War and Peace

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Originally Posted by thatcrazyguy

I read War and Peice when I was 15 going on 16, and it was a truely extraodinary book. Never have I seen cahracters develop so fluidly beforem y very eyes. Tolstoy took us on a ride through the lives of so many people, we saw them change moment by moment, sentence by sentence and most people I think don't notice that.
The characters where real, they where human.

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I got the impression that they expressed aspects of Tolstoy's character and ides. Rostov i similar to the soldier Tolstoy. He retires from the army and throws himself into the estate and farming, He displays a respect for peasants and working the land. He also incurred gambling debts as Tolstoy did.

Pierre is a man who has come through fire. I thought that he represented the social aspect of Tolstoy - awkward in society, but sincere in his ideas and motivations.

I also felt that the female characters were vehicles Tolstoy's ideas. I did think the characterisation was good.

For me, W&P is a book that should be required reading for all young adults. It instructs us on what life is about. For example, what happens to Natasha: she is seduced by Anatole. She was the last person in the world who could have realized what Anatole was doing and what type person he really is: a sociopath. We also get to travel within Pierre's mind. And the minds of several other characters. We do not need to have experience before reading the book. The book itself is the experience that, once read, will help us live our lives with greater freedom.