mitly 's review for:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It is difficult to score this. I did not really enjoy this book on a whole personally, I enjoyed snippets and scenes here and there, but on the whole I felt it rather dull. The final epilogue, I feel, should not be called an epilogue. It is a bonus philosophy essay stapled onto an ending that feels, probably intentionally, like no ending at all (kinda like that tbh). And then in addition to this essay there is an author’s postscript after that that tries to explain the essay again. I found some of the writing tedious, but there were moments that legitimately moved me. I agree with some of Tolstoy’s arguments about who makes history and what not but I think I would have preferred a less involved narrator, one that doesn’t pause ever few chapters to assert the same overarching philosophy a few times over. I dunno. I don’t mind that it’s long, I think that’s the right thing for the point he’s trying to make, but I dunno. Of course there are entire portions that are not just unnecessary (nothing wrong with that) but feel so strangely unnecessary that they didn’t even fulfill the whole “slice of life” feeling (looking at you chapter entirely about getting dressed) I dunno. Maybe in a few years I’ll try it again.