On Reading (& finishing) War & Peace in 2007

I finished War and Peace Sunday afternoon.

I admit it, I feet a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment at sticking with this through the end. It feels good to have set a goal, and despite all of the distractions that life offers (not to mention toddlers and technology), be able to pull it together to settle into such a monstrous book from beginning to end.

For the last month or more, I had been willing this book to just end already, so that I could move on to something else, anything else. But now, I feel almost sad that it is over. I feel enriched at having read it. It is the kind of novel that I know will stay with me forever (or at least until I officially start to lose my mind).

I feel a heavy sigh as I know that to really grasp what this book offers, I would need to read it again. And at the very least, and probably soon, I should reread the epilogue. The epilogue itself is 12 chapters of mostly essays on history, historians, power, freedom, necessity, and free will. The epilogue was rather dry in parts, but worthy of attention.

The story itself was beautiful, and the characters were some of the most intriguing people I have ever met through literature. Natasha Rostov and Marie Bolkonsky have officially entered their personas into my list of feminine literary icons. It being such a long book, ripe with detail, thinking back to a specific scene feels like trying to retrieve long ago memories, foggy at first but ultimately revealed with increasing clarity. It feels like remembering an event from my own past.

Tolstoy is however, excessively wordy. He would often provide example after example, and metaphor after metaphor to explain one concept. There were huge sections of the book that were difficult to read more than 2 or 3 pages without falling asleep. There were periods in which I could not stop my eyes from rolling into the back of my head, and believed I would surely die from boredom if I had to endure one more word.

But I did endure it, and the overall story was so good, so relevant, that it was more than worth the time put into it. War and Peace got me thinking in great detail about the meaning of life, love, religion, relationships, and the impact of war on each of these things. It pulled me further into the world of aristocracy and peasants, class distinction, and morality. It is stuck in my brain now. It was a timely read as well, as we continue on in our years long war in Iraq. And of course, I got quite an education on the invasion of Russia by Napoleon. I really knew very little about this part of history.

So, what am I going to do every night now? What am I going to read? I have another novel set to start on my birthday, September 1, on it's release date, Kingston Fugue. It's Adam's second book, and I am very excited to read it. I haven't proofed it for him or anything, so I am really excited.

I am kind of thinking that maybe I should spend the next few weeks catching up on church work (hello September newsletter, Winterfaith, upcoming services, GLBT Concerns task force, and religious education committee. I haven't forgotten any of you), and maybe clean my house.

After all, I am having that big birthday party soon!