''The Forged Coupon'' (russian: Фальшивый купон, Fal'shivyi kupon) is a novella in two parts by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. Though he first conceived of the story in the late 1890s, he did not begin writing it until 1902. After struggling for several years, he finally completed the story in 1904; however, it was not published until some of Tolstoy's shorter works were collected and anthologized after his death in 1910.

Synopsis

The story is divided into two parts. In Part I, schoolboy Mitya is in desperate need of money to repay a debt, but his father angrily denies him assistance. Dejected, under the instigation of a friend Makhin, Mitya simply changes a 2.50 rouble bond coupon to read 12.50 roubles, but this one evil deed sets off a chain of events that affects the lives of dozens of others, when his one falsehood indirectly causes a man to murder a woman at the end of Part I, and then seek redemption through religion in Part II. Having written the novella in his dying years, after his

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

, Tolstoy relishes the chance to unveil the "pseudo-piety and hypocrisy of organized religion." Yet, he maintains an unwavering belief in man's capacity to find truth, so the story remains hopeful, especially in Part II, which shows that good works can affect another as in a

domino effect A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect generated when a particular event triggers a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically ...

, just as evil does in Part I. The novella has also been translated with the title "The Counterfeit Note" and "The Forged Banknote."

Adaptations

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, and s ...

used Part I as the basis for his last film, ''

L'Argent ''L'Argent'' ("Money") is the eighteenth novel in the '' Rougon-Macquart'' series by Émile Zola. It was serialized in the periodical ''Gil Blas'' beginning in November 1890 before being published in novel form by Charpentier et Fasquelle in March ...

'' (1983), transposing the action from early nineteenth century

tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to: * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547) *Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) *Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...

capitalistic Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private p ...

, present-day France. Moravia, A. (1998). L'Argent. In J. Quandt (Ed.), Robert Bresson. Toronto: Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, p. 408 Bresson merges the characters of Ivan Mirinov and Stepán into "Yvon Targe", thus providing the

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

with a concise protagonist and focusing more specifically in his story. Because Part II is completely omitted, there is no redeeming the many characters and their crimes that lead up to murder in Part I. The film ''

Frozen Land ''Frozen Land'' ( fi, Paha maa) is a 2005 Finnish drama film directed and written by Aku Louhimies starring Jasper Pääkkönen, Mikko Leppilampi and Pamela Tola. The film's plot is based on Leo Tolstoy's 1911 posthumously published story "The For ...

'' ( fi, Paha maa) is a 2005 critically acclaimed dark Finnish film drama directed and written by

Aku Louhimies Aku Louhimies (2009) Aku Louhimies (born 3 July 1968) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He has directed feature films, documentary films, commercials and music videos. His international breakthrough was the 2016 serial drama '' Rebe ...

that is based on Part I and set in contemporary Finland.

References

External links

Read the full text o
''The Forged Coupon''
at Project Gutenberg.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Forged Coupon, The 1904 Russian novels 1911 Russian novels Novellas by Leo Tolstoy Russian novels adapted into films

Synopsis

Adaptations

See also

References

External links