--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or…" description: "\"Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did know about the nightmarishness of steam power, unruly machines, and the creepy half-human st..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png" --- # Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did… ![“Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did know about the nightmarishness of steam power, unruly machines, and the creepy half-human status of the Russian peasant classes. In 'Anna Karenina,' nineteenth-century life itself is a relentless, relentlessly modern machine, flattening…” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png) > “Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did know about the nightmarishness of steam power, unruly machines, and the creepy half-human status of the Russian peasant classes. In 'Anna Karenina,' nineteenth-century life itself is a relentless, relentlessly modern machine, flattening those who oppose it.” [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Industrialization is depicted as an unstoppable, dehumanizing force that crushes individuals. **In simple terms:** Steam power dehumanizes people. Key Takeaway Beware systems that strip humanity. Themes industrialization dehumanization modernity Mood somber critical reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - labor movements - urbanization - class struggle - environmental policy Key Concepts Marxist critique alienation technological determinism Questions to Reflect On - How does technology shape identity? - Can individuals reclaim humanity within machines? A Different Perspective It may overlook agency and resistance within oppressive systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anna Karenina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anna-karenina/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Creepy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creepy/) [Cyborgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cyborgs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [One of the things that really impressed me about Anna Karenina when I first read it was how Tolstoy sets you up to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-things-that-really-impressed-me-about-anna-karenina-when-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“«“I meant, tell me all about this steampunk thing!” Gavin broke in. “How does that concept work out for you people, here in Brazil?”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/i-meant-tell-me-all-about-this-steampunk-thing-gavin-broke-in-how/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [I love 'Anna Karenina.' It's in the top five books on my list. Tolstoy is unsurpassed in combining the grand with the trivial, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-minot/i-love-anna-karenina-it-s-in-the-top-five-books-on-my-list-tolstoy-is/) [Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-minot/) > [“ Anna Karenina is sheer perfection as a work of art. No European work of fiction of our present day comes anywhere near it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/anna-karenina-is-sheer-perfection-as-a-work-of-art-no-european-work/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [It’s Tolstoy, by the way,” I say as I open the door. He turns around. “What?” Shut up, I tell myself. Shut up. “The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/it-s-tolstoy-by-the-way-i-say-as-i-open-the-door-he-turns-around-what/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“Tolstoy opens Anna Karenina by observing: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Business is the opposite.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/tolstoy-opens-anna-karenina-by-observing-all-happy-families-are-alike/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [ In high school I read \[Lev\] Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and loved it. Then I read \[Friedrich\] Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morals" and that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/in-high-school-i-read-lev-tolstoy-s-anna-karenina-and-loved-it-then-i/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) > [“As ever, books remained a medium through which Theodore and Edith connected and interpreted the larger world. Like Edith, Theodore filled pages of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/as-ever-books-remained-a-medium-through-which-theodore-and-edith/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Art is bad when ‘you see the intent and get put off.’ (Goethe) In Tolstoy one is unaware of the intent, and sees only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-carmichael/art-is-bad-when-you-see-the-intent-and-get-put-off-goethe-in-tolstoy/) Joel Carmichael > [“Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, commonly referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian novelist, writer, essayist, philosopher, Christian anarchist, pacifist, educational reformer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/count-lev-nikolayevich-tolstoy-commonly-referred-to-in-english-as-leo/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The book that made me decide to go into Russian literature was 'Anna Karenina,' which I first read in high school. The thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/the-book-that-made-me-decide-to-go-into-russian-literature-was-anna/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [One of the stories that really impressed me was 'Anna Karenina.' As a novel, that made an impression on me, showing me what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-stories-that-really-impressed-me-was-anna-karenina-as-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“While it's true that, as Tolstoy observed, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, and everyone on planet Earth, vale of tears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/while-it-s-true-that-as-tolstoy-observed-every-unhappy-family-is/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [To think of Tolstoy eating a sandwich is intrinsically kind of funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/to-think-of-tolstoy-eating-a-sandwich-is-intrinsically-kind-of-funny/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [When you started looking at the life of Tolstoy, there was so much passion and anger and drama surrounding him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/when-you-started-looking-at-the-life-of-tolstoy-there-was-so-much/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More by Elif Batuman > [My parents were born into a secular country. They met in Turkey's top medical school, moved to America in the nineteen-seventies, and became researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/my-parents-were-born-into-a-secular-country-they-met-in-turkey-s-top/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I leafed through the phrase book. If a Martian read it, the Martian would probably decide to avoid Hungary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-leafed-through-the-phrase-book-if-a-martian-read-it-the-martian/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Poetry is another space, like love, where we extend that extra credit to the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/poetry-is-another-space-like-love-where-we-extend-that-extra-credit/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Svetlana said that she identified with that Madonna more than with any other woman in any other painting. She kept asking me what painting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/svetlana-said-that-she-identified-with-that-madonna-more-than-with/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [One of the most painful parts of a breakup is having the feeling that your life is a story, and then the other person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/one-of-the-most-painful-parts-of-a-breakup-is-having-the-feeling-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Dracula visited the Wolf Department at the Zoological Gardens. "These wolves seem upset at something," he observed. The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Humor is really important to me. All my favorite writers are writers I consider to be funny, including Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even though that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/humor-is-really-important-to-me-all-my-favorite-writers-are-writers-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Every time a meteor comes close to the earth, we all think about the end of the world - but our internal soundtrack doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/every-time-a-meteor-comes-close-to-the-earth-we-all-think-about-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I felt grateful to Ataturk that my parents were so well educated, that they weren't held back by superstition or religion, that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-felt-grateful-to-ataturk-that-my-parents-were-so-well-educated-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“For a moment it felt like we weren’t in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/for-a-moment-it-felt-like-we-weren-t-in-the-danube-at-all-but-in-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) [Explore all 182 Elif Batuman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More Computers quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-chu/) > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. Had a one night stand with something cute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/probably-it-goes-without-saying-but-time-machine-guys-don-t-get-a-lot/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Note found in the patron suggestion box: "You have SIGNS up near the computers that say BE QUIET, but people don't be quiet. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-sheridan/note-found-in-the-patron-suggestion-box-you-have-signs-up-near-the/) [Gina Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-sheridan/) > [“You weren't born to be a cog in the giant industrial machine. You were trained to become a cog. There's an alternative available to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/you-weren-t-born-to-be-a-cog-in-the-giant-industrial-machine-you-were/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [The corporate state is an immensely powerful machine, ordered, legalistic, rational, yet utterly out of human control, wholly and perfectly indifferent to any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/the-corporate-state-is-an-immensely-powerful-machine-ordered/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) Jen-Hsun Huang > [The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic carrying innumerable passengers in a way analogous to our modern steam ships.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-pickering/the-popular-mind-often-pictures-gigantic-flying-machines-speeding/) William Henry Pickering > [“Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test: a computer is intelligent if you can't tell it from a human when you talk with it. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cjs-hayward/alan-turing-proposed-the-turing-test-a-computer-is-intelligent-if-you/) [CJS Hayward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cjs-hayward/) > [Computers can be taught that certain tune or certain chords changes will sound pleasant together, but I don't think it's going to reach a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonobo/computers-can-be-taught-that-certain-tune-or-certain-chords-changes/) [Bonobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonobo/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) Cruce Stark > [As in any machine, all the wires must be connected to the mains through one main wire. In the same way, you all must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-in-any-machine-all-the-wires-must-be-connected-to-the-mains/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) [Browse all 9,389 Computers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did know about the nightmarishness of steam power, unruly machines, and the creepy half-human status of the Russian peasant classes. In 'Anna Karenina,' nineteenth-century life itself is a relentless, relentlessly modern machine, flattening those who oppose it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elif Batuman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-cyborgs-but-he-did-know-about/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-cyborgs-but-he-did-know-about/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/elif-batuman-2172_computers_tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-c_2539529.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or cyborgs, but he did know about the nightmarishness of steam power…” — Elif Batuman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elif Batuman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Tolstoy didn't know about steampunk or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-cyborgs-but-he-did-know-about/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/tolstoy-didn-t-know-about-steampunk-or-cyborgs-but-he-did-know-about/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```