Tuesday 29 May 2012

War and Peace - peace at last!

I have finished War & Peace. Yes, that's right. I read it, all the way to the end. Here's proof:


I have to say that I'm not sure I could have finished this if I had read it in book rather than Kindle form. The book comes in two volumes and, as I didn't really get into this until about 50% of the way in, I would have had to read one enormous tome with no enthusiasm, and then motivate myself to start another - I think this is psychologically more difficult than watching the percentages grow at the bottom of the screen! Kindle...reading for cop-outs...!

After reading 25%, I gave myself a break and read Swallows and Amazons. I then promised myself a similar incentive for 50% and 75% but chose to plough on instead while the going was good. Having complained about reading this, I eventually got into it and, whilst I'm not sure I could say I enjoyed it, I found it a rewarding and more pleasurable than not pleasurable experience.

Now, to touch on all elements of W&P in a review would involve writing something the length of a normal book, so I won't attempt to do that, but a few observations:

- I really enjoyed Tolstoy's tone as he talked about war. He made it clear that he viewed the entire Russian army as incompetent and disorganised; the chaos was entertaining in that every plan for a battle went wrong, the majority of the officer class were incompetent gentry who had just joined the army, and the victory over the French was caused by the French themselves losing discipline and fleeing, rather than grand strategic plans coming to fruition.
- This tone also carried through to the way society was portrayed - I think I mentioned this in one of my interim reviews. Tolstoy's depiction is in the tone of a sardonic observer, who has a certain affection for what he is seeing, but believes it to be rather silly. And it is! As the war progresses, society breaks down, and he focuses more on a couple of families who then achieve a more wholesome (if that's the right word!) and worthwhile lifestyle. I particularly enjoyed the conflict of a society which aspired to all things French, spoke French as a mark of elegance and education, and was faced with invasion by an undesirable French force, suddenly having to change their views of speaking Russia and acting like Russians.
- There is a storyline, but this is very much secondary - W&P seems to me that it is more of a vehicle for Tolstoy to air his views on society, religion, war, free will, the interpretation that historians place on the past. On reaching the end of the book, there is an epilogue, which ties up all the loose ends in terms of the characters that have become the main focus of interest. There is then a second epilogue, forming about 5% of the whole work, where Tolstoy explores and explains, in depth, the nature of power, free will, whether activity in war is ever the result of commands or whether it is wholly coincidental...and so on. Having a historian's background, I found some of this quite interesting as it cropped up throughout the book - looking at what actually happened, and then the interpretations that French and Russian historians placed on events retrospectively, as this is something that comes up frequently as you do a history degree. However, I felt that he'd made his point and it probably didn't need a whole epilogue to repeat it.

I am very glad that I've read War and Peace - it definitely feels like one of the books everyone should at least attempt. Once you get into it, it's much more rewarding than Anna Karenina. Definitely deserves its place on this list. The only other book which has felt like as much of a commitment to read was A Suitable Boy - if you're only going to read one, read A Suitable Boy as that is much more rewarding in terms of character and storylines, but I would go for both!

Finishing this list actually now starts to feel like a possibility, although I do have to read Cloud Atlas, and I just find David Mitchell's style a bit pretentious and inaccessible. However - if I can read War and Peace, I think I should be able to read that!

Sunday 6 May 2012

War & Peace #2

I have read 50% of War and Peace! Yippee. I promised myself that, as a treat, I would allow myself to pause following each quarter of this massive tome, and read something else. However, at the moment, I'm making good progress through it and am quite absorbed so I will stick with it for now.

So, a couple of observations at this point.

Having got through the interminable descriptions of battle minutiae, and returned to Russian society, War and Peace becomes more readable. It still doesn't seem to be going anywhere purposeful, but I'm starting to settle into the different approach to reading that this kind of work demands. With most books, I am driven to read because I want to know what happens at the end. With War and Peace, and other looooong books (such as a Suitable Boy - definitely recommended), you have to read for the pleasure of the reading itself. There is no sense of a drive towards a resolution, at this point. For example, Natasha has had, so far, 3 intense love affairs which have been suddenly ended - in most other books based in this kind of period, by now you would expect to have an inkling of the character that she will actually end up marrying, but there is no such thing here. No predictability - this is probably a positive in terms of plotting skill, but deprives the reader of the satisfaction of divining what might happen next!

Secondly, Tolstoy is fairly subtly giving the impression that he views Russian society with disdain. He paints quite an affectionate portrait, but none of his characters are "good" - all of the young men are given to spending money they don't have, gambling, drinking, and general misbehaviour; the "respectable" older generation are either unreasonable, crotchety and mean, social climbers, or buried in a sea of debt - it's not really a surprise that the younger generation don't behave well! The interesting thing about the way Russian high society is portrayed is that it seems very modern - the young men seem very similar to the way some of the "evils" of today's society are portrayed by the media. Russian society also seems much free-er than English society at the same period.

There is, however, very little to like. I am trying to get over this, as I know that liking the characters shouldn't be the be-all and end-all of appreciating a work of fiction, but it is quite deeply engrained!

Onwards and upwards...