Rebecca's review
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy is so compassionate to his characters, and so detailed in his descriptions of their emotional and physical lives. His best, most favored characters all are engaged deeply in the question of "what is this life, how can I best live it?"
There are, of course, too many things to say about this book, but here are a few: a) a bilingual culture--one language represents the higher class, and certain ideas can only be expressed in French--what happens, then, when this culture is attacked by the French? b) How life goes on in mundane ways even during the most extraordinary of circumstances, c) Death, how to die, the process of dying, some stages--this is one of Tolstoy's great subjects, and excellent to compare to Ivan Ilyich.
After living inside this world for the past month, I'm very sorry to be finished with it, to have exited it.
There are, of course, too many things to say about this book, but here are a few: a) a bilingual culture--one language represents the higher class, and certain ideas can only be expressed in French--what happens, then, when this culture is attacked by the French? b) How life goes on in mundane ways even during the most extraordinary of circumstances, c) Death, how to die, the process of dying, some stages--this is one of Tolstoy's great subjects, and excellent to compare to Ivan Ilyich.
After living inside this world for the past month, I'm very sorry to be finished with it, to have exited it.
I just got this translation: excited to read it now!!
