I had intended to post several blog entries about this one; I guess the half-way point is better than never. At the risk of annoying my colleagues, I have to tell you that I LOVE THIS BOOK! I read it at least 20 years ago and found it tough going. Now, though, I love the slow arc of the characters' development. Even the battle scenes are interesting this time - I try not to focus too much on the details, some of which I don't understand anyway; instead, I just pretend to be facing a giant canvas in a museum, and let the picture spread out in front of me. I'm especially impressed by the way Tolstoy pulls powerful visuals from small details. He doesn't need to tell us everything about Princess Maria's dress or hair, he just says that in a time of grief she spends hours pulling at the buttons on the sofa. To me, this is a perfect image.
At our first W&P meeting, my small group seemed to generally feel that Tolstoy was disparaging toward women. I disagree. He was certainly a 19th century aristocratic male, but he also spent an awful lot of time observing women very closely. And, if the extent that a writer moves away from the virgin/whore dichotomy in female characters measures his progressiveness, then Tolstoy does pretty well. Sure, Helene is a consummate whore and viper, but Natasha can't be neatly slotted into a category, and she's the important one. At least I think so, at the moment. What do you think?
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