Reading War and Peace

My third time reading Tolstoy's epic moves quite swiftly--the story itself may not be the most captivating, like The Master and Margarita (my all-time favorite piece of literature), but it affords a tapestry of the society and its throbbing life. By the end of Part 2 in Book 1, we see extensive scenes of domestic life, familial dealings, and seditious plot of seizing a count's fortune. All these are juxtaposed with scenes of the war. It might be a presentiment of the imminent changing fortunes of all the characters.

The bloggers at Reading...War and Peace raise a very broad but significant question: What is the novel about? Tolstoy gives us a diverse picture of characters who come to grasp their fate and destiny--whether it was out of free will or not. For some conforming to fate will deprive them of all power of thought and make them incapable of anything but habitual compliance. Tolstoy might have exposed readers the military schemes, familial gatherings, and domestic life, he doesn't show us the characters' fate and their decision--decision that leads to happiness and filfillment of life. We are, therefore, in the same shoes with the characters to gingerly, with fear and trembling, to see what's in store for them.