The second part of the Epilogue is one huge, long-winded essay about the forces that move people and the historical circumstances that give rise to tyrants and create war.  Tolstoy never returns to the other characters, so I found the whole essay unnecessary and tedious. 

Am I in a place where I can comfortably sum up this entire book?  I might need some time first to let it all sink in.  On one hand, Tolstoy paints a huge canvas of love and death, with compelling stories and complex relationships, but on the other hand, he includes some truly challenging passages that over-stuff the story with historical pontifications about Russia, history, science, philosophy, etc.  It's an ambitious mix and he mostly pulls it off.

But as a lover of fiction and someone who loves to get into the heart of the characters he's reading about, I found the story flawed.  It was really hard for me to fully invest any of the characters except Pierre and Pierre grew on me only after a long time.  Most of the other characters, like Natasha and Marya, were rendered in such broad strokes that they were more caricatures than flesh and blood people.  The nuances were missing.

It's easy to try a comparison with Anna Karenina , which many identify as a superior work.  In Anna, written less than 10 years later, Tolstoy better deepens the  development of characters like Anna and Levin and adds more ambiguity to their essences.  In War and Peace, the story itself is so ambitious, it swallows up everything in its path.  Does that make it a harder read?  Yes, I would say.  But it yields its rewards in abundance and, in spite of its flaws, War and Peace is still a journey I am glad I took.

My copy of War and Peace, the one that arrived in the mail on April 1, is now marked up and mangled, the dust jacket worn-through and tattered.  I will pause now but plan to return with a few more entries about the various adaptations of War and Peace over the years as well as further reflections.  

Four months, 118 days and countless blog entries later, I have finally finished!  

I stayed up late to read the Epilogue which in most books would only span a couple of pages but which in this one runs over 80.

Even though I am glad it's over, I know I will miss the writing, the characters, the situations.  I've been immersed in this book for so long, it's hard to imagine a time without it and yet, here I am, able to close the book and savor the accomplishment.

There were no surprises at the end.  The surviving characters married in a neat configuration and rebuilt their lives after the destruction of Moscow.  In a short period of time, Pierre recovers his fortune and acknowledges  his love for Natasha, who quickly stops grieving for Andrei and, "the force of life, her hopes for happiness, came to the surface and demanded to be satisfied."  The quickly fall in love and are married in 1813.

That same year, Natasha's father.Count Rostov dies.  He leaves behind a trail of debt and Nikolai, becoming head of the family, must do what he can to handle this until, of course, he and the fabulously wealthy Princess Marya see the light and also marry. 

By 1820, the Rostovs and Bezukhovs are living together at times at Bald Hills.  Sonya is still in the mix and seems content to have sacrificed he love for Nikolai.  The countess Rostov is alive but forever saddened by the deaths of her husband and son.  Both Natasha and Pierre and Nikolai and Marya have children with names like Andryusha, Petya and Natasha.  The come together during the feast of St. Nicholas and Tolstoy gives us a glimpse into these marriages which, in spite of occasional conflicts, work out because the couples remain in love.  Natasha is an excellent mother and an assertive wife. 


Andrei's surviving son, Nikolenka, is now 15 years old and somehow figures that when his father died, he bequeathed Natasha to his best friend, Pierre.  Nikolenka is very fond of Pierre but also dreams about his father's presence, to which he vows, "I'll do better.  Everybody will know me, love me, admire me.  I'll do something that even he would be pleased with..."

You always remember the novels that made you cry.  In my case, there have only been a handful like Toni Morrison's Beloved and Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.  This morning, I added War and Peace.  

Aw, Leo!  Leave it to him to bring Pierre's story back to something heartfelt and universal.  As Pierre adjusts to life as a free man again, he smiles all the time and people enjoy being around him.  He's made a complete transformation from spoiled playboy to compassionate, responsible citizen of humanity.  The transformation has spanned this complete narrative and has really moved me more than I expected.

Witness:  "All his life he had looked off somewhere, over the heads of people around him, yet there was no need to strain his eyes, but to look right in front of him."

"And the closer he looked, the calmer and happier he became.  The terrible question 'Why?' which formerly destroyed all his mental construction did not exist to him now.  Now, to this question, 'Why?' a simple answer was always ready in his soul: because there is a God, that God without whose will not a single hair falls from man's head."

To me, this particular passage really makes the book.  I feel like Leo is really speaking to me and that, in my opinion, is the hallmark of a very gifted writer. 

More death and heartache!  Any invested reader will be eager to see how the story concludes.  I know there are other things to enjoy beside the plot but as I approach the finish, there's a sense of urgency to it.  I have been reading every spare moment I get (a) because I really am invested and (b) I'm sort of eager to just finish the damned thing!

Poor, naive Petya Rostov has had a target on his forehead for several hundred pages. He's been gung-ho about serving in the Russian military and eager to get in the line of fire, which can only mean one thing.  His death at the hands of the French comes after he has endeared himself to Dolokhov, a sad juxtaposition.  It also comes after the famed "Drops dripped." sentence on page 1055 which is the shortest sentence in the book.  

In another deeply coincidental moment, the Petya's death happens just as the Russians he's with stumble on a gang of Russian prisoners, which include, you guessed it: Pierre!

Then we flash back for several chapters to catch up with Pierre who's, "learned that there's nothing frightening in this world.  There is no situation in the world in which a man can be happy and perfectly free, so there is no situation in which he can be perfectly unhappy and unfree."

He also learns that, "The hardest and most blissful thing is to love this life in one's suffering, in the guiltlessness of suffering."

Then there are more chapters about the retreat of the French army before we finally catch up with the Rostovs and Marya.  Marya and Natasha's grief brings them together and they become BFFs!  Unfortunately, all are dealt a profound blow by the news of Petya's unexpected death, particularly his mother, the countess, who, "came out of her room an old woman - half-dead and taking no part in life."

But Tolstoy is far more interested in Kutuzov so we get about 30 pages of details about his contribution to military history, to his devotion to the elimination of the French, his role on the Russian landscape, his relationship with Alexander, his being granted the Order of St. George, and finally his replacement and death.  

Not much further to go!  As it happens, I am a distance runner and like to sprint to the finish although a marathon is less than four hours, not four months

The passages where Tolstoy turns historian leave me cold.  They basically have all the flavor of an historical textbook and are just as lively.  Here's an example:  "Military science , seeing from a countless number of examples in history that the mass of an army does not coincide with its force, that small detachments defeat larger ones, vaguely recognizes the existence of this unknown multiplier and tries to find it in either geometric disposition, or in armaments, or-more commonly-in the genius of the commander.  But the substitutions of all these values for the multiplier does not produce results that agree with the historical facts."

There are pages and pages of this type of writing and, frankly, they deflate any type of momentum that that narrative might have gained.

Tolstoy goes into some detail about the carelessness of the French army and how its behavior undermines its potential victory in Moscow.  "This army...was falling apart and perishing with every extra day spent in Moscow.  Yet it did not budge."

Meanwhile, Pierre's situation as a prisoner of war worsens.  He loses weight and withstands privation.  "In devastated and burnt Moscow, Pierre experienced almost the final limits of privation that a man can endure."  And yet?  "He bore his situation not only lightly, but joyfully...in time he received the peace and contentment with himself which we had previously striven in vain."

Adversity becomes him and, in spite of having nothing and being treated to humiliating conditions, he looks into the night sky and smiles.  "And all this is mine, and all this is in me and all this is me!"

This is a real turning point for Pierre and I am eager to see him survive this ordeal.

Tolstoy then turns to the retreat of the French army and more analysis of the military landscape and the inexplicable way that the French lost momentum and had to retreat out of Russian after taking Moscow.  Denisov and Dolokhov appear again, near a village called Smolensk.  They run into Petya Rostov and follow the movements of the French.  

The one sequence that did move me was the one in which Andrei realizes the significance of love: "'Love?  What is love?' he thought. 'Love hinders death.  Love is life.  Everything I understand, I understand only because I love.  Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.  Everything is connected only by that.  Love is God, and to die means that I, a part of love, return to the common and eternal source."

Nice, no?

Andrei's death creates an opportunity for Marya and Natasha to reconcile, which is a nice touch.  Also, Andrei's son, Nikolushka, is immediately comfortable with Natasha and comes to love her more than Marya. 

Tolstoy informs us through second-hand speculation about the death of another character, the unscrupulous Helene.  The gossip in Petersburg speculates that it was angina pectoris, but, "everyone knew very well that the lovely countess's illness came from the inconvenience of marrying two husbands at once. "  Tolstoy expediently does away with Helene in about 4 pages.

And yet he spends a huge amount of time on the aftermath of the burning of Moscow, about Kutuzov's retreat, his orders from Alexander, and other stuff that I don't find particularly engaging. 

As I race to the conclusion, I am eager to see how this all ends.  I am invested in Pierre and hope he makes something of his miserable life.  I would like to see Marya happy.  Natasha seems to have evolved and I am sure that Tolstoy will find some fulfillment for her since he is clearly very fond of her. (I'm not that eager to read more about Napoleon or Kutuzov or more war maneuvers.  That's been subject matter that subjectively has never completely engrossed me but other readers I am sure will find endlessly stimulating.  

I don't feel like I'm almost done, but as the story reaches its climax, I am beginning to feel a sense of winding down.  After close to 1,000 pages, I feel just as beat up as Pierre!  There are some really beautiful passages and compelling character insights coupled with some less gripping sequences about the military activities following of the burning of Moscow.

Pierre's efforts to assassinate Napoleon are thwarted when he heroically saves a child.  This does not prevent him from being thrown in jail by the French and there he is marginalized and witnesses a terrible execution.  He is eventually pardoned but the brutal execution leaves him scarred.  "From the moment when Pierre saw this horrible murder performed, by people who did not want to do it, it was as if a spring that upheld everything and made it seem alive had been pulled through his soul, and it had all collapsed into a heap of meaningless trash."

At the same time, Tolstoy brings two major love stories to a boil.  Nikolai continues to seesaw between Marya and Sonya but Countess Rostov, mindful of he family's financial state, preys on Sonya's complete selflessness and urges her to give her son his freedom.  "She was to sacrifice herself for the happiness of the family that had nourished and raised her."  Nikolai realizes he loves Marya at just the time when this letter arrives.  

But the biggest story here is the reunion of Natasha and a dying Andrei.  The Rostovs ultimately let Natasha know that Andrei is in their party after their departure from Moscow.  The pair are reunited and Andrei declarees, "Of all the people I have loved, I have loved and hated no one so much as her," he thinks.  "Forgive me!" she says.  "Forgive what?" is his response.

Andrei's path to death is agonizing for everyone involved, including the reader!  I don't mean to be callous, but I never connected with Andrei as much as I feel I should have.  Therefore, the finely-rendered arch of his death and the way it brings everyone together is something I can admire mechanically, but I have trouble feeling emotionally moved the way I ought.  Maybe it's because Tolstoy already has Andrei near-death once before in the early part of the book.  Maybe it's that Andrei was always such a weak character, never happy and constantly prone to lack of initiative.  I don't know if I ever felt he really loved Natasha or his son or his sister.  I  understand that he responded to the childish passions in Natasha, to her purity.  But to me it was a bit of a stretch to accept this love story.  

"Pierre was in a state close to madness...He had to remain in Moscow, concealing his name, meet Napoleon and kill him."

But somewhere along the way, Pierre saves the life of a French soldier, Captain Ramballe, and the soldier responds with nothing but gratitude, making Pierre an honorary Frenchman!  

"Pierre still considered it just as useful and worthy to kill the villain; but he felt that now he would not do it."

Instead, Pierre  listens to the Frenchman go on about his various lovers in Paris and this, coupled with some wine, causes him to reminisce about Natasha.  "He said that he loved and had loved only one woman his entire life and that that woman could never belong to him."

"He told his whole story: his marriage, the story of Natasha's love for his best friend, and her betrayal and all his own uncomplicated relations with her."

As the fires begin to consume Moscow but Pierre can only see the night sky and the comet above that reminds him of the purity of the love he feels for Natasha.  

So much at stake!  And so many plot strands that (I hope) are ready to reward a

I'm 3/4ths of the way through!  It is very easy to get absorbed in the story because Tolstoy manages to bring everything to into a narrative frenzy, raising the stakes as her goes, keeping the reader wondering about the fates of his characters.

As Moscow nears being abandoned and burned, all must decide what to do and what chances to take.

Helene is embroiled in a love triangle with two men who are not her husband, Pierre.  "Never for a moment did she lose sight of her goal beyond...pleasure."  As a counterpoint to Marya, she adapts religion only as it suits her needs and manipulates the circumstances in order to get  divorce from Pierre and marry the wealthier of her lovers.

Meanwhile, Pierre is stuck in Moscoe after his terrible ordeal at Borodino.  He is torn up by news that both Anatole and Andrei are dead.  Wait!  Is Andrei really dead?  Hard to say.  More in a moment.  Pierre plunges into a bit of  haze, risking his own sanity by staying in Moscow. 

The Rostovs have to make difficult choices about what to take and what to leave behind as the French close in on Moscow.  The atmosphere of frivolity eventually gives way to panic.  Petya returns from a tour of duty as a man and he spends much of his time with Natasha, who is better.  Ever sacrificing Sonya is prepared to give Nikolai up to Princess Marya if it means saving the family financially.

Amid all of this, as Rostovs decide how many carts to give over to the wounded, Andrei materializes and the family finds a place for him in their party although, "They say he is dying."  They also decide to keep the news from a frightened Natasha.

In another coincidence, Natasha runs into Pierre, who seems crazed.  Crazed doesn't begin to cover it.  Pierre wants to stay behind in order to assassinate Napoleon!!!

There are military passages from Kutuzov's and Napoleon's points of view, a comparison of Moscow to an empty beehive, and then the slow and tragic descent into chaos that occurs as the French invade and start pillaging then setting fire to the city.  One particularly bloody sequence reveals a Count Rastopchin's contributing to the killing of a traitor.  

"Moscow had to burn down, because its inhabitants left it, and as inevitably as a pile of wood chips has to catch fire if sparks pour down on it for several days, " writes Tolstoy.

Tolstoy goes into breathtaking detail about the the circumstances before, during and after the Battle of Borodino, where the Russians successfully repelled the French for the first time, although at the expense of devastating casualties.  For some readers, this material is highly engrossing, no doubt.  There are long passages about Kutuzov and Napoleon.  There's even a map to illustrate exactly what the landscape looked like on the days in August of 1812 when the battle took place.

As for our cast, Pierre leaves Moscow and is caught in the action. Tolstoy always finds a point of view example to take the reader through the horrors and details of the war.  There are various coincidental meetings along the way.  Pierre runs into Boris and then his old adversary, Dolokhov, whom he forgives on the spot.   Andrei, still haunted by his terrible experiences at Austerlitz 7 years prior, nonetheless feels, "the whole of life presented itself to him as a magic lantern, into which he had long been looking through a glass in artificial light."

Old friends Andrei and Pierre reunite and they have a deep conversation about war on the eve of the battle. "A battle is won by him who is firmly resolved to win it," declares Andrei.  Eventually, Pierre decides to himself, "I know that this is the last time we'll see each other."

Tolstoy then takes us into Napoleon's mind as he prepares for battle then takes us back into Pierre's perspective and then back to Napoleon's.  The scenes are graphic and full of visceral power.  There's a lot of information about the various components that keep the French from winning and much talk about the "moral" strength and determination of the armies.

On the battlefield, history repeats itself and Andrei endures an injury in his stomach and hip. As he is being treated for this, he becomes aware of another wounded man.  That man is non other that Anatole Kuragin, the man he despises for seducing Natasha.  Anatole is having a leg amputated!  "Rapturous pity and love for this man filled his happy heart."

Part Two ends with some reflections on the strong spirit of the Russian people and the fatal wound that this battle has caused the French army.  Despite this, however, the Russians are not out of danger.  Moscow is close enough for the French to occupy and the army allows this to happen.  

Part Three opens with reflections on the causes of war and the movement of mankind. "The troops retreated by one last march and surrendered Moscow to the enemy."

A council of war meets, led by Kutuzov, to decide what to do next.