War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy.
My Rating: 4/5.
What an epic. It has been on my TBR for a few years and on my book rack for exactly one year as I got my copy last year in June hence I had to finish it before the end of the same month this year. Imagine 1350 pages with 60 pages long multiple epilogues. What kept me going was the amazing story with half a dozen lead characters and some 494 scattered here there and everywhere as the story progresses. The best part of the epic is the detailed coverage of Russian royalty from early 19th century followed by Tsar Alexander’s friendship and later animosity with the great Napoleon. I was totally shocked by the way Tolstoy praises Napolean and shoots down his own Tsar Alexander for various reasons, couldn’t believe it but loved the way he called a spade a spade. One on one sessions with Napolean were hilarious to read. Initially I thought this was a Fiction, but later found out (post 75%) that it is actually based on real life events with real life characters, just that he took slight liberty in portraying them in an interesting way. Going by a lot of opinions I was ready to accept that it isn’t going to be an easy read but how wrong I was, it was totally engaging and with chapters as long as 2-3 pages with the longest being 7-8 odd pages, it was a total breeze for me. I still managed 4 odd other books in the same time due to the heavy subect of ongoing war which stretches to no end with so many people paying the price. Heart-breaking is the way few of my favorite characters die or shall I say killed in the course but amazing is the way it kept me glued and I kept looking forward to the finale. My mother told me that I read her copy of War and Peace when I was in 7th or 8th standard, although I have no memory of the same but the only thing I remembered was the bombs that they drop on each other which spin before blasting and how right I was when I read it this time. No doubt this must be one of his best works for obvious reasons. Totally worth your time and effort if you can take that size book in today’s time. The only turn off is the usage of French, almost every page had a line or an anecdotes that I had to translate.
Do let me know if you have read War and Peace and loved it. I am looking forward to its movie adaptation which I still vaguely remember not from the recent times though but a very old movie made sometime in 80’s.
