War and Peace by Leo TolstoyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
It would be about 8 or 9 years ago that i bought this book with the intention of reading it 'one day'. That day arrived when i took a break from my career, in January. Still, it took me more than 4 months to read War and Peace. That's after i set a deadline to finish it!
That makes it sound boring. Which is not exactly true. The book does have its boring bits, but it is interesting and entertaining for the most part. I would have rated it higher if it wasn't for the 'Epilogue II' - which is a take on things's inevitability vs. man's free will. Tolstoy confuses us to the point that one starts to think what's the meaning of it all - all meaning life itself, as well as the fact that you have almost read this tome of a book and come to the end of it, and you have set a deadline to finish it off, and this guy is telling you history really is inevitable and nothing to do with anyone's free will no matter what. So France would have invaded Russia in the early 19th century, with or without Napoleon; France would have had someone else. In any case, the result would have been the same, the French retreating after reaching Moscow, with or without Kutuzov and Alexander I doing anything on their part.
You don't really want a good book to end so morosely. So, leaving behind the unnecessary (but inevitable!) Epilogue II, the rest of the book is a page turner and (again i am insisting, like LT did in the whole novel about one thing or the other) should have ended at 'Epilogue I' with its happily ever after feel. Chronicling the lives of a handful of stately and rich people from around the year 1805 to 1820, when Napoleonic forces invaded Russia, it is a detailed commentary on the social and military setup of Russia during that time.
Of these people, some remain with you a long time after you have kept the book down. Prince Andrew, Princess Mary, Natasha, Sonya, Nicholas, Pierre, Denisov - the characters have been painted in vivid details and the tiniest clockwork of their minds laid bare. Their interactions and dialogues with each other further introduce you to their respective worlds and you get to know them all thoroughly. The novel touches upon a lot of areas - Freemasonry, extra marital affairs, balls and arranged alliances, love affairs, hunting (yes, hunting, with dogs), generals and their military strategies and how the strategies do not (and cannot) get executed. Then there is a long discourse on Napoleon and his not being a genius contrary to the public opinion at that time. There is also a long discourse on Kutuzov and history's lack of due recognition for him.
The novel is organized in various books, each one alternating with the themes of war and peace, and containing around 15-20 chapters. There are french sentences in between, duly translated.
While you would need time and patience to read this one, the feeling after the you've finished the book is one of triumph. For me specially since this one was on my list for the longest time!
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