Getting into the Opus

OK everyone, I'm well into Part Two, but not without a lot of effort!

First, the introduction seemed to present every reason in the world NOT to read this book, (the writer refers to those who say it is considered dry, tedious, unnecessarily detailed etc.). What a way to launch into War and Peace - this did nothing to assuage my anxiety about ever getting through the thing. How many pages?

Then, as I arrived to the first paragraph, I discovered all that tri-lingual text. You need to become comfortable turning yourself into a bobble head, because the translation for the French and German is footnoted. Thank God for that, BUT . . . as you read through your eyes are constantly bobbing up and down the page in an effort to capture the translation of the elongated, foreign language text in the main body, from the teeny weeny english language footnotes at the bottom of the page. Up and down, up and down. Anyone sick yet? So the first lesson of War and Peace for me is get some gravol, because this Tolstoy chap is no Danielle Steel, or is that the other way around?

As and aside I should say I feel vindicated by Tolstoy because I have always been taught to write short sentences. "Keep things short and succinct" some marmy teacher used to screech at me in composition class. Tell that to Leo. I love his elongations, a man after my own heart, though I'll defer to him for the expertise required to craft such beautifully detailed sentences - and some are beautiful.

Also, I found I had some initial trouble keeping track of all the characters who so quickly swarm in and out of the opening chapters. This was due to a lack of familiarity with Russian names that in some ways begin to all sound the same, but of course they are not! So, I printed out a smart chart of character descriptions (thanks for that Denise) and then lo and behold, by the beginning of Part 2, and our introduction to the war front, there was rhythm and a story that has now grabbed hold of me. Just work through it and you will click into things. And, by the time you get to the part where you discover the outcome of manoeuvres to block Pierre from inheriting his Father's vast fortune, you're hooked!

Already I feel deprived because it basically took all of Part One for me just to 'get into' the novel. No time to really consider the role of character, structure, and the infinite number of literary layers Tolstoy has initially employed to give birth to the story. Oh never mind, I'm now actually enjoying the story.

The other fast-emerging reference need (aside from the character chart and my Cambridge dictionary) is some kind of map to help identify key sites and locations referred to throughout the novel. Well, I have discovered a wonderful google map that provides this which is searchable. Want to know where the fortress of Braunau is? Got to the map HERE and search! I've also included it with the list of links related to this blog.

Since we began this four other folk have joined our little adventure bringing our total to seven. Perhaps they'll post soon. There has even been an invitation to a get-together too, mostly as an excuse to have vodka, but what the hell?

Until next time,

Chris AKA Boris