War and Peace, end of Book One

[osprey_archer]

I am three hundred odd pages into this book and I finally think that I have all the characters straight! Oh Tolstoy.

Prince Andrei is mortally wounded! Although there are still a thousand pages to go, so really I think it's too early for him to die, and also if he does then we're not going to have a prisoner of war's eye view on the French army, and surely that's something we all want.

Rostov has fallen in love with the emperor (like seriously, this is how Tolstoy describes it) and he had the opportunity to comfort him right after the battle had all gone to pieces, but instead of going up to him and saying something nice, Rostov panicked and spurred his horse to a gallop to flee the scene with all possible speed. OH ROSTOV. This is totally something I would do, let's be real, and it has made me a lot fonder of him.

Princess Marya continues to be the best, although it is becoming ever clearer to me that my affection for her will result in nothing but sadness. She shows all the signs of being Too Ugly for Love and is going to spend the rest of her life with her emotionally constipated father, and all I want for her is to find happiness and someone who loves her with all the tender kindness she deserves.

We haven't heard from Pierre for aaaaages, but last we heard, he had just gotten married because he was too polite/befuddled/alarmed to say he hadn't proposed to the young lady in question when her father burst into the room and congratulated them heartily on their impending nuptials.

The young lady in question is Ellen, and I am desperately curious if we'll ever get to hear her opinion on this state of affairs. She's the most beautiful young lady in St. Petersburg and could presumably marry just about anyone; does she mind being railroaded into marrying Pierre? Is she just glad he has lots of money? Does she care?

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

So three of my LJ friends and/or acquaintances are reading War and Peace right now, and reading everyone's updates is making me realize how absolutely little I remember. Maybe I should reread but... Thousands of pages!!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It's SO long. Did you really love it the first time? If so, then maybe it would be worth rereading, but otherwise I feel like it's too long to bother.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah. My general feeling was that it had its moments, but those aren't enough to make me re-tackle the whole thing.

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Just open to a couple of random pages and start reading wherever you feel like it! If Tolstoy couldn't be bothered not to tack history lectures all over his earnest human drama, there's no need for you to worry about reading the whole thing in order.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

You're right. And jumping in wherever is no worse than joining a soap opera--you can pick it up from context.

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

She shows all the signs of being Too Ugly for Love and is going to spend the rest of her life with her emotionally constipated father, and all I want for her is to find happiness and someone who loves her with all the tender kindness she deserves.

Heh. I can't wait till you find out what actually happens! Will you be happy or sad? I'm just not sure.

Poor Ellen. Poor Ellen. I love Pierre, but what happens with Ellen makes me love him less. Not that there's much he could have done for her, I think, except not marry her in the first place, but. . . you'll see. :( Look out for flying double standards!

You can trust Tolstoy to give you characters you care about, but you can't necessarily trust him to be even the slightest bit curious about them if he's decided they're the worst. Ellen is Exhibit A for the prosecution in Tolstoy v. Petersburg Society Women, which naturally leads to her becoming my favorite from pure spite. So it goes.

That railroading scene is one of my favorites, though. Pierre, just say no! D: D: D:

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME THIS WAY? (I love it when you torment me this way, please don't stop.) But man, it's hard to wait to find things out when I might have to keep reading for literally a thousand more pages before I know.

The railroading scene is HILARIOUS, like, Prince Vasily has decided what's going to happen and he will MAKE it happen even if Pierre is not going to actually pop the question on his own. And Pierre is just not even sure what hit him.