Comment

Nov 22, 2016ArapahoeSteffen rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book got me interested in the Napoleonic wars with Russia for the first time, much in the same way that Gone With the Wind encouraged me to learn more about the American Civil War. This book strangely reminded me of the Game of Thrones series - a lengthy epic full of rich characters whom you fluctuate between loving and hating. Man, I really hated Nikolai and Princess Marya for most of the book and then they both did something I admired, then I hated them again at the end! The treatment of cat-like-Sonya, my favorite character, is one of the biggest upsets in Classical fiction in my opinion. Also, the War parts are as good as, and often better than, the Peace parts - which I did NOT expect. In fact I was convinced to read this largely because it was described to me as "a large bit of it takes place in drawing rooms." My favorite scene in the whole book was this description of this small Russian artillery unit shelling this little town in the middle of this awful battle, whose soldiers then got into trouble for disobeying orders even though you can tell Tolstoy thinks they were the participants most worth admiring. Tolstoy interrupts his narrative often to comment and criticize on history and the study of history and how we remember history, which I found interesting. Did I mention I listened to this on audiobook? 60 HOURS!