Just a Quick Note to Say...

...we've officially hit over 300 views, people! Way to go and thanks for supporting your local literature buff!

"Pierre understood one thing while reading this book [Thomas a Kempis' Of the Imitation of Christ]; he understood the delight, previously unknown to him, of the possibility of achieving perfection and the possibility of brotherly and active love among people..."

- Leo Tolstoy (II.2.iii)

Day Count: 31

Page Count: 377

Musings on the Verge of My First Milestone

"And however near and dear many people are to me - my father, my sister, my wife - the dearest people to me -- but, however terrible and unnatural it seems, I'd give them all now for a moment of glory, of triumph over people, for love from people I don't know and will never know, for the love of these people here... And still the only thing I love and cherish is triumph over all of them, I cherish that mysterious power and glory hovering over me here in this mist!"

- Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (I.3.xii)

Day Count: 27

Page Count: 290

 The time stamp on this post is dated sometime Friday morning, January 28, but the reality of the situation is that I am writing it on Thursday night, January 27 at 9:37pm. The day and post counts above reflect the facts of the matter at the time of the writing of this post - that is to say, I have been reading War and Peace for 27 days now and have completed over 290 pages. These are the facts of the matter at this time, but they have little to do with my excitement at this moment.

I am almost finished with Volume One! I am a scant four pages away from completing the first major section of War and Peace and am closing in on 300 pages... and some two-plus months ahead of schedule!

I feel like I have something of a feather for my cap now. In less than a month, I've managed to read three hundred pages of one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written. I find myself being slowly drawn into the world that Tolstoy has created, sympathizing with and loving his characters as they begin to take on shape and dimension. They are ceasing to be characters in a book, but are becoming like real people whose highs and lows I am privileged enough to share in.

All that being said, I will leave you for now. I had a longer, more detailed post that I had originally planned on posting tonight, but it will have to wait for sometime this weekend. In the meantime, I wonder who will reach 300 first... me or this blog?!

The following are my counts at the time of the posting of this entry:

Day Count: 28

Page Count: 303

(Looks like I hit 300 pages before my blog hit 300 views. Not sure if I win or lose on that one... ;) I am, however, about a quarter of my way through War and Peace! w00t!)

All Quiet on the Russian Front

"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! :)