The One with War and Peace

200. Title & Author: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude (1370 pages)

Genre: Fiction—Classic Literature

Completed: 27 October 2011

Summary & Review:

This masterpiece focuses on the years surrounding Napoleon’s conquests in Russia and the lives of numerous Russians affected by those tumultuous times. At the heart of the novel is Pierre Bezukhov, an illegitimate son of a Count, upon whose death he becomes legitimized and inherits his father’s title and wealth. Now wealthy and connected, Pierre is a desirable bachelor and falls under the spell of the beautiful, yet deceptive Helene. Depressed by his unhappy marriage, Pierre embarks on a spiritual exploration to find happiness and peace in years filled with confusion and war.

Obviously, that summary wholly fails at conveying all that is included in this nearly fourteen hundred page odyssey. But, Pierre is the central character in the novel (although there are dozens of major characters) so his journey serves to unite the many events explored in the plot. In his “Some Words About War and Peace” included after the second epilogue in this edition, Tolstoy writes that War and Peace “is not a novel, even less it is a poem, and still less is it an historical chronicle.”  I think he eventually calls it an “artistic prose work,” which he says does not fit into the usual form of a novel or story. I agree. This isn’t a novel, it is bigger than that. It has such a different form to it than traditional novels. Throughout the fictional story lines, which are often heavily based on real-life events and persons, Tolstoy includes accurate historical background and analysis. In addition to those things, he often writes philosophically about concepts such as free will, fate, and theology. Not only that, but Tolstoy also takes time to analyze the craft of the study of history and explore how that affects our understanding of events. And interspersed throughout all of that are Tolstoy's keen observations of mankind.

Whatever War and Peace is or isn’t, I know one thing that it is for sure: long. I think I first picked up this book and started reading it around Christmas of 2009. Now, almost two years later, I have finally finished it. I really enjoyed it, though, so the length of time it took me to finish it was not due to any dislike of the work. There were some passages that were absolutely beautiful, that struck a chord with me as the reader. I think a good novelist is able to make observations about the world, or describe inner feelings, that many readers think only they notice or feel. Tolstoy did that on numerous occasions throughout the book and he was an astute observer of human nature in particular.

I think it goes without saying that everyone should read War and Peace at least once in their lifetime.

Rating: 9.0