I’d firstly like to state that I only read this book purely to be able to say that I have read War and Peace written by Leo Tolstoy because it’s a massive book and quite an accomplishment! (Side note – I didn’t even read it, I listened to it on Audible). I also loved the book Anna Karenina written by Tolstoy, however this book was such a drag! As the title of the book suggests, the book is about war as well as peaceful times. It’s set in the 1800s amidst Napoleon’s attempts to take over just about everywhere. The book oscillates from discussing the war back to what is happening in the high society of Russia.
If I was the publisher for Tolstoy, I would have told him “Mate, scrap the whole war part and just write about the high society of Russia, because the rest of it is rubbish”.
Fair to say that: I have no talent as a publisher and I’m simply a meagre commoner who has no appreciation for the Classics.
Anyways, the story follows quite a lot of characters from the Russian city of St Petersburg and how the war affects all their lives. It focuses on three families; their marriages, interaction with the free masons as well as rise and falls from grace and fortunes. The main male character Pierre seems to be the biggest goof troop ever and the female character Natasha seems to be the most terrible depiction of a ditsy and naïve girl.
To top it all off, the author writes an ADDITIONAL chapter at the end of the book to babble on about a whole lot of nothing.
To summarise: This book filled me with plenty of eye rolls and exasperations. -3 / 10
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