Minutes to Memories

3 months. 1,455 pages. And now I am one of two people I know of (the other being a certain Leo Tolstoy) who has actually read War & Peace.

Some people claim it to be the greatest novel ever written, which is particularly interesting since its author didn't even claim it was a novel (he said that Anna Karenina, written later, was his first attempt at a novel). When pressed as to what it was, his response was something along the lines of "it is what it is."

There are lengthy passages in War & Peace that aren't part of a story at all. In those sections, Tolstoy waxes eloquent on all sorts of his theories on how the world works. In between is a compelling history of the Napoleonic invasion of Russia through the eyes of a LOT of characters, but principally through three families - the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs. In the 105 page epilogue, the first half brings the story to a close, while the last half is a long essay arguing concepts such as the nature of the field of history, power, and human free will.

It is an interesting and weird book. When you have a few months, you ought to give it a read.

By book's end, I believe a singular major character emerged in Pierre Bezukhov. And he's a worthy major character in what some claim to be the greatest novel ever written. Definitely complex, yet likable, and I left him in a positive place.

But he hasn't left me, and he probably won't. After 1,455 pages, I'm pretty sure Pierre will be a part of my life from now on.