Jan 11th 2016
This article from the Guardian was the final spur to my dusting off the Everymans’ edition of War & Peace that has been sitting on my shelves for years.
‘Just 1,238 pages to go’: could you read War and Peace in a week?
The BBC is screening a lavish adaptation of Tolstoy’s epic novel over six weeks. So Tim Dowling tried to read it in just one. Could he finish it in time for the next instalment?"
Carol Ackroyd: Failed 3 times with Ulysses, but breezed through W&P. Tho it was quite a long breeze, come to think of it. The idea of the mountain peaks of literature set me thinking. What other formidable reads are out there? Ulysses? Crime and Punishment? Paradise Lost? The highest peak I've scaled so far is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was another hefty read, but the daddy of them all is War and Peace. A man's got to do what a man's got to do.
War & Peace Main Characters summary - BBC adaptation Link here
Jan 12th 2016
Just passed Base Camp in my Everest read of War and Peace- onwards and upwards
Jan 15th 2016
Having reached page 230 of Vol 1 of War & Peace I thought it was safe to watch episode one of the BBC adaptation.
Wrong! 40 minutes in and they were through 230 pages and beyond. Not surprising when you have a passage like this from the beginning of chpt. 3:
"The vicomte was a nice-looking young man with soft features and polished manners, who evidently considered himself a celebrity but out of politeness modestly placed himself at the disposal of the circle in which he found himself. Anna Pavlovna was obviously serving him up as a treat to her guests. As a clever maitre d'hotel serves up as a specially choice delicacy a piece of meat that no one who had seen it in the kitchen would have cared to eat, so Anna Pavlovna served up to her guests, first the vicomte and then the abbe, as peculiarly choice morsels."
A delightful image conveyed in words, and there are lots of words drawing a multitude of images, but pointless and impossible for a film.
I've now climbed above Camp I (Vol 1: p387) and heading for Camp II (Vol2:p38). I can recommend the view.
Carol Ackroyd: Another W&P memory - my 14 year old son, despite my nagging, didn't bother choosing his own books to take on a long summer trip to Spain - you choose for me, mum. So I included W&P Vol 1 (a particularly close- printed Penguin paperback) along with more congenial things. He was always stubborn - read the darned thing and then read Vol 2 on our return. His comment? Tolstoy doesn't like women very much, does he (reminded of this on seeing a header in a newspaper article last week : Tolstoy is hard on his women). Crack on, John!
Jan 19th 2016
Climbing above Camp II - page after page after page after....
Anna Littlewood But is it gripping? Is it a good read? I hate reading books when I know I'm just wanting to get through the pages. .. John Burgess It's not like a modern novel with a clearly defined plot. It takes you into a society in a country at a particular period of time. It's part characters and their lives; it's part history and politics but it's also about belief and ideas. All on a really big canvas. Not a gripping page-turner but worth reading. At least I think so at the moment.
Jan 22nd 2016
From The Guardian
War and Peace: the 10 things you need to know (if you haven't actually read it)
Who is the hero? Can you skip the boring bits? How long will it take to read? A guide to a book that is not just great, it is the best novel ever written
I read this article as an oxygen boost to keep me going. Agree about the opening sentence but am a long way from assessing the closing one. Read it easily in 10 days? It's going to take me a month I reckon. Worth reading? Absolutely.
Karen Edwards I've had a copy on my bookshelf for years, and have never plucked up the courage to start it. Think it might take a while if I can only manage reading 3 pages a night before falling asleep. Plus it's a heavy book if I let that fall on my face, as I do sometimes much to Simon's amusement! You have inspired me to tackle it one day... John Burgess I think it's partly the mind set Karen. OMG WAR AND PEACE! But think Lord of The Rings or the Game of Thrones books and it doesn't seem as daunting. On the other hand this article says if you read it once you will want to read it again; I can't see me doing that. After all there's still Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, plus lots of other fat unread tomes on my shelves.
Jan 23rd 2016
Just over half way and came across this quote:
“Germans are self-assured on the basis of an abstract notion—science, that is, the supposed knowledge of absolute truth. A Frenchman is self-assured because he regards himself personally, both in mind and body, as irresistibly attractive to men and women. An Englishman is self-assured, as being a citizen of the best-organized state in the world, and therefore as an Englishman always knows what he should do and knows that all he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly correct. An Italian is self-assured because he is excitable and easily forgets himself and other people. A Russian is self-assured just because he knows nothing and does not want to know anything, since he does not believe that anything can be known.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
I think I must have German ancestry. Definitely not French.
Jan 26th 2016
1000 pages read, climbing on from Camp III Vol2 p 472 and the eve of the battle of Borodino. Prince Andrew contemplates the morrow: "He looked out on the row of birches shining in the sunshine with their motionless green and yellow foliage and white bark. 'To die...to be killed tomorrow...That I should not exist...That all this should still be, but no me..."
Jan 27th 2016
Climbing into Book III - 500 pages to go. Aiming to get to the top before the BBC.
Helen Davy Is the book as good as the series. .? John Burgess I've only seen one episode of the series so far but I have to say the book is far, far richer. Not only do you get inside the heads of the characters and understand how they think but Tolstoy paints in the social, political and military background as well. He also deals with spiritual and philosophical themes, so like a great meal there are lots of ingredients to savour, all adding to the richness. A film adaptation is bound to be like an unsatisfactory snack in comparison.
Jan 30th 2016
Heading for Summit - 200 pages to go, if you don't count Epilogue 2 Yes, would you believe, 2 epilogues. Obviously needing lots of oxygen, or in my case wine, at this altitude.
Let Simon Schama convince you to read it:
How should we live? That’s the not unimportant question posed by Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece, and it makes War and Peace-niks terrible bores. But we can’t help it: we need to evangelise, spread the word that there is no book quite like it; no book that encompasses almost the whole of humanity, and which collapses the space between ink and paper and flesh and blood so completely that you seem to be living it rather than reading it. Full article here - well worth the read:
Jan 31st 2016
Made it to the top of my literary Everest in 20 days. Or have I? I read Epilogue 1 as that continues the story of the main characters 7 years into the future, but I've not read Epilogue 2 (another 50 or so pages) as it is just Tolstoy's philosophical musings on History with no mention of the book's protagonists.
So, what do I think of War & Peace?
For people who love reading, who love thinking about how we should live as individuals, societies and nations this is the book to read. Although the characters are mainly Russian artistocracy and the setting is early 19th century, yet the hopes and despairs, joys and sorrows, loving sacrifices and cruel ambitions that face all humankind, are richly portrayed. I said earlier that I could not imagine reading it more than once but now I absolutely can. This would be my Desert Island book, to read and read again.
