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A review by incunabula_and_intercourse
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
And they said it couldn't be done!!!
Hot brick summer: part 1 is officially complete! I pushed myself to read this in a month, and somehow I did. Thanks to everyone who endured my adventure with this brick, LOL.
Ah, we had good memories together: meeting you on sale for $10, taking you on the subway like some caricature of a nerd, beating my friend over the head with you... Oh, and the actual reading.
I think a lot of choices here, from the sheer density to the constant infodumping about the war, makes sense if you remember that Tolstoy wrote this before the inventions of soap operas, Wikipedia, and Ken Burns. Really, this is just his Napoleonic War hyperfixation come to life as self-insert fanfiction, and one has to respect that. Not always thrilled with the limited role of women and the focus on Pierre's fatness, but I've seen worse.
Also, we could have cut out the last 37 pages and published it as its own separate essay on how we view history. We didn't need Tolstoy's nonstop opinion attached to the end of "Pierre and Natasha and friends :)". Truly, he was right in saying this isn't a novel; it's half novel and half textbook.
And honestly? For a 1200+ page book with an 86 page epilogue, it's surprisingly readable. The wit and snark imbued within the prose doesn't hurt (beginning an entire section with a thorough roast of the military as being full of lazy assholes? Gorgeous). Made up for the, uh, Density.
All in all, I'm glad I read this. This was a real marathon, and I proved myself this month.
Hot brick summer: part 1 is officially complete! I pushed myself to read this in a month, and somehow I did. Thanks to everyone who endured my adventure with this brick, LOL.
Ah, we had good memories together: meeting you on sale for $10, taking you on the subway like some caricature of a nerd, beating my friend over the head with you... Oh, and the actual reading.
I think a lot of choices here, from the sheer density to the constant infodumping about the war, makes sense if you remember that Tolstoy wrote this before the inventions of soap operas, Wikipedia, and Ken Burns. Really, this is just his Napoleonic War hyperfixation come to life as self-insert fanfiction, and one has to respect that. Not always thrilled with the limited role of women and the focus on Pierre's fatness, but I've seen worse.
Also, we could have cut out the last 37 pages and published it as its own separate essay on how we view history. We didn't need Tolstoy's nonstop opinion attached to the end of "Pierre and Natasha and friends :)". Truly, he was right in saying this isn't a novel; it's half novel and half textbook.
And honestly? For a 1200+ page book with an 86 page epilogue, it's surprisingly readable. The wit and snark imbued within the prose doesn't hurt (beginning an entire section with a thorough roast of the military as being full of lazy assholes? Gorgeous). Made up for the, uh, Density.
All in all, I'm glad I read this. This was a real marathon, and I proved myself this month.