The War and Peace Reading Support Group week 5: Scaling Mount Tolstoy
Napoleon at Austerlitz
A task of this nature requires a company of like-minded individuals. We learned from the movie 127 Hours that if we are off on a trip we must always tell someone exactly where we’re going. This way if we don’t return, someone will come looking for us. Embarking on W+P is like rock-climbing, and not just because your arm could get crushed by this massive tome. It is best to have people you can discuss the book with, and if anyone’s attention flags you can egg each other on.
Scaling Mount Tolstoy in Emotional Weather Report, today in the Philippine Star. Thanks to the reading group members for their input. We’re nearly there.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
March 8th, 2011 at 10:03
(It took me forever to realize that this is the W+P week 5 post)
Prior to reading W+P, I had a vague idea about what the novel was all about. I avoided reading detailed synopses, wary of spoilers. Friends who have read it, however, have mentioned that Count Bezukhov most reflected Leo Tolstoy’s beliefs.
Parallelism between the lives of young Tolstoy and Pierre has been imminent from the get go. Both men were idealistic young Aristocrats who believed they were accidently born into their fortune.
At the foot of Mount Tolstoy, it was so easy to be seduced by the juicy details of the melodramatic lives of the Russian nobility. It was futile not to be drawn to the author’s depiction of the dangerous thrill of war between two very gallant armies. It was not hard to forget that W+P was supposed to be a social commentary.
Halfway though the novel, the author could no longer be separated from his work. Pierre’s struggle to locate his moral/spiritual compass is better appreciated when taken in the context of Tolstoy’s personal experiences and political leanings. The contrast between Pierre and Andrei are now more striking than ever and it is difficult not to entertain the thought that Tolstoy was mocking one with the other.
Midway to the climb, I’ve had a change of perspective.
The spectacles have been cleaned. Vision is now back to 20/20.
March 12th, 2011 at 00:10
Things that I forgot to mention:
While reading W+P, I was reminded of a lot of contemporary writers. There are times when the book felt like reading Marilynne Robinson (quiet yet forceful), John Banville (poetic), Cormac McCarthy (dark, foreboding), and Michael Cunningham (I don’t really know why I was reminded of his writing). I think this is a good thing because there is variety, therefore preventing the reader from getting bored. Not that I am saying it is prone to bore people, it just shows how talented Leo Tolstoy is, shifting from mood to mood, tone to tone, yet maintaining the seamlessness of the writing.
I also believe that reading W+P will make you smarter, not because you have conquered its 1200+ pages, but because the author guides you, part by part, to fully understand what he wanted to impart.
I already finished the book less than a week ago. You can do it! There’s still a lot to look forward to.