Volume Three
This whole section is pretty much the lead up to the Battle of Borodino and the resulting (despite a result that has to be considered a draw) Russian retreat past Moscow, ceding the ancient capital to Napoleon. In the midst of long philosophical musings by Tolstoy about how war is outrageously crazy but wheels get set in motion and none of us can really do anything about it (no matter how the history books later spin it), our characters recover - or don't - from the upheaval that ended Volume Two, they seek revenge, they move around and seek places where they feel at home.
Pierre, a la Forrest Gump, ends up right in the middle of the Battle of Borodino. Because of course he does.
Some things that happen in these 300 pages...
Tolstoy waits until page 603 to call war "an event .... contrary to human reason and the whole of human nature." [By the way, based on the complexities with which he describes people and human nature, does he really believe this?]
Tolstoy explains that the Russians fleeing Moscow essentially led to Napoleon's retreat and humiliation. He counters this act of patriotism to "the killing of children to save the fatherland." ... I would love to know what Tolstoy would have to say about the Soviets in World War II (aka The Great Fatherland War).
And all this, according to my Twitter feed:
"Everyone wished more to listen than to speak." This seems unlikely. Also, for Tolstoy, unusual.
We *think* we have free will and all, but really we are just cogs in some big master plan of fate. Even Napoleon.
Also. it's really easy to pick out evidence after the fact to justify your interpretation. This is why historians are lame.
It's kind of amazing how much I like Tolstoy considering how annoyed I get by half of what he says.
Chaotic Battle of Borodino today in #WandP. Reminds me of this poem: http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/grass.html
Tolstoy takes two pages to say: Correlation does not equal causation. (This is why #WandP is 1215 pages long.)
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