Tag: leo tolstoy

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War in Pieces

I had to make a journey on Sunday involving a change between two buses. In case of delays, I’d left myself plenty of time, so I made a last-minute decision to grab a book for the journey – but not just any old book.

For several years, I’ve owned a paper copy of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Before falling out of the habit, I’d already reached the halfway point and it had remained virtually untouched ever since.

Despite its reputation for being dense, the structure is surprisingly reader-friendly. The book is actually an omnibus of four volumes, each divided into several parts and subdivided into a lot of short chapters. So in the 45 minutes between buses, plus the journey itself, I made some decent inroads.

Even the text itself is rich in humour, not something I expected from a tome about the Napoleonic Wars. That said, I took a decision early on not to worry too much about following the plot and simply enjoy the current page.

After making such a positive start on Sunday, I wanted to continue the good work. As such, I’ve given myself a target to finish the last page by the end of December, and I’ve even set up a spreadsheet to monitor my progress. And when it’s finished, I’ll be sure to pass it on to someone else who wants to see what all the fuss is about.

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Tackling War & Peace

Around 2015, I bought a copy of the Leo Tolstoy novel War & Peace. I say ‘novel’, but it actually comprises four volumes, telling the story of the French invasion of Russia through the eyes of four fictional families.

The book is noted for its length, but all the chapters are short enough that you can read one or two before bed; there are just a lot of chapters. That also doesn’t mean the story has been stretched out longer than it needs to be. Tolstoy has enough plot points to justify the word count.

I recently found the book again, with the bookmark still around the halfway point where I left it. I’d fallen out of the habit of reading it, and I’d really like to restart it.

My edition has character biographies at the start, but I made a decision early on that I wouldn’t try too hard to keep up with the individual characters and instead just enjoy the story.

I think my best tactic for diving back in is to devote a full day or weekend to making progress. Meanwhile, the book is now at least in a prominent place so it won’t slip my mind.2024-05-21 Fractal

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Still Trying and Failing to Read

Just before Christmas, I was involved in a 12-hour Yule readathon, run by a pal from one of my writing groups. The intention was to devote a day to reading, with optional mini-challenges. I did manage to read on that day, but not as extensively as I’d wanted.

Then couple of weeks ago, we re-ran the event. Rather than start any new books, I wanted to make some progress with War & Peace.

I’d left it about halfway through, and I hadn’t touched it in some time. A lot of people think it’s a hard read from the sheer size, but actually, it’s divided into four volumes with chapters no longer than any other novel. You could easily finish a couple before bedtime.

As I jumped straight back into the story and remembered what had happened, I enjoyed it as much as I did the last time I picked it up. But have I touched it again since then? I really want to say yes, but I have not.

The trouble is not finding the time per se, but alloacating it. You see, a lot of what I do in a week is time-sensitive: creating announcements for my groups, writing this blog, keeping up my exercise routine. Reading, alas, doesn’t need to be done by any particular time, so it’s often left behind.

That said, I’m going to make a concerted effort with Mort by Terry Pratchett. On Saturday, I’m again meeting up with the woman who lent it to me about a year ago, and I’d like to be able to return it fully read.