Tuesday, March 1, 2011

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.

5 comments:

  1. My post is probably going up tomorrow afternoon. I'm just completely out of steam today.

    I'm glad you enjoyed it. By the second epilogue...I just wanted it to end. It just went on and on for far too long.

    Thank you so much for participating! I hope you enjoyed it!

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  2. The same thing happened to me with the marriages. Someone referred me to a family chart to keep the names straight, which was great until I realized it told me who would end up with who. Stupid chart. Oh well, still an amazing read and I'm so glad to be done. Congrats to you!

    p.s. I'm with Allie on the second epilogue... seriously?

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  3. Allie--I can't wait to read your post. I can understand you being exhausted. It amazes me how much you accomplish!

    Avid Reader--Part II of the epilogue was pure anguish. I read it as quickly as possible. I just didn't really care for him droning on and on about his theories.

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  4. Yay!! I found the second bit of the epilogue endless, it needed a good edit I think. And sluggish is definitely a good word for some parts of this one. Some of it was great, but mostly I found W & P a huge struggle, but one I'm glad I made.

    Congrats on getting though it, too! Doing this as a readalong was great, and I've really enjoyed your posts.

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  5. Selene--It was definitely worth the read, even if I didn't love every aspect of it. Part II of the epilogue seemed so redundant. I got the point Tolstoy. Stop beating me over the head with it!

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