Writers Review of Tolstoys’ ‘War and Peace’

Writers Review of Tolstoys’ ‘War and Peace’
Continuing series of book reviews for writers.
How does one possibly criticize Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’? Well, treat it like a modern book appearing today for the first time, and what might someone think?
First, there are too many characters. Even with a printed list I kept beside the book, I couldn’t keep track of everyone.
While historically accurate, the number of players in the military and political organizations is overwhelming. Lay on top of the historical characters a large cast of fictional characters, and it was impossible to keep track. And when that happens, the reader stops caring for everyone.
The Russian naming convention of three names, plus nick-names, shortened names, diminutives, etc makes even the thirty-five fictional characters a long list to track. I would hope no modern writer would do anything similar.
But. It is amazing. The scenes of life and death, and the thoughts, feelings and cares of people in these situations was incredible to read. I have never been in combat, but I felt I was there, watching friends and peers be killed and maimed, and continuing to work under incredible pressures. The writing is awe-inspiring.
The social structures, the pecking orders, and the huge number of people who seemed to have little or no personal sources of income astounded me. It was almost all about inherited wealth and position, something I had trouble relating to.
Tolstoy says in the after-word, that ‘War and Peace’ is not a novel. It is a story overlaid on the historical events of the Napoleonic wars with Russia. There are long tracks of political, historical and economic theorizing. Does a great man make history, or is he carried along by the currents of the times? Can individual people be factors, and can something like Calculus be used to measure the infinitely small single person contribution to the larger overall whole of history? It certainly is a work to make a reader think. The last two hundred pages were an essay on power, politics, and the forces that make history. Certainly thought provoking, but I don’t think these ideas gained much traction after the book was published in 1869.
I did read this while in parallel opening Google and Wikipedia, to understand the history, times, and actions of 1812. In that way, it was a great learning experience. That Napoleon seemed to win at Borodino, and march into Moscow, was news to me. But how it was a Pyrrhic victory and Napoleon later retreated in disaster was well presented.
As a novel I am left comparing it to ‘Anna Karenina’. Anna was the better novel by far.
I did feel and experience with the major fictional characters. Pierre Bezukhov was interesting to follow and experience the times with. His personal growth and arc was instructive. Manipulated into marrying Helene, he did move forward.
Natasha Rostov was entertaining, and strong willed in the first two-thirds. I thought she became weaker as the book ended.
But I think the biggest missed opportunity in ‘War and Peace’ was the character of Helene Bezukhov (nee Kuragin). She was beautiful, married to the newly rich Pierre Bezukhov, and out of control. Unfortunately, most of what we learn about her is through rumour, innuendo, and secondhand reporting. Pierre calls her stupid, but I don’t think she was. I wanted to know what she was thinking, what passions drove her, and if there was a plan or any guilty feelings at all. I recognize that Czarist Russia had heavy handed censors, so being explicit might have been impossible. But I kept thinking that Tolstoy had the material to create a Russian Emma Bovary or Rebeca Sharp. (And Becky Sharp may be my favourite female character of all time. Besides Anna Karenina.) Both ‘Madam Bovary’ and ‘Vanity Fair’ were published before ‘War and Peace’, so Tolstoy would have had a model.
I wondered if in Helene Leo Tolstoy created the precursor to Anna Karenina? And then in the writing of Anna, he came to understand and appreciate her, and so humanized her? And made her the woman I fell in love with, and who I cry over, saying ‘Anna, no. Please, don’t do this.’ every time I read the book.
We can only speculate. But I think it would have been fun to read ‘War and Peace’ where Helene was given some scenes in her point of view. It might have even been banned, and when was that ever bad for a book.

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January 18, 2025 at 4:17 PM

ISBN 9780307806581