War and Peace Final Thoughts

Sorry for two posts in a row, but I finished!  It feels like such an accomplishment because the book is so MASSIVE!!  If you had told me a year ago that I would ever read this behemoth book, I would have called you nuts.  I'm glad that I gave it a chance because it was so worth it.

The last section focused on the wrap-up of the war and the wrapping-up of everyone's story.  The war sections were interesting when they focused on familiar characters, but the general philosophizing got a bit tiring.  Particularly, the end of the epilogue seemed to reiterate many times over, many of the points that Tolstoy had already made about war, individual will, and historians (of whom he doesn't seem to have much respect).

I, sadly, already knew the marriages that would happen in the epilogue because someone had posted a chart to help with names.  I was a bit bummed when I saw it, but I was surprised by how the marriages came about.  I assumed that they would be dynamically much different and that they were entered into for different reasons than actually happened.  I was pleasantly surprised by the happiness of the characters at the end.  They seemed perfect for each other and you could feel the passion in their marriages--as it should be.

I'll keep this brief for now.  I'll try to do a complete review soon.  I'm just glad I'm actually posting on time!  In short, I really enjoyed the experience of reading War and Peace.  I'm amazed at Tolstoy's ability to weave such an intricate, epic story.  Although I've loved it (overall--not the sluggish parts), this is not one that I'll read again.  It's simply too time-consuming and I have so many more wonderful books I have yet to read.