Jess's Friend Comments

I cried when he died. Maybe because I couldn't help remembering that passage when he was laying under the blue sky after being wounded, and his mind just clears. Remember when his silly duck of a wife dies in childbirth? and you're not sure how to respond since she's so flaky, and Tolstoy, the devil, describes how her eyes and mouth are shaped as if in fixed and deathly reproach of princely, self-sufficient Andrew, and you know it's a setup for something - and sure enough, Andrew does fall. Head over heels, in love with Natasha.

One of my favorite sections is when Natasha is right at that age when she's on the cusp of womanhood, but still a girl, and she's pacing in the empty ballroom all by herself. Tolstoy is the master of setup, bar none.

I noticed parallels between Pierre and Constantin Levin in Anna Karenina, which is actually my favorite book by Tolstoy, for masochistic reasons. They're really convenient vehicles for Tolstoy's personal theology, even as they are fully developed characters who are actually nothing alike. I noticed you were reading Anna Karenina, too. Godspeed, ma'am.

Sorry for the grafitti. What did you love? And be honest now, there were definitely things that must have pissed you off, too, after all, this is Tolstoy -- I can't help speculating what those might be. Hahaha, you should tell me before I embarrass us both.

Esther wrote: "Oooh, War and Peace. I love Prince Andrew and Natasha. Have you made it through Tolstoy's lengthy thesis on war and Napoleon?"

Only just saw this, sorry Esther. Have now made it through the lengthy thesis. I actually liked the book all the more for the explanation of Tolstoy's thoughts at the end. It helped make the book seem like it had more meaning to it. I also totally loved Prince Andrew and Natasha and had to stop reading for a bit when he died.

Oooh, War and Peace. I love Prince Andrew and Natasha. Have you made it through Tolstoy's lengthy thesis on war and Napoleon?