War & Peace
Jim has been reading Tolstoy's War & Peace since he received it as a birthday gift in November from his son's girlfriend.
He has read a chapter or two almost every night since (the book must be four inches thick) and then he comes downstairs and gives me the Cliff Note version of that night's reading, and we discuss it.
So, without all the work, I've been lucky enough to get a grasp of Tolstoy's fatalistic beliefs: we are all caught up in the inevitability of history, there is a God who permits us freewill within that inevitability but, ultimately, we have very little influence over event outcomes in our lives.
He's almost done with it. I'm going to miss Pierre and Natasha.
posted by mireille at 1:04 PM
9 Comments:
There's still Anna Karenina to get through.
5:21 PM
As a teenager I started reading it and went through 3 books and stopped. However, I went through Anna Karenina easily. :-P
Tolstoy's the guy I love with my mind, my heart and with something I cannot name, this is an Eastern-European thing, you know. I'm so glad you mentioned Pierre, he was such a great man.
12:09 AM
Funny that the fat and jovial Pierre is played by Henry Fonda in the movie.
12:13 AM
Read it years ago (in French, of course - at the time). Pierre is such a darling. (True, Henry Fonda was miscast in the film.)
Isn't 'going through' the wrong word for something one enjoys?
7:44 AM
Bela, that's my English. I didn't mean to say it was a misery. I keep in mind that "go through" is for other occasions. :-)
1:46 PM
Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to criticize your English. I was talking more in general. 'Getting - or going - through' gives an impression of hard slog, doesn't it? And a lot of people do find those books heavy going.
I've been thinking a lot about the matter recently: how difficult it sometimes is to convince people that one actually enjoys those kinds of books.
2:01 PM
Bela, I am glad when I am taught. I am not attending any courses now, so you bloggers are my teachers. :-)
Yeah, funny the way we all enjoy different things and are so surprised at the fun of others.
11:58 AM
Now that's a painless way to get through W & P.
5:50 PM
You've just reminded me I have Anna Karenina waiting to be read... :) Love Russian literature!
6:48 AM
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