Winter and Springtime With Leo

It's been popular in recent years for many people to write their bucket lists, in other words everything they would still like to do before they die. I am no exception. Even though I have taught Russian literature at my university three times in the past, I have never completely read Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. That is until now.

Of course, it's always daunting to begin reading a novel that is not only so famous in the world of literature but is also so long--1358 pages in my edition. At the beginning of the New Year, I had hoped that one year would be long enough for me to complete my task; I am happy to report that it took just twenty-two weeks. I found the novel to be everything all the critics of the past had found it to be: simply a spectacular chronicle of love and war during the Napoleonic period of European history.

Since the novel is universal in scope, all of the major themes of two-hundred years ago still abound today. There are young men, Andrey and Pierre, who are always idealistic at the beginning of war and hope to make a name for themselves through heroic acts of valor. There are emperors like Napoleon and Alexander who fight wars for seemingly no reason as they march their soldiers from West to East and then from East to West. There are old leaders who listen to the advice of many of their officers but follow none of it. There are beautiful women like Natasha who somehow turn into slovenly, dominate women after marriage. There are the inevitable questions raised regarding our mission in life and the question of free will vs. fate. There are questions to God regarding the suffering that takes place as one moves through life. Near the end of the novel, Tolstoy concludes, "Life is everything. Life is God. Everything is in flux and movement, and this flux is God. . . . To love life is to love God. The hardest and the most blessed thing is to love this life even in suffering, innocent suffering."

In spite of its daunting, weighty appearance, I highly recommend this novel to those seeking to reflect upon the big issues of life which are also quite weighty themselves.