More on War and Peace

A Story by Irish Maths

An essay

Love stories are dime a dozen but Prince Andrei-Natasha tugs at heartstrings like few others, and Pierre was a memorable character too, and the friendship between him and Prince Andrei remains one of the best and most realistically well portrayed friendships in the annals of print. But what takes W and P above other contemporary and modern pieces of literature is Tolstoy’s incredible treatise on how things move and the significance or insignificance of Napoleon himself during the course of events of the Napoleonic wars. An incredible effort and a masterful work of art that till this day remains almost unparalled in the world of literature…

It was a portrayal of every day life in upper class Russian society back in the day when Napoleon was in power. People talked politics, made matches, fell in love, fell out of love, there were engagements and elopements, long betrothals and betrayals. Father and son, brother and sister, unhappiness in marriage, friendship, philosophy, upward social movement, all this is explored. And, the backdrop, always there is the backdrop, where Tolstoy develops his treatise.

The events take place over the course of a decade, and as long as the book is, and as many pages as you skip, at the very end as it hurtles towards its devastating climax, you are left wanting more. I read and re-read this book many, many years ago, but still its imprint remains far fresher than many other books I may have read since. Truly, a must read for one and all! :)