Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse)’s Reviews > War and Peace > Status Update

You would think that at 1100+ pages, there would have been lagging sections, parts skimmed, unnecessary filler. No, there is not. Each section is stronger than the next; the variations in tone creating an extraordinary rhythm and momentum. Now I am too close to the end and don't want it to.

Leo, you crack me up: "Everyone was very well aware that the charming countess's illness was due to inconveniences arising from marring two husbands at once, and that the Italian doctor's treatment consisted in the removal of such inconvenience."

End Part 10 Kutuzov v. Napoleon. "One man cannot guide hundreds of thousands of men struggling with death; that the fate of battles is not decided by the orders given by the commander-in-chief, nor the place in which the troops are stationed, nor the number of cannons, nor of killed, but by that intangible force called the spirit of the army, and he followed that force and led it as far as it lay in his power."

imagery of the hunt - Natasha, Rostov. Rostov grows up. Natashua is humbled. Pierre is delusional ("666"-?). Tolstoy on the fervour of crowds, hero worship, nationalism, religion.

End Part 8. O.M.F.G. Pierre comes THROOOOOOUUUUUGHHH! And Anatole - Tolstoy pulls that vile creep out of a hat (you only THOUGHT you had seen profligate debauchery - hah!). And NATASHA!!! I weep, weep I tell you!

Part VII is rife with significance and symbolism. The Rostovs are a hot mess of a family in turmoil and transition (like Russia itself) - with Natasha the calm centre holding it all together. She's sort of the soul - transcending gender, social role, age, class, etc........

Well, if nothing else - I have honed in more precisely on my reading pace: 60 pp / day (averaged across weekdays/weekends). At this rate, I'll be finished this puppy by Jan 21 leaving me about a week for SOMETHING ELSE. I love it but mother of pearl, it's long.

Real change in tone going on at the 1/3 mark. That hunting scene hard to read :-( Rostov shown lazy, stupid & negligently ungrateful to his parents - a callous useless prick. Doubts about Natasha's engagement to Prince Andrey, then a hunting scene of utter brutality (in which Natasha takes an active part), descr. like one of the war scenes. Lots of symbolism; haven't noticed much of that 'til now.

these Russian boys - prone to idol worship. should I be detecting the homo-erotic undercurrent I do?

Rostov, the twit, loses 43k rubles to Dolohov, the sadist. There's a lot of war in this here peace part.