The mere mention of reading ‘War and Peace’ usually makes people tune-out or at least wrinkle their nose in confusion as to why a person would do that (which in a library, does add to one’s concern…). So before I could begin, I had to try to figure out: ‘What’s the big deal?’ I’ve discovered a few interesting things: 1) There is a ‘progressive metal’ band called ‘War & Peace’, but I haven’t had much luck finding an online sample of their music…2) It’s been made into operas, movies and TV mini-series, as recently as 2007 (so if all else fails, I can watch the movie and hope that no one notices I haven’t read the book)… 3) There seems to be a great deal of discussion around why this is such a hard read. Even Oprah has multiple links on her website called, ‘How to Read War and Peace’.
Is it the length? That doesn’t seem daunting. I prefer series literature so that I have more to read. Is it the language? It’s been translated repeatedly – at least one of the translations should resonate with potential readers. Is it the content? In an era where war/battle/soldiers/shooting is a much sought after theme in entertainment mediums such has movies and video games – I can’t imagine that our collective consciousness is too delicate for the subject matter. Maybe it’s all the accolades the work has received. Could potential readers be frightened off by the works’ status?
Before I started reading, through the introduction and first 15 pages I was definitely of the notion that this task was too daunting and for every reason I’ve mentioned and more importantly, fear of appearing ignorant to my fellow reading group. I undertook my initial reading like I was studying for an exam. I scrutinized every detail, searched for hidden meaning, tried to consider in depth the consequences of character dialogue; this was wrecking the book. It became a chore and not wanting to fail, I had to change my approach or begrudge every moment with this text.
Normally I love reading fiction. I sail through it eager to see the story play out. So why should this be any different. Simply put, it’s a work of fiction and I am now treating it as such. With this new approach, the rest of my reading (and social life) has gone very well. I no longer feel like yelling at the other ballet mothers, ‘Keep it down!’ ‘Can’t you see your concerns about child development and social integration are nothing in comparison to my reading War and Peace!?!?’
Anyways, the washing machine has shut off, so I must return to my mommy-duties (yeah, me and Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskoya). See you all in the
xo,
denise
PS – I’m going to try and make us a genealogy chart asap :)
No comments:
Post a Comment