Now days, yes. But, before 80 to 90 years women got married by 14-15, so Natasha was nothing strange.
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Now days, yes. But, before 80 to 90 years women got married by 14-15, so Natasha was nothing strange.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanduckling
I'm reconsidering this statement. Since Andrey spent whole days,
every day visiting Natasha, then maybe it was enough time
for them to get to know each other well.
Tolstoy's courtship of his own wife was only 2 weeks ( and she was 18
at the time ) , but then he had known her since she was a child ! And he
married her a month later, didn't leave her for a whole year !
I think before we decide this question, we need to know more about the
marriage/courtship traditions in Russia at the beginning of the 19th Century.
Does anyone know of a book on this subject matter ?
And I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying to you about your user name - swans do not have ducklings - they have 'cygnets'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swanduckling
Anyway - you don't have to reply - it's more important that we discuss W & P.
1) Poruchik is dancing with Natasha Rostova at a ball. Suddenly he gets the urge to go to the little boys' room. As a well-educated young gentleman he cannot say to his lady where he's going. So he says :
- Natasha, I beg your gracious beauty to excuse me for 5 minutes to go check on my horse if he's being fed properly in the stables.
He returns in 5 minutes wet from boots to the head.
- Is the weather rainy ?
- No, windy.
2 ) Colonel asks Poruchik how he manages to get money for booze and stuff.
- Easy. Come to a woman, grab her tenderly from behind, kiss her neck and she would give you anything you ask for.
The Colonel came home and did what Poruchik said. Colonel's wife :
- Poruchik, love, do you need more money ?
3 ) Natasha calls Poruchik.
- My husband went to play cards tonight.
- Hm.
- He'll return tomorrow.
- Ah ?
- I'm all alone.
- So ?
- I'm lying in my bed, completement au naturel. :blush:
- And ?
- Do you want to come over and keep me company ?
- Gotcha ! I'll be right there !
Hello again !
I posted some jokes on the " Funny jokes to lighten the forum " thread. Go there and regale yourselves ! :)
I came to this thread to find out more about the publication of "1805" (which must surely be what people mean when they say "the original War and Peace." Has it been published in English? If it was published under the title "War and Peace," then that's not the title Tolstoy used for it (it was published in 1867 under the title "1805"). The serial publication of the novel began in 1865 (Tolstoy started writing it in earnest the year he married, in 1863), and I'm trying to figure out how he managed to both publish an entire novel in a magazine (which then he re-edited, changing substantially many parts of it, including the ending), and publish a separate version in 1869 (the one we all know and love). He was rewriting constantly from 1865-1869, but if an entire version (called "1805") was published in 1867, does it mean that it was only after that publication that he changed the romance between Andrei and Natasha (etc.) I think Feuer's book on Tolstoy has all these details - but I don't have it yet. Anyone know?
P.S. When I go to the Harper Perennial link posted above as being to the "original version" nothing at all by Tolstoy shows up (or Tolstoi) and nothing shows up under War and Peace. At any rate, Harper Perennial versions (there are some at the local bookstore) are the regular 1869 version - not the version known as 1805.
Natasha was lovable as a youngster, as a young woman and adult she was the Virgin Whore if you ask me. Her heart is so fleeting and her emotions so impulsive that I don't believe for a second she ever truly loved anybody. I'm glad for Andrei's sake that they weren't married, although in "The Original Version" Bolkonsky's future is left off pretty dissatisfactorily, he neither finds love nor retires from military life, never finds the satisfaction he was searching for, except for some vague brief reference in the last pages to true happiness in life being derived from the happiness of others. I'm annoyed that Pierre marries her.. I'm glad for him, understanding his desire of her, but.. I don't think she comes close to deserving him. Masha the Virgin Whore: evidence that even 150 years ago an inspirational beauty could easily overthrow dark truths of beauty's character. Meanwhile Sonya is left alone. Nikolai.. I won't say I nearly compare his character to his sister's, but I was shocked and saddened for Sonya.