This book consists with two Tolstoy's stories: How Much Land Does A Man Need? and What Men Live By. Tolstoy's stories have the mystical and whimsical aura in a way that spiritualism is easily understood.
In How Much Land Does A Man Need? Tolstoy depicts how human could easily driven by their greed and the Devil sees it all, lurking and hiding right in front of human that has no idea Devil tries to seduce them to join them...
In What Men Live By, Tolstoy tells a story of an angel that were lost in guidance and doubting the God's decisions, and in the life of a humble husband and wife, the angel found the answers for all what he asked... ( )

**** Great read. This book kept me turning pages. I wholeheartedly recommend it if you enjoy the genre.

Two short but powerful stories in the style one can expect from the Russians of that time. It is full of religious symbolism, and Tolstoj has a knack of picking a major religious theme and writing a story around it. These two stories touch on greed and the omnipresence of God respectively, and together make an enjoyable evening read in this small pocket volume. ( )

The two short stories of Tolstoy are basically morality stories. Of course they are well written and easy to read but unfortunately they're too didactic and religious for me. ( )

This is very readable. I can see why Tolstoy is so popular still. My issues were with the content: The title story follows a man who even when he gets enough land he still wants more - relevant and topical in a world where enough is still never enough. But the religious - tempted by the devil - plot point for me was unnecessary. People are greedy - no need to blame an imaginary being for basic human nature.
The second story was even more preachy and completely illogical (or maybe it makes prefect sense if you believe in god!). What Men Live By is the story of a poor man who when he encounters a random naked man on a cold night invites him to come home with him (all very charitable) this man ends up living with this man and his family for the next 6 years and learning to make shoes. Everyone prospers (Yay!). The end of the story we find out the stranger is an angel who has been cast out by god until he has learnt 3 lessons. The reason he was cast out was because he didn't want to collect the soul of a woman who had just had twin girls (woman's husband had been killed a week earlier). The justification of the "lessons" he learns are without any rational thought. Moral of the story as far as I can see is: God is a Dick. ( )

Full review to come! ( )