A review by jentang
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

4.0

Wow wow wow. I feel incredibly wrong rating this, but I've waited so long to log this book on here (the course of my entire Fall 2023 semester) that it also would be a waste not to. Whether you liked the novel or not, you have to give Tolstoy credit for being some form of actual genius. This is an incredible book to have written - massive, philosophical, political, romantic, historical, depressive, contemplative … truly insane. I don’t really make myself read classics of intense volumes, so maybe I’m just a little over impressed, but sometimes you need to stop and just appreciate the existence of a persistently significant piece of work. I did skim through a lot of this and wish for it to end nonstop, but there were also a good many chunks I tore through and even teared up at. (Justice for Sonya .. she was just a precious little cat girl with no family … ugh her storyline hurts me to no end) I need to go write 20 pages and make a 15-minute long presentation on this book now. UGHHHH.