A review by jackienq
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

4.0

I honestly wanted to give this book 3 stars, but it's such a classic that in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it. The problem I had with this book is that it's really two books. One with characters and the things that happen to them; one that is essentially Tolstoy's treatise on 'what causes history'. It was the latter that ruined the book for me. The events revolving around the characters are fantastic to follow in and of themselves, but they also give a wonderful texture to the Napoleonic Wars. But Tolstoy's philosophizing about history and our powerlessness to impact historic events just got old. In a strange way, it reminded me of John Galt's 50 page speech in Atlas Shrugged. What is it with these Russians?

My advice to any reader is: when you get to the end of the actual story, stop reading. Because after the story is over, Tolstoy continues for another 40-50 pages, writing about how great leaders actually have no influence over history. I make no commentary on his views; I just wish they were in a separate book, not this one.

In any case, I am still glad I made it through this book and absolutely loved the story part of it.