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holy shit

devastating

End of Volume 3, Part 2

Prince Andrey, despite his cold intellect, is a deeply lonely person. His love for Natasha seems to be the only thing capable of igniting his humanity. Unfortunately, circumstances prevent him from being saved by her.

Volume 3, Part 2, Chapter 15

Tolstoy is challenging the veracity of historical accounts as we know them, and asserting that his fictionalised account of history is no less valid than any historians' work.

Volume 3 - Part 1

Natasha has been transformed from a lively child to a pensive, depressed woman.
War is coming, and the characters slowly recede from their personal struggles to make way for the upcoming catastrophe. (Andrey giving up on chasing after Kuragin, Pierre abandoning the Rostovs)

Volume 3, Part 1, Chapter 5

Napoleon is portrayed as something of a fool, a man now blinded by his own power.

End of Volume 2

Natasha's transition from child to adult is accompanied by a loss of innocence. It occurs in tandem with her move from the country to the city. The Moscow socialites, especially Helene, have a corruptive effect on her young mind. Her break with Prince Andrey did not come as a surprise.

P.S. Anatole Kuragin continues being a piece of shit.

End of Volume 2 - Book 3

Pierre, Andrey and Marya are all searching for some deeper truth in their lives, and all are still in the process of figuring it out.

I don't care if this was normal back then, but a 15-year age gap is still uncomfortable for me

Volume 2 - Part 2

War and the loss of his wife has turned Prince Andrey into a nihilist. Where Pierre is content enough accepting 'the truth' from other people, Andrey relies on his own experiences and intellect to discover it.

Rostov now has to confront his blind loyalty to Alexander I, and try to reconcile his sense of sacred duty with his own personal feelings about the war.

Volume 2 - Part 1

Men are such weak and fickle things, and none exemplify this better than Nikolay Rostov

Volume 1 - Books 2,3

Two major points made:
1. Even in war, there is conflict within one side just as much as there is conflict between the two sides
2. The disillusionment of Rostov and Bolkonsky when Rostov saw Alexander I alone following the defeat at Austerlitz and Bolkonsky saw Napoleon, his hero, taking in his victory.

End of book 1

Three distinct Russian atmospheres have thus far been introduced: St. Petersburg with its rich socialites, Moscow which is much less restrained, and finally, the country at Bleak Hills. In all three places, talk of the approaching war takes precedence above all else.

Chapter 7-14

A change of scenery and a new set of characters.

Impressions:
Natasha immediately strikes as a person of importance. She's very young but bold and vivacious.

Tolstoy gives so much personality to his characters

Chapters 1-6: A very clever introduction to a large cast of characters in the form of a little party.

Impressions:
Russian aristocrats are obsessed with the French. It seems that Tolstoy is mocking their superficial ways.
Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrey immediately stand out from the crowd; Pierre because of his awkward bluntnesss and Andrey because of his apparent distaste for high society

book so big it's going to give me carpal tunnel syndrome

bro this book is frying my tiny brain

eugenie danglars is giving major lgbtq+ vibes