Scan barcode
A review by alexiacambaling
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
5.0
When I started reading again after a few months of not reading, I decided to go for War and Peace. Three years ago when I got back into reading after a years-long slump, I wanted to start with War and Peace only to drop it because in a way, I did feel like I wasn’t ready for it at the time. In a way, this does feel like a full circle moment after I promised myself I’d finish it someday. A lot of research into Imperial Russia and Napoleonic war documentaries later, I finally read and finished War and Peace. I actually think that knowing more about the history of Russia and the Napoleonic war improved my experience a lot. It’s actually not a very difficult read, just long. The translation holds up and it’s written in a way that’s very readable and accessible.
War and Peace is difficult to describe as a novel, because it’s not exactly a novel. It’s a chronicle, a story that weaves in and out of the lives of so many characters and concerns itself with so many things. That isn’t to say that it’s tedious, on the contrary, the short chapters actually served to make it a more compelling read. There are subplots you won’t like and subplots you’d love, but Tolstoy doesn’t really spend too much time on any of them. He doesn’t describe things too much. In a way, he can be sparse with what he wants to say. It lends the feeling of the story- of the lives of these characters continuously moving forward as history also moves forward.
What is War and Peace? As the title says, the narrative moves between “war” sections and “peace” sections, although the specter of war always looms large in the background, a constant presence you can’t shake away even in the most mundane of moments in the civilian lives of its characters. In the “war” sections, we see the Napoleonic war through the eyes of the people involved in it, the characters who signed up in the war, the key players in it, and the ones caught in between. We also encounter some historical figures, such as Napoleon, Emperor Alexander, and General Kutuzov. When I first tried reading the book three years ago, I thought the war sections were okay, though not nearly as compelling as the peace sections. I like them much better now, in part due to having researched more about the Napoleonic war.
The peace sections concentrate on the lives and drama of the aristocrats. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s almost like a soap opera. It definitely reads like a period drama and as someone who enjoys period dramas, I enjoyed these sections immensely. It helps that no character is wholly sympathetic and most of them are flawed, human. Yet, for all their flaws, Tolstoy writes them with a distinct sense of sympathy and never judges his characters on a moral level. The writing is almost impartial, matter-of-fact and invites the reader to come to their own conclusions regarding these characters.
I really enjoy reading about Tolstoy’s characters. They’re well-rounded characters who grow, change, regress, and grow again. They don’t feel like caricatures and they give off the sense of having very rich inner lives. From Pierre to the Rostovs, to Maria Bolkonskaya, every character is fascinating. They are not necessarily likeable, and definitely not relatable, but I loved reading about them.
Throughout, the book, one of the things that struck me the most was how much of Tolstoy’s own philosophy and musings on history permeates the story. There is often this idea that great men shape the course of history, and idea which Tolstoy continually refutes throughout the book and even more so in the second epilogue. Tolstoy argues that history is not shaped by great men, rather it is shaped by the collective action of everyone who participates in historical events. You can even say that the text argues that the march of history is unstoppable, that the things that happened in history were the natural result of a myriad of happenings, not entirely due to the work of the so-called great men.
Indeed, as if to showcase this argument, the narrative moves in between the great and small events of history, as well as the great and small participants in history. It is as if the author wishes to show that all of us have a part, however little, in how the course of history takes shape.
War and Peace couldn’t be called that if it didn’t show the brutality of war and the horrors it inflicts on those who participate in it and those caught in the crossfire. In the beginning, we were shown eager young men, thirsty for glory on the battlefield, some of them even idolizing Napoleon or the Emperor Alexander, only to experience a sense of disillusionment as the war goes on. For Prince Bolkonsky, the adage “Never meet your heroes” has never been more apt, while for Count Rostov, his experience has been at times harrowing, and yet it is his chance to save his family from ruin. In the end, they are all changed, marked in some way by their experience. Even the characters we meet during the “peace” sections, civilian aristocrats whose only concerns have been balls and gossip, have been changed in some way as the war starts affecting them personally, whether it be through death or through experiencing the French invasion first hand.
You simply cannot help but feel for these characters and there is a distinct sense of peace in the final chapters as they start to move on with their lives and rebuild. In a sense, the first epilogue was cathartic, a chance for these characters to heal.
War and Peace is a sprawling book and more than deserving of its status as a masterpiece. This is the book that made me interested in Russian literature in the first place and I am so glad to have finally finished it. Sometimes, it is unwieldy, but mostly it is brilliant. Less of a novel and more of an interrogation into the psyche of these characters and into the nature of history. I honestly loved this book and would love to re-read it someday.
War and Peace is difficult to describe as a novel, because it’s not exactly a novel. It’s a chronicle, a story that weaves in and out of the lives of so many characters and concerns itself with so many things. That isn’t to say that it’s tedious, on the contrary, the short chapters actually served to make it a more compelling read. There are subplots you won’t like and subplots you’d love, but Tolstoy doesn’t really spend too much time on any of them. He doesn’t describe things too much. In a way, he can be sparse with what he wants to say. It lends the feeling of the story- of the lives of these characters continuously moving forward as history also moves forward.
What is War and Peace? As the title says, the narrative moves between “war” sections and “peace” sections, although the specter of war always looms large in the background, a constant presence you can’t shake away even in the most mundane of moments in the civilian lives of its characters. In the “war” sections, we see the Napoleonic war through the eyes of the people involved in it, the characters who signed up in the war, the key players in it, and the ones caught in between. We also encounter some historical figures, such as Napoleon, Emperor Alexander, and General Kutuzov. When I first tried reading the book three years ago, I thought the war sections were okay, though not nearly as compelling as the peace sections. I like them much better now, in part due to having researched more about the Napoleonic war.
The peace sections concentrate on the lives and drama of the aristocrats. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s almost like a soap opera. It definitely reads like a period drama and as someone who enjoys period dramas, I enjoyed these sections immensely. It helps that no character is wholly sympathetic and most of them are flawed, human. Yet, for all their flaws, Tolstoy writes them with a distinct sense of sympathy and never judges his characters on a moral level. The writing is almost impartial, matter-of-fact and invites the reader to come to their own conclusions regarding these characters.
I really enjoy reading about Tolstoy’s characters. They’re well-rounded characters who grow, change, regress, and grow again. They don’t feel like caricatures and they give off the sense of having very rich inner lives. From Pierre to the Rostovs, to Maria Bolkonskaya, every character is fascinating. They are not necessarily likeable, and definitely not relatable, but I loved reading about them.
Throughout, the book, one of the things that struck me the most was how much of Tolstoy’s own philosophy and musings on history permeates the story. There is often this idea that great men shape the course of history, and idea which Tolstoy continually refutes throughout the book and even more so in the second epilogue. Tolstoy argues that history is not shaped by great men, rather it is shaped by the collective action of everyone who participates in historical events. You can even say that the text argues that the march of history is unstoppable, that the things that happened in history were the natural result of a myriad of happenings, not entirely due to the work of the so-called great men.
Indeed, as if to showcase this argument, the narrative moves in between the great and small events of history, as well as the great and small participants in history. It is as if the author wishes to show that all of us have a part, however little, in how the course of history takes shape.
War and Peace couldn’t be called that if it didn’t show the brutality of war and the horrors it inflicts on those who participate in it and those caught in the crossfire. In the beginning, we were shown eager young men, thirsty for glory on the battlefield, some of them even idolizing Napoleon or the Emperor Alexander, only to experience a sense of disillusionment as the war goes on. For Prince Bolkonsky, the adage “Never meet your heroes” has never been more apt, while for Count Rostov, his experience has been at times harrowing, and yet it is his chance to save his family from ruin. In the end, they are all changed, marked in some way by their experience. Even the characters we meet during the “peace” sections, civilian aristocrats whose only concerns have been balls and gossip, have been changed in some way as the war starts affecting them personally, whether it be through death or through experiencing the French invasion first hand.
You simply cannot help but feel for these characters and there is a distinct sense of peace in the final chapters as they start to move on with their lives and rebuild. In a sense, the first epilogue was cathartic, a chance for these characters to heal.
War and Peace is a sprawling book and more than deserving of its status as a masterpiece. This is the book that made me interested in Russian literature in the first place and I am so glad to have finally finished it. Sometimes, it is unwieldy, but mostly it is brilliant. Less of a novel and more of an interrogation into the psyche of these characters and into the nature of history. I honestly loved this book and would love to re-read it someday.