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War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Start date: April 1, 2018

Finish date: June 30, 2018

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Feb 03, 2022 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, history, classics, 1001-books, russian-lit, political, war, 60-before-60, read-in-2022

One note about editions: I was reading from three different sources, and discovered that my beautiful, boxed three volume set by Everyman's Library OMITTED three chapters at the end of Volume 1. No explanation. The chapters just are not there.

I have waited many, many years to read Tolstoy's classic, War and Peace because I was intimidated. But I finally tackled it, and found it to be brilliant. I loved getting to know the characters, experiencing the era, getting to know more about the wars with One note about editions: I was reading from three different sources, and discovered that my beautiful, boxed three volume set by Everyman's Library OMITTED three chapters at the end of Volume 1. No explanation. The chapters just are not there.

I have waited many, many years to read Tolstoy's classic, War and Peace because I was intimidated. But I finally tackled it, and found it to be brilliant. I loved getting to know the characters, experiencing the era, getting to know more about the wars with Napoleon. I could picture the clothing, the food, the homes, the terrain, and the battles. At one point I went to Google to look up the battle of Borodino. The painting I found looked exactly as I pictured it in my mind. Also, I loved how he seamlessly wove into the fictional story real characters from the time.

I have only one complaint -- and its a big one. Epilogue 2 does nothing to continue the story of the novel or the stories from history. It is more of an extended essay by Tolstoy on his philosophy of war. I hated it, and that epilogue nearly caused me to lower my rating.

Before reading this book I knew virtually nothing about Napoleon or these wars, and this book taught me so much. It was, perhaps, the most beautiful course in history that I have ever taken. I am highly motivated to find more books that explore this time period.

The book is packed full with many, many characters. One of the things that makes it work well is how well they all interact with one another, and how real those interactions are. For example, we watch one mother grieve the death of her son, and it is so emotionally impactful that I found myself grieving alongside her. We watch as people fall in love, and unfortunately as they betray one another. We see men who have real friendships, and some who dislike one another. These people are very real, and despite the era they are very easy to understand in 2022. Some of the characters were almost too kind and selfless. I wanted Princess Marya to tell her father where to go... But most are quite flawed, making them even more interesting. Prince Andrei is quite heroic, but also very selfish. Helene is vain and self-centered. Prince Nikolai was incapable of looking outside himself because he was too childish, and still I liked him. Prince Pierre had an incredibly interesting arc, showing tremendous growth over the course of his storyline.

Also, I do recommend making yourself a character list with all the nicknames, because it will take a while before you can keep them straight.
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