REVIEW: War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)

Book: War and Peace

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Premise: At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants to soldiers and Napoleon himself.

I've finally done it. It took over 3 weeks but I've read the behemoth that is War and Peace. The question is, was it worth it?

I enjoyed the parts that followed the main characters. Some of them are in the cities enjoying parties, gossiping about scandals and falling in love. Others are at war and you see the struggles they overcome. The war parts had plenty of action, which kept the pacing going and kept me engaged.

Because the book is long, you do get attached to the characters, even minor ones. When you've spent over 1000 pages following their story, it hits when they die (not much of a spoiler given the topic of the book!).

However, the pacing was all over the place. Characters kept having internal monologues every 5 minutes. You'd have a lot of build up towards a fight then Tolstoy comes at you with a long essay about the study of history and debating what historian accredit as the reason for xyz.

The epilogue really let me down. The first part follows the main characters in the aftermath and where they are now. You're looking forward to continuing that in part 2 but no. We leave the characters in a random place and Tolstoy has a rant about history and free will for the remainder of the book. You want to skip the essays but you've already read 1300 pages and by god you're going to read the whole thing!

So a mixed bag. I'd have liked an abridged version without the essays. Maybe that's what I'll get from watching one of the many film/TV adaptations.