"Just then the sun came all the way out from behind the clouds, and the beautiful sound of the solitary shot and the shining of the bright sun merged into one cheerful and merry impression."
- Leo Tolstoy (I.2.vi)
Day Count: 23
Page Count: 256
The last couple of weeks have been difficult ones for my reading of War and Peace and have, as such, been difficult ones for "Tackling Tolstoy." Those of you who follow the official "Tackling Tolstoy" Twitter feed - @TweetingTolstoy - know that I've been keeping up on my reading and those of you who are good at math and looked at the Page Count on this post know that I'm well ahead of my initially proposed 'three-a-day' schedule (more than a month ahead of schedule, actually - I'm not good enough at math to figure out exactly how far).
Through the vast majority of those weeks, I found myself embroiled in Volume One, Part Two. Dealing predominantly with life on the Russian front in their war with Napoleon, Part Two took my hundred-pages-a-week momentum that I'd built up and ground it to a near halt. Tolstoy's attention to characterization took a backseat to his attention to tactics, something I know little to nothing about. Characters I was comfortable with and enjoyed - like Pierre Bezukhov, the "little princess" Liza Bolkonsky, and Natasha Rostov - were abandoned for new characters that I had little to know familiarity or connection with - men like commander-in-chief Kutuzov, the speech-impediment-wielding Denisov, and the heroic Bagration. The only bastions of familiarity in this sea of confusion were Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (easily the most quotable character in the book so far) and Nikolai Rostov (who I seem to like less and less the more I read about him).
Apparently, I'm not the only one who had some 'issues' making it through this section of the book. My department head - whom I now refer to as my 'brother in Tolstoy' - said that when he was reading War and Peace this fall, he definitely had some struggles making it through as well. His wife said that she had difficulties on her first time through, but has since grown to enjoy it on subsequent readings. It's good to know that if I ever want to read War and Peace again - a question I will likely broach at the end of this experiment - I will enjoy that laborious section a bit more.
However, I finished that section Thursday night and began Part Three on Friday. I felt a lot better immediately after I started reading. Here were the characters that I knew and loved in challenging situations and circumstances: Pierre Bezukhov being manipulated by Prince Vassily Kuragin into marrying Vassily's beautiful daughter Helene in hopes of gaining access to Pierre's substantial inheritance. Marya Bolkonsky standing by her principles in spite of pressure from her father, pressure from a suitor and his family, and even pressure from her own heart. Natasha Rostov attempting to come to grips with what love means at her tender, fragile age while the rest of her family sighs with relief at their first word from son Nikolai, who was wounded on the front. Even the moments on the battlefield have been full of more life and energy than they previously were. Young Nikolai Rostov becomes more well-rounded and developed as we see his inexplicable love for his sovereign and his country and unwillingness to follow his childhood friend Boris Drubetskoy or newfound rival Prince Andrei Bolkonsky into a 'comfortable' position as adjutant to a commander or general.
In fact, just over this weekend, I have already read over fifty pages... so it would appear that my lost momentum has returned. I return to reading War and Peace somewhat energized... and happier for having finished Volume One, Part Two! :)
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteIn case you didn't know, the novel has some three dozen main characters and they are called by different names according to Russian custom, so it can get very confusing. If you haven't already, you may want to make a list or chart to keep track of who is who in relation to whom.
—JAK
The edition that I'm using has a list of all the "Principal Characters" immediately following the translation note explaining the use of the Russian 'patronymic' (which may be valuable to discuss here at some point). They are listed by family - all the Kuragins, all the Bezukhovs, all the Bolkonskies, all the Rostovs, etc. - which certainly helps keep that straight. I've had to refer to it quite a few times already.
ReplyDeleteA few characters, however - particularly military leaders like Bagration and Kutuzov - are not mentioned in that list, hence my confusion to begin with. I have a list in my commonplace book that helps me keep some of the minor characters straight.
Thanks, Justin!