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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
5 stelle.
Anche se il mio personaggio preferito muore. Anche se preferisco comunque Dostoevskij.
Anche se il mio personaggio preferito muore. Anche se preferisco comunque Dostoevskij.
The character I felt the greatest connection to was Marya Bolkonskaya, who seems to me a kindred spirit to Dorothea Brooke in Middlemarch and Miriam Leivers in Sons and Lovers, those two other achingly luminous portrayals of oppressed female spiritual profundity. While I was glad Marya ultimately escaped her overbearing father's home, I felt she rather deserved better than being paired with Nikolai and embroiled in his insalubrious menage (Sonya, the dowager countess, etc.). I didn't quite like Natasha, but I always felt fascinated reading about her. Andrei was unlikable at first with his superior attitude toward Lise, but grew on me once he went to war. Pierre's years-long inability to outgrow his fecklessness made me want to shake him. Overall, although the first few months were admittedly hard going, I'm happy now to have spent the past year in Tolstoy's mind (as filtered through the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation): Tolstoy's flashes of satirical humor can be savagely funny, and I was relieved that his bursts of chauvinism were fairly limited and for the most part did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.
"Faut être humain. Nous sommes tous mortels, voyez-vous."
"Faut être humain. Nous sommes tous mortels, voyez-vous."
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
I never knew that I could cry so much. I cried a whole week for this book and I was in proper grief.
This is a colossal mastepiece that overwhelmed me and made me feel all the emotions that one can feel in a lifetime.
It is beautiful but very sad and tragic.
The main reason for my grief was me falling to hard in love with Prince Andrei.
His unnecessary death affected me a lot. He was the kindest, most noble heart, an inocuous lamb, a deeply phylopshical character. He is no doubt my favourite character in the entire literature.
I will reread this book, certainly, because I forgot already 80% of the book.
This is a colossal mastepiece that overwhelmed me and made me feel all the emotions that one can feel in a lifetime.
It is beautiful but very sad and tragic.
The main reason for my grief was me falling to hard in love with Prince Andrei.
His unnecessary death affected me a lot. He was the kindest, most noble heart, an inocuous lamb, a deeply phylopshical character. He is no doubt my favourite character in the entire literature.
I will reread this book, certainly, because I forgot already 80% of the book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ma che vuoi dire a un'opera dello spessore di Guerra e Pace? Un capolavoro immortale, incredibile.
Figli della amiglia Bolkonskij >>>>>>>> figli della famiglia Rostov
Figli della amiglia Bolkonskij >>>>>>>> figli della famiglia Rostov
I read the book over a period of a year as part of the reddit group - /r/ayearofwarandpeace.
The experience is something I would cherish for long. You get to spend time with the characters over a long period that draws an association unlike I have ever come across. To give an example, I can chronologically determine the time I spent with each character during my reading experience. So, I was introduced to Andrew Bolkonski on Jan 5, 2021, and would stay with him (partially, as there is multiple point of views in the book) till his death which I read on Oct 2, 2021. That is 9 months’ worth of investment and hence the effect of his passing felt very surreal. In what was essentially one of my favorite chapters of the book, Tolstoy guides us through his death through prose that is self-reflective but also embellishing on the pain that is causing on the ones who loved him the most. There was a cathartic feeling on completing that chapter and is a feeling I believe only a good novel can offer.
The same can be said of other characters in the book - Pierre, Natasha, Marya, Nikolai etc. We are tethered to these characters, their follies, their beliefs, their doubts, their heartbreaks, their sufferings and their ambitions.
War and Peace is not without faults though. Tolstoy often choses to take a break from the narrative to write essays about the movement of Napolean’s army, vivid descriptions of the battle of Austerlitz and Borodino, Tolstoy’s long indulgent rants about historians and their focus on leaders or dictators, another long daunting epilogue (12 chapters) of even more indulgent rant on free will and inevitability.
Having conquered this giant of a piece of literature, I can conclude that the only way to read this epic is the way I approached it. But maybe I am justifying and maybe embellishing on the mythical mountain I conquered.
The experience is something I would cherish for long. You get to spend time with the characters over a long period that draws an association unlike I have ever come across. To give an example, I can chronologically determine the time I spent with each character during my reading experience. So, I was introduced to Andrew Bolkonski on Jan 5, 2021, and would stay with him (partially, as there is multiple point of views in the book) till his death which I read on Oct 2, 2021. That is 9 months’ worth of investment and hence the effect of his passing felt very surreal. In what was essentially one of my favorite chapters of the book, Tolstoy guides us through his death through prose that is self-reflective but also embellishing on the pain that is causing on the ones who loved him the most. There was a cathartic feeling on completing that chapter and is a feeling I believe only a good novel can offer.
The same can be said of other characters in the book - Pierre, Natasha, Marya, Nikolai etc. We are tethered to these characters, their follies, their beliefs, their doubts, their heartbreaks, their sufferings and their ambitions.
War and Peace is not without faults though. Tolstoy often choses to take a break from the narrative to write essays about the movement of Napolean’s army, vivid descriptions of the battle of Austerlitz and Borodino, Tolstoy’s long indulgent rants about historians and their focus on leaders or dictators, another long daunting epilogue (12 chapters) of even more indulgent rant on free will and inevitability.
Having conquered this giant of a piece of literature, I can conclude that the only way to read this epic is the way I approached it. But maybe I am justifying and maybe embellishing on the mythical mountain I conquered.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
it took me 5 months, but i finished! this is also my 1200 book "read" on Goodreads!
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes