Steve’s review of War and Peace > Likes and Comments

I reel in shock at the sacrilege...

James wrote: "I reel in shock at the sacrilege..."

Haha, the more sacred the ground, the more fun it is to desecrate.

Your review in the form of a limerick coupled with the Bard (barred) for life rejection slip provided me with my first smile of the day. Thanks! :)

P.S. Many years ago--ca. the early third quarter of the last century--I received a rejection letter for my one and only submission to that famous poetry magazine. My rejection was, shall we say, more prosaic. ;)

Gary wrote: "Your review in the form of a limerick coupled with the Bard (barred) for life rejection slip provided me with my first smile of the day. Thanks! :)

P.S. Many years ago--ca. the early third quarter..."

I hope you get more smiles than that for your day, Gary. Ironic how their rejection was so prosaic, but then I suppose rejection typically is.

Steve wrote: "Gary wrote: "Your review in the form of a limerick coupled with the Bard (barred) for life rejection slip provided me with my first smile of the day. Thanks! :)

P.S. Many years ago--ca. the early ..."

Thanks, Steve. And yes, I guess their rejection was almost as prosaic as my poem. ;)

Gary wrote: "Thanks, Steve. And yes, I guess their rejection was almost as prosaic as my poem. ;)"

:-) Better prosaic than puerile (as mine tend to be).

😁

4triplezed wrote: "😁"

Hilarious review. LoL

Wonderful.

Hehehehe, Steve. I actually looked at this book in my shelves in my office about two weeks ago and thought I might want to reread it. But ai yai yai, the length. I decided against it. Now you make me feel good about that decision :-)) Made my day, actually.

Very well said. I did try this one a couple of decades ago but could only get through the Peace sections.

Imran wrote: "Hilarious review. LoL"

Thanks, Imran!

Kathleen wrote: "Wonderful."

Much appreciated, Kathleen!

Margitte wrote: "Hehehehe, Steve. I actually looked at this book in my shelves in my office about two weeks ago and thought I might want to reread it. But ai yai yai, the length. I decided against it. Now you make ..."

I'm glad my implicit anti-recommendation helped, Margitte. :-) Still, we both have the satisfaction of having read it once. (Er, well, 0.9 times for me.)

Lisa wrote: "Very well said. I did try this one a couple of decades ago but could only get through the Peace sections."

Thank you, Lisa! Sounds like you could have done with a tweaked version too. :-)

I loved Tolstoy's thoughts on war but could have done without the battle descriptions. Those Russian authors are rarely succinct. Thanks for the bit of humor.

Thinking of books that those Russians have inked,
I know not a one that I'd label succinct!

Thanks for your comment, Barbara. Agreed!

I think the only reason I would have this book on my nightstand is to kill intruders with its heft.....

Loved that, Steve! I’m quite sure I skimmed the battle scenes as well.

Sonja wrote: "I think the only reason I would have this book on my nightstand is to kill intruders with its heft....."

I doubt even Rasputin would have survived such a blow, Sonja. :-)

Angela M wrote: "Loved that, Steve! I’m quite sure I skimmed the battle scenes as well."

Oh, good! I'm not the only one. Thanks for saying, Angela.

I love this. How many of us can relate. I labored through thinking...too long...so many times. Glad I endured, however.

Thanks, Deyanne! And congratulations for making it through. I had that same feeling of accomplishment/relief after Infinite Jest.

I'm laughing again. Doubt I will tackle Infinite Jest anytime soon. Actually, in all honesty, I almost caved during the reading. I promised a granddaughter to read it with her. One must keep those promises to family.

Wow, I'm impressed by your ambition, Deyanne, as well as your granddaughter's. So far I haven't committed to anything with my grandson, but then he's only 4 months old. Hop on Pop Pop would be a contender if only someone would write a follow-up version for grandfathers.

You have now made me laugh three times already this morning. Have a great day.

Deyanne wrote: "You have now made me laugh three times already this morning. Have a great day."

My better half is spending part of his retirement catching up on the classics we missed in college (Both of us were English majors). This is one of them. He stated that although it's a Russian soap opera with so many characters that it's a challenge to keep track of them all, it was well worth reading (His favorite catch-up book is "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Both are on my list.

I applaud you both for tracking back to those classics. I liked The Count of Monte Cristo, too, even though I read the abridged version of that one. Hope you enjoy them both, Connie.

It's funny that you mention "abridged," Steve. I initially bought Tony a large copy of CMC for Christmas. When he opened the fly-leaf, it read "Abridged." Wait! What?
We returned it and purchased the full version, which he read. He counts it as his favorite book of all time...other than the Sherlock Holmes series. He's got me reading those, too, albeit with a little help via Benedict Cumberbatch. Oh, my.

Connie wrote: "It's funny that you mention "abridged," Steve. I initially bought Tony a large copy of CMC for Christmas. When he opened the fly-leaf, it read "Abridged." Wait! What?
We returned it and purchased t..."

I'm sure Tony was right to read the unabridged version. That said, I didn't feel like the edition I read was particularly skimpy. At least it wasn't the Classic Comics version. :-)

Enjoy Sherlock! Those stories are great -- and the extrapolations are often pretty decent, too (Benedict C.'s being one of them).

Oh, how those Classics Comics were my middle-school mainstay! I believe they tickled my interest in reading the real deal a bit later on.

Connie wrote: "Oh, how those Classics Comics were my middle-school mainstay! I believe they tickled my interest in reading the real deal a bit later on."

I remember liking those, too. In fact, the one that comes to mind is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which now seems especially poignant.

Yes, for me on many levels as my heritage is French (Canadian; French is my first language).
Last spring we took our first trip abroad, to France. Of course we visited the cathedral and heard Mass there, in the language I remember from childhood.
I read Hunchback in college in the early 1970s. I recently bought a book of my own and found it to be unreadable. I chalk that up to a lousy translation and will find another and read it again. Poignant, indeed.

My wife, daughter, and I have visited it multiple times and have always considered it special. I imagine that having attended a mass there makes it even more so. Evidently the organ was spared, so I was happy to hear that.

Barred - lol

Most people know not to encourage me, but I always appreciate the smiles.