papa’s Studystudy
  • Nikola’s Pantryservants room
  • Petrovskoe Estate Houseestate house
  • Petrovskoe Estate Grounds and Gardenestate grounds
  • Kalinovo Wood and Hunting Fieldwood
  • The Road from Petrovskoe to Moscowroad
  • The Moscow Householdcity household
  • Grandmamma’s Housefamily house
  • Grandmamma’s Drawing Room and Salonsalon
  • The Sickroom and Mourning Room at Petrovskoesickroom

The core concepts in Childhood

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

  • Childhood Perception
  • Memory Makes Meaning
  • Love in Ordinary Life
  • Service and Dignity
  • Shame as Moral Education
  • Society and Performance
  • Spiritual Sincerity
  • Loss Ends Childhood

The objects of note in Childhood

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

  • Karl Ivanitch’s Red Cap
  • Karl Ivanitch’s Fly-Flap
  • Karl Ivanitch’s Snuff-Box
  • Karl Ivanitch’s Spectacles
  • Karl’s Schoolbooks and German Books
  • Schoolroom Maps and Blackboard
  • Mamma’s Tea Service
  • Mamma’s Embroidery Frame
  • Papa’s Estate Papers and Money Envelopes
  • Yakov Mikhailovich’s Tablets
  • Grisha’s Staff
  • Grisha’s Holy Images
  • Hunting Equipment, Horses, and Hounds
  • Natalia Savishna’s Trunks and Linen Lists

The offer

Explore Childhood. And 126 more.

Literah maps the classics into worlds you can walk through: the cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words, passage by passage. Every book is there to read in full too. One payment, no subscription, yours to keep.

$99.99one time · 127 Worlds

Or start with its collection

The collectionThe Russian Masters10 Worlds

This collection includes Childhood, along with Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Dead Souls, Notes from the Underground, Oblomov, The Idiot and The Inspector-General.

$19.99

Counts in full toward the library. See the collection · Give it as a gift

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