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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Great for a reason, containing the sort of insight that can only be reached by one who has brought himself entirely not only to his art but to his life. At this point in my life I can securely state that he is the greatest novelist I have ever read. His characters are thoroughly Shakespearean, these wonderful self-conscious constructions, but what makes them so singularly special is their placement in time. They are ever-evolving, ever-fluid, and because of that they are so real. I have lived alongside them, grown to love them in some subtle, singular sense, and my grief at one particular point in the book was one of the greatest sensations a work of fiction has ever wrought on me. Besides that, his understanding of temporality and history is formative, some certain sublime scenes are profoundly moving, and as with Anna Karenina I have felt myself become more filled with understanding and empathetic love over the course of my reading.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I DID IT! Phew! Now I can finally watch Great Comet.
It was actually really interesting to read an anti-war perspective on a historical war because so much of history is written with a sort of ambient pro-war bent (lionizing generals, glorifying battles, etc). Also, so interesting to hear how little has changed in the past 200 years in the way politics and war are discussed in anti-war circles. Time is a flat circle.
It was actually really interesting to read an anti-war perspective on a historical war because so much of history is written with a sort of ambient pro-war bent (lionizing generals, glorifying battles, etc). Also, so interesting to hear how little has changed in the past 200 years in the way politics and war are discussed in anti-war circles. Time is a flat circle.
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Too long and draining. Put me in a HUGE reading slump. Probably will never pick it up again.
What can I say about War and Peace that hasn't already been said? I am certainly not the first, nor will I be the last, to claim bragging rights to finishing this epic novel. I may be the first to claim it as my first foray into Russian lit, however.
Tolstoy's views on humanity, religion, history and historians, philosophy, and of war are woven into and around the lives of four or five families. At first I couldn't keep up with the amount of characters and had difficulty figuring out which ones he wanted me, the reader, to care about. After the first few society gatherings- and about two hundred pages in- I was finally in the groove and thoroughly sucked in to their lives. It's not what I would call compelling story-telling; in fact I often found myself asking why he chose just then to leave off and jump to a completely different subplot. That said, I very much found myself sympathizing with the struggles of some of the characters, whom I shall not name except under LJ cut so as not to spoil my friends who have yet to read this novel.
I think that Tolstoy could have had just as epic a masterpiece in just over half the size of this Mount Everest of books and did find myself distracted easily because of his longwindedness often. I think it went on long after it should have ended, and had to remind myself not to expect the traditional fairytale romances I know and love from other classic authors to push past what I thought was a good ending point. I'm glad that I did. Even if I had to re-read the entire last "part" several times because of it's thickness. Tolstoy certainly repeated himself, especially in that last part, but I think that spoke to his passion.
I found myself teary at the most surprising moment involving several deaths and their vastly different effects on two characters. Friends will know this when they get there. I can't wait til they do.
I don't know what else I can say without delving into specifics, so let me just say that if you can't brag about reading War and Peace, you need to remedy that. It's at the top of my re-read list when I finally finish my bookshelf. Thank you Tolstoy.
Tolstoy's views on humanity, religion, history and historians, philosophy, and of war are woven into and around the lives of four or five families. At first I couldn't keep up with the amount of characters and had difficulty figuring out which ones he wanted me, the reader, to care about. After the first few society gatherings- and about two hundred pages in- I was finally in the groove and thoroughly sucked in to their lives. It's not what I would call compelling story-telling; in fact I often found myself asking why he chose just then to leave off and jump to a completely different subplot. That said, I very much found myself sympathizing with the struggles of some of the characters, whom I shall not name except under LJ cut so as not to spoil my friends who have yet to read this novel.
I think that Tolstoy could have had just as epic a masterpiece in just over half the size of this Mount Everest of books and did find myself distracted easily because of his longwindedness often. I think it went on long after it should have ended, and had to remind myself not to expect the traditional fairytale romances I know and love from other classic authors to push past what I thought was a good ending point. I'm glad that I did. Even if I had to re-read the entire last "part" several times because of it's thickness. Tolstoy certainly repeated himself, especially in that last part, but I think that spoke to his passion.
I found myself teary at the most surprising moment involving several deaths and their vastly different effects on two characters. Friends will know this when they get there. I can't wait til they do.
I don't know what else I can say without delving into specifics, so let me just say that if you can't brag about reading War and Peace, you need to remedy that. It's at the top of my re-read list when I finally finish my bookshelf. Thank you Tolstoy.
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No