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War and Peace, Book 2, Part 4, Chapter 6
Jun. 2nd, 2016 08:57 amI left War and Peace behind during my wedding jaunt, which is why I haven't covered that much ground this week. Although this does not mean that nothing has happened!
In the first place, Vera and her new husband Berg have thrown the very most boring party ever, and they are extremely pleased with themselves. Their party was just like every other party they've ever been to, and that means it was the perfect party, right? I actually think they're going to be one of the happiest couples in the book: everyone else may find them dull, but they are clearly extremely well suited to one another.
The same cannot be said of Prince Andrei and Natasha Rostova. They're both totally into each other, or they were when they got engaged, but they haven't announced the engagement yet or seen each other for months and there is, it seems to me, a distance between them. He is literally twice her age and tempered by sorrow, where Natasha is still young and light-hearted and found him frightening until she fell in love. I sense storm clouds gathering.
Princess Marya's new life plan involves becoming a pilgrim and traveling around Russia dressed in rags to visit all the holiest shrines. I think she would enjoy this far less than she thinks, but then enjoyment probably isn't the point, really.
And now the narrative has stopped dead for a few chapters of hunting. I could not care less about hunting and feel rather impatient with this; but then this is one of the interesting things about War and Peace, it's so big and there are so many different things in it that there's something to appeal to almost everyone, but by that same token almost everyone is probably going to have at least subplot that makes them cry "Oh no, not more Napoleon!" (or whatever).
Speaking of Napoleon, he and the Emperor Aleksandr are all buddy-buddy right now. This book has reminded me very forcibly that I know almost nothing about the Napoleonic wars; I hadn't realized that Napoleon and Russia had any kind of peace treaty before Napoleon marched on Moscow in 1812.
In the first place, Vera and her new husband Berg have thrown the very most boring party ever, and they are extremely pleased with themselves. Their party was just like every other party they've ever been to, and that means it was the perfect party, right? I actually think they're going to be one of the happiest couples in the book: everyone else may find them dull, but they are clearly extremely well suited to one another.
The same cannot be said of Prince Andrei and Natasha Rostova. They're both totally into each other, or they were when they got engaged, but they haven't announced the engagement yet or seen each other for months and there is, it seems to me, a distance between them. He is literally twice her age and tempered by sorrow, where Natasha is still young and light-hearted and found him frightening until she fell in love. I sense storm clouds gathering.
Princess Marya's new life plan involves becoming a pilgrim and traveling around Russia dressed in rags to visit all the holiest shrines. I think she would enjoy this far less than she thinks, but then enjoyment probably isn't the point, really.
And now the narrative has stopped dead for a few chapters of hunting. I could not care less about hunting and feel rather impatient with this; but then this is one of the interesting things about War and Peace, it's so big and there are so many different things in it that there's something to appeal to almost everyone, but by that same token almost everyone is probably going to have at least subplot that makes them cry "Oh no, not more Napoleon!" (or whatever).
Speaking of Napoleon, he and the Emperor Aleksandr are all buddy-buddy right now. This book has reminded me very forcibly that I know almost nothing about the Napoleonic wars; I hadn't realized that Napoleon and Russia had any kind of peace treaty before Napoleon marched on Moscow in 1812.
