Has anyone actually read Tolstoy's War and Peace? It's sitting on my shelf, daring me to try to get through it again. Meaning: I tried to read it once and stopped. Not meaning: I'm trying to read it another time.
Anyone besides JoBecka.
Because if you can tell me that, really, it's worth reading, I'll try again. If not, I've got a few sci fi that look more interesting.
3 comments:
I read it but knowing me I skimmed through a lot of it. I remember seeing the movie (Audrey Hepburn) years and years ago as a kid, and really liked it, so I wanted to read about all the parts in the movie. I either skimmed or skipped all together the historical parts. I tend to do that with these long novels. (Les Miserables comes to mind as another that I jumped over huge portions of the book to get to the parts I wanted to read)
The parts I read were better than the movie (Most books are better than the movie) but it is a really long book. The version I had broke it into two halves and each halve was in a separate book. I think it didn't seem as daunting that way. More like a sequel to a good book or something.
I should give it another go and try to read the historical stuff too. I may actually make it through those parts now.
Mitch says to tell you he read it, and it's so not worth it. It's a 1500 page soap opera. I have to say that I read Anna Karenina, and I appreciated it (I keep editing that word -- I can't say I enjoyed it, because it was super depressing, but it really seemed to be a good comment on humanity). However, looking back, it was a bit of a soap opera only to say "don't commit adultary -- it's not worth it". Anyway, can't say much about War and Peace, but if you do read it, you can tell the rest of us. :)
I've read it and it is definitely worth it. It's one of those books that needs to be discussed and is best done with a mentor.
It so huge and covers so much that your head is reeling a bit when you finish it. It also very Russian which is important to recognize as we read it with our Western bent.
I understand why some people see it as a big soap opera, but that's not what it is. It's really the story of life. The main theme of the book is the same as the theme of our life: agency. How do we make choices in our life? What are the consequences of those choices? How do our choices change us?
I have taught W&P twice in my MA program and it's been wonderful. To make it really worthwhile, I recommend reading it along with Democracy In America vol II. This gives a really great understanding of aristocracy and democracy, the strengths and weaknesses of
both, and the lessons we can learn to combat our own weaknesses.
Post a Comment