War and Peace

The deed is done, the beast is won.

After 20+ hours of reading time, many trips to the domain of wikis to get a comprehensive historical background and minute details of the 1,317 characters that Tolstoy insists on employing in this tome, I have finished War and Peace, also known as War, What is it Good For? for those who keep up on the pop culture of the late 90s early 00s (which I apparently do not).


This post shall be the following (in the spirit of Kelsha's wonderful Moby Dick post):

1) A brief introduction to the stories (all 73 of them) and characters,

2) A general outline of the book, and

3) Lessons learned and points presented.

The story of War and Peace is the story of several Russian families in the early 1800s. It extends from just before the wars of Napoleon with the Grand Coalition to the conclusion of the First War of the Fatherland (the Second being tentatively the two World Wars, and definitely WWII) with Napoleon's cowardly retreat from Russia and the return of everyone's life who hasn't died to normal.

The principle characters are
-Pierre Bezuhov, an eccentric and philisophical man who spends the whole book striving to find meaning and happiness in life.

-The Bolkonsky family, including Andrey Bolkonsky, an intelligent and sharp man striving to honor himself and his family who becomes embittered after the battle of Austerlitz and is subsequently trying to discover his own purpose (though not intentionally); and Marya Bolkonsky, a spiritual girl who is rich (though ugly) and is constantly on a higher spiritual plane than everyone else.

-The Rostov family, including Nikolay, the eldest son and noble patriot. He enlists in the army (as every male character will do in the book) and sets out with the best intentions seeking to defend his fatherland and czar from the evil impugnity of the French upstart. Also included is Natasha, the youngest daughter and prettiest who takes you on a roller-coaster of both being charmed by her grace and innocence and hating her guts for being such a typical teenage girl.

The story, very broadly speaking, goes as follows:

Peace, 1:
Russia is at peace, the 1,317 characters are introduced, 45 of the 73 storlines (80% of which will not be finished) are begun. The reader is invariably confused.

Good quotes:
"To tell the truth is a very difficult thing; and young people are rarely capable of it." (p.217)


War, 1:
Russia, Austria, and the Grand Coalition are at war with Napoleon. Here we have the setup and execution of the Battle of Austerlitz, considered by many to be Napoleon's greatest victory (though Tolstoy will go to incessant lengths to prove that he's a very short French idiot who happened to have his miniscule frame in the right place at the right time as per the laws of history). Andrey and Nikolay are both serving in the army, Andrey as a adjutant on one of the generals, Nikolay as a cavalryman looking for the thick of the action. Andrey and his general think the whole battle of Austerlitz as planned by the brilliant tacticians is a bad mistake, but the czar adopts the plan and the Coalition troops go into battle, falling perfectly into the traps Napoleon sets, who then waves his very very very very very very small white hand (and you know what a very very very very very very small white hand means? don't you?) and proceeds to obliterate them. Andrey is caught in the thick of action and being the true noble he is grabs the standard of his troops and rushes at the enemy. He is wounded and prepares for the inevitable death awaiting him and __ thousands of other innocent young men. In this state he has a revelation, quoting from the book:

(Napoleon and two adjutants ride upon Andrey's dying body)
"That's a fine death!" said Napoleon, looking at Bolkonsky. Prince Andrey (I forgot to mention everyone in this book is royalty, because, you know, peasants aren't cool) knew it was said of him, and that it was Napoleon saying it....he heard the words as he heard the buzzing of the flies. It was not merely that he took no interest in them, but he did not attend to them and at once forgot them. There was a burning pain in his head; he felt he was losing blood, and he saw above him the high, far-away, everlasting sky. He knew it was Napoleon, his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant creature in comparison with what was passing between his soul and that lofty, limitless sky with the clouds flying over it....

So that's that. Austerlitz is lost, Nikolay manages to survive and distinguish himself, Russia makes peace with France, and everything returns to normal.

Peace, 2:
Everything returns to 'normal'. Pierre, who in previous times has been unhappily married to the supposed most intelligent woman in Petersburg, continues to struggle finding happiness in life. He has an impressive interview with a Russian Mason, who encourages him to join the Masons and gives him quite the personal sermon. Excerpt of the same:

"I would never be so bold as to say I know the truth," said the mason...."No one alone can attain truth; only stone upon stone, with the cooperation of all, by the millions of generations from our first father Adam down to our day is that temple being reared that should be a fitting dwelling-place of the Great God." (p.318)

The interview changes the course of Pierre's life. He joins the Masons and tries to find meaning in their rituals and symbolism (which ultimately falls short of its mark).

Other things happen, but the most notable in my mind is that PRINCE ANDREY DOESN'T DIE! He returns to his family and falls in love with Natasha. The Natasha-Andrey episode is a love story worthy of a brief sumalysis (summary + analysis):
Andrey is embittered after his survival of Austerlitz. He doesn't care for God, his friends, and or those outside of his family. His love for Natasha gives him new hope. He loves her purely despite her lack of anything other than a pretty voice and looks, which any male will find typically noble of the male race, and any girl will find condescending and offensive (not really, but I need a contrast). The only proviso is: that his father (who is even more bitter than his son) wants them to wait a year. In the meantime, Andrey goes traveling abroad. While he's off, Natasha is seduced by a loser and a failure named Anatole Kuragin (don't worry, he gets his later) because of his good looks and charm despite his total lack of depth. The whole marriage proposal falls apart, and Andrey is left even more embittered and Natasha is left hollowed out emotionally and abandoned by her promised lover.

War, 2:
WAR AGAIN! Napoleon, despite his entreaties and promises, invades Russia on a weak pretext and launches his 600,000 troops at the Russian Empire intent on occupying Moskva and annihilating the opposing forces. All the main heroes are again involved, and despite Andrey's disillusionment with the army and all things he previously considered important, he joins the military and is placed in command of a regiment on the front line. Despite the foolish attempts of certain generals to engage Napoleon in a battle which would only be disastrous to the Russian campaign, the Russian forces manage a general retreat back towards the outskirts of Moskva which climaxes in Napoleon's capture of the sacred city and the battle of Borodino.

The battle of Borodino is the scene of the Russian stand where despite the brilliant calculations of Napoleon the Russian line endures strong and ultimately holds the French from taking the field. We see dramatic scenes of bravery from all our major male characters: Pierre, taking up arms in defense of his city, stands with artillerymen blasting away at the French position, Nikolay bravely rides his horse against the foe, and our my dear Andrey commands his regiment with dauntless bravado. Alas, a grenade from the dastardly French cannons falls on Andrey's regiment position and badly wounds him.

The battle itself is a success for the Russians. Despite their heavy losses they held the French who suffered heavy casualties themselves and ultimately lack the force to sustain their campaign and must begin the long retreat.

Pierre, who has been captured by the French, is, along with hundreds of thousands of troops, retreating across the ever-chilling Russian frontier, and disaster is laid for their descent all along the way. Lots of things happen, but this post is already insanely long, most aren't reading it even at this stage, and therefore we shall skip to:

Peace, 3:

In our third episode of peace we see the ascent and conclusion of many things: Andrey's death after finally uncovering the importance of love, Pierre's discovery of the meaning of life in the simple appreciation of one's existence and environment, and everyone still alive after ten years of bitter war and bloodshed gets married to each other.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Tolstoy's thesis is a theory of historical interpretation. He maintains throughout the book that the illusion of control posited by Napoleon and his Russian nemesis(s) is completely false, and that it is the individual decisions of the individuals acting in certain places which really matters. There is obviously way more to this than that, but this is the first time I've read the book, and a more complete understanding will have to be discovered in subsequent readings.

Tolstoy also wants to impress upon the reader the lesson learned by Pierre, that the simple life is the good life, that the peasant is the hero, and the noble is just diluting himself and corrupting his soul. In this I take issue with Tolstoy, but we'll leave that to the comment section.

REVIEW:

War and Peace was completely worth the time spent reading it. It's long. Very very very very very very long (almost in exact inverse to Napoleon's hands being very very very very very very small). I struggled to enjoy it for the first 250 pages, but then the battles start and it becomes both beautiful in narrative, gripping in action, and revealing in the nature of existence. I learned things about myself reading this book, and any book that does that is worth your time.

I also learned a lot about the philosophy of history. I don't agree with everything Tolstoy said, but it requires some serious mulling. Do human beings really have any free will? How is that will defined? When are we free and when are we agents to be acted upon?

In conclusion, I want everyone to read this book. If you've already read it, read it again. You'll get more out of it. Tolstoy's an engaging and brilliant writer, and you'll come away from the book better than you started. I haven't done it justice, but several sections of the book are some of the best emotional writing that I've ever seen, and it completely captivates you.

I've heard that Anna Kanerina is a better book, but I think that depends on your perspective. War and Peace is a historical fiction, presenting both a historical thesis of interpretation along with gripping love, battle, and family scenes. I haven't read Anna Kanerina, but I doubt it is quite as broad in its scope. Nevertheless, I look to read it too one day and shall give a more fair assessment.