October 29, 2010

Literary Pick (**)

War and Peace
(Leo Tolstoy
)






















Although clearly not a Victorian novel, I felt the setting possessed a Victorian-styled tone which was personally enjoyable to me.
The story was easier than I expected it to be, it was by no means a big mean scary hairy indecipherable novel. The worst part about it was having the stamina to finish it once I realized it was a work that failed to move me.
I read somewhere that Tolstoy wrote his books for the average man, so it doesn't surprise me that it was comprehensible.
The reason I gave this book only two stars is because although Tolstoy did a commendable job in making the novel (especially the war part) grasping, it left me bored and fatigued.
I think the characters could have offered a lot more in terms of drama and suspense. Their family issues and dilemmas lacked interest and sympathy. This really surprised me about Tolstoy's Tour de force, since his short stories are supremely gripping.
War and Peace is the story of the War of 1812 and 5 Tsarist families during that time. Some of which were men who joined the war, and others who were either elders or women related to the men who fought the war.
Honestly, none of the characters moved me as much as I thought they should have. I thought Andrey would become a better person after the death of his wife, but he seems to have died as bitterly as he lived. I felt no warmth towards him at the time of his death. None of the characters seemed ripe enough for me to care about. I sensed when Tolstoy wanted me to feel sadness and emotion, for example, when Petya, the youngest Rostov son was shot in the head during combat, but I didn't feel anything over that event either. Or like when the old man died and finally realized gratitude towards his daughter, that didn't move me either.. Then there was Nikolay Rostov, who basically married for money. There was no love or romance between them prior to the wedding. He did turn out to be a good husband, but he married Marie to save what was left of the family name and fortune, thus leaving Sonya (his childhood romance) who patiently waited for him all those years out to dry. Sonya's reaction to his union with Marie wasn't even addressed. In fact, the story left her sort of high and dry with no husband and no opinion or feelings about having waited so long for her love only to lose him to Marie (Andrey's sister).
Towards the end when Pierre left to Petersburg on business to start a revolutionary group to band against the government that were treating people poorly, Nikolay (his BIL) didn't agree with his point of views on the matter, being that he was a military officer who took an oath and....that's basically where the story ends, flat. Tolstoy then proceeds to exceedingly go into these theories and metaphors that basically just dragged his own novel through the mud. The book is no doubt a work of art as far as the cannon is concerned, but as a sit-down enjoyable piece of literature for today's society, it's extremely outdated. Tolstoy probably rolls over in his grave 8 million times a day if he saw what's become of us. In my humble opinion It's not a timeless piece.
I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it's over.




ps. the epilogue must be read. It's part of the novel. If you didn't finish the epilogue, you didn't finish reading War and Peace.

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