In so far as the supposition concerns Tolstoi's opinions on
Shakespeare, it is definitely erroneous. Those who have spoken
of Tolstoi's hatred for Shakespeare as if it had been restricted to
his later years have not been aware of the record of Tolstoi's life­
long expression of opinions about Shakespeare. An examination
of that record, we shall see, shows that even in his youth and
middle age, Tolstoi was bitterly opposed to Shakespeare

"He was a savage [...] who had some imagination. He has written many happy lines; but his pieces can please only at London and in Canada. It is not a good sign for the taste of a nation when that which it admires meets with favor only at home."

‏¹http://www.questia.com/library/book/shakespeare-and-...

c'était un sauvage qui avait de l'imagination; il a fait même quelques vers heureux, mais ses pièces ne peuvent plaire qu'à Londres, et au Canada. Ce n'est pas bon signe pour le goût d'une nation quand ce qu'elle admire ne réussit que chez elle.

"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." - Mark Twain