So I finally got around to finishing the 1200 pages that is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. If you haven't kept up to date with my writings on the novel check these posts out here, and here.
Those posts cover the first quarter and half of the book. Now I will write about parts X-XV, the ending, and epilogue.
The entire second half of War and Peace turns into a lot of war and philosophical exposition. The war scenes in this book are probably the best war scenes I've ever seen described in a book, aside from Homer and Plutarch's Romans. Nothing else really comes close. You get such a nihilistic sense [this goes back to the philosophy] of what war really is, how it is perpetrated, and the end result in terms of history of mankind.
A bit of history. The novel spans the years 1805 to 1820. Catherine the Great was still in the minds of older Russians. She made French the language of the Royal Court and made the nobility to learn about French culture. Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien is executed in 1805 and Alexander I rules Russia in the Napoleonic Wars.
"Key historical events woven into the novel include the Ulm Campaign, the Battle of Austerlitz, the Treaties of Tilsit, and the Congress of Erfurt. Tolstoy also references the Great Comet of 1811 just before the French invasion of Russia. Tolstoy then uses the Battle of Ostrovno and the Battle of Shevardino Redoubt in his novel, before the occupation of Moscow and the subsequent fire. The novel continues with the Battle of Tarutino, the Battle of Maloyaroslavets, the Battle of Vyazma, and the Battle of Krasnoi. The final battle cited is the Battle of Berezina, after which the characters move on with rebuilding Moscow and their lives." [wiki]
If you know history, you know how the French lost this war. Napoleon killed thousands of Russians and eventually sacked the capital, Moscow. However, the French needed supplies to keep up their troops. The problem was that the French were very far from home, low on supplies, and the Russian winter is a deadly cold winter. This was what saved Russia.
The French had to keep retreating while the Russians attacked their supplies and counter-attacked them. Although more Russians died and their army was smaller, therefore weaker, their will, their spirit was stronger, and the fact that they attacked the supplies of the French forced the French army to fight without supplies, namely food, resulting in a devastating, humiliating, defeat. But it is the way that Tolstoy describes all of this that is downright remarkable and ultimately creating an unforgettable war story.
Pierre, the principal character gets captured by French soldiers in Moscow and becomes a prisoner of war. This part of the book is so lifelike, so visceral, you know that being a pow is exactly like what is described here. It's like a historical document. Prince Andrey, an important secondary character dies after eating a grenade. The result is that her betrothed, Natasha, ends up marrying Pierre, who was Andrey's friend. Very awkward and bad timing, but the way Tolstoy writes it is that Pierre and Natasha had actually always loved each other, and were happy to finally consecrate their love. What is revealing is that Pierre never loved his first wife and he's even happy when she dies. However, it's not the storytelling of the book that highlights parts X-XV, it is the ideas.
The very last part of the epilogue is intriguing. Tolstoy writes of a historical philosophy that disclaims the fact that heroes or great men are the leaders of destiny, the creators of history, like Plutarch's Romans [the idea of the ancients]. Rather, it is the collective will of the multitude of men that makes or breaks history. Basically, great historical events are the result of many smaller events driven by the thousands of individuals involved.
The other two parts that I've written [listed above in the second line] go into more of the philosophical details of War and Peace. Namely, the fact that Tolstoy wrote this not as a novel, not as a history, not as a chronicle, but as something philosophical. Tolstoy himself said the novel was his response to Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation.
Moving on, the critics didn't take the book well when it first appeared in Russia in 1865 [it was serialized and took till 1889 for book form]. "However, the most prominent Russian writers of the time supported the novel
wholeheartedly. Goncharov, Turgenev, Leskov, Dostoyevsky and Fet have
all gone on record as declaring War and Peace the masterpiece of the Russian literature. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (in a May 30, 1871 letter to Strakhov) described War and Peace as "the last word of the landlord's literature and the brilliant one at that"." [wiki]
Lastly, my closing thoughts. This is without a doubt, one of the best works of Russian literature. Going beyond that, it's one of the best books I'll read or will ever read. The book challenged me in a way that no other work of fiction ever has. Each line is potentially thought provoking, forcing you to commit to all of it without hesitation. This book will make you smarter because it will make you think a lot about people, emotions, history, and ideas. The more you read it, the more you keep thinking, and the more you can understand. Even understanding just a slight bit more and more, every time you read it, is ultimately satisfying.
I talked to a lot of everyday people about War and Peace and most of them said, "its too long," and, "I'm not ready," and some even, "I'm not worthy," well the truth of the matter is that most people talk about Tolstoy but haven't actually read him. My advice to these people and others is that Tolstoy is for everyone and you should read War and Peace in particular. Yes, its long, and sometimes even grueling, but in the end the reward is a lifetime achievement of ideas.
No matter who you are out there, read this book.
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