War and Peace Readalong thread 2022 - thread 2

[VikingNorthUtsire]

"The finest novel ever written on this planet"
"Here is a novel that is worth whatever time one gives to it. There is more life between its cover than in any other existent fictional narrative"

This is a really helpful blog post by someone who has done the challenge: nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/announcing-the-2020-war-and-peace-chapter-a-day-read-along

1. Translations

The main complication seems to be which edition to choose. The blog post above contains some commentary of the different tranlsations that are available and their merits. There's also a pretty comprehensive guide here including samples from some of the best-known translations: welovetranslations.com/2021/08/31/whats-the-best-translation-of-war-and-peace-by-tolstoy/

The main differences that I can see are:

• some editions (including the free download on Project Gutenburg) have a different chapter structure. I think/hope we would manage to find one another if some are reading versions with more or fewer chapters but I have based the readalong on the versions with 361 chapters.
• there's quite a lot of French in at least some parts of the book. Some editions translate it into English, others keep it in French but use footnotes
• some translators have chosen to anglicise the characters' names. I guess its personal preference whether you prefer Mary, Andrew and Basil or a more Russian version.

Looking at the editions recommended and reviewed in the above blog:

The Vintage Classics edition, translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky: www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Vintage-Classics-Tolstoy/dp/0099512246/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

NB also this link for the kindle version: www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Vintage-Classic-Russians-ebook/dp/B005CUS9AG/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

The Signet Classics edition, translated by Anne Dunnigan: www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Signet-Classics-Tolstoy-ebook/dp/B001RWQVXA/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

The Penguin Classics edition, translated by Anthony Briggs: www.amazon.co.uk/War-Peace-Penguin-Popular-Classics-ebook/dp/B0033805UG/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

As a general rule I would definitely recommend downloading a sample of any kindle edition before buying, so you can be sure that you are happy with it.

Obviously, some people will prefer to avoid Amazon! Feel free to use the weeks in the run-up to Day 1 to share any tips on what you are buying and where from. Can I suggest though that we stick where possible to the editions with 361 chapters otherwise we will all get very confused!

1. Reading timeline

Nick, of the blog post, has very helpfully done the calculations for which chapters fall on which days, except he did it in 2020 which was a Leap Year. So feel free to take a look at nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Nicks-2020-War-and-Peace-Chapter-a-Day-Reading-Schedule.pdf but see below the schedule for the Mumsnet Readalong.

Again, different editions name and number their chapters differently - some refer to four books divided into parts (as below), others refer to fifteen books although it's essentially the same structure just with different numbering. Hopefully there's enough info below to keep us all in sync, and always happy to let anyone know via PM what's happening in today's chapter so we can keep together.

Book 1: 1805
Book 1 Part One (25 chapters): 1/1 - 25/1
Book 1 Part Two (21 chapters): 26/1 - 15/2
Book 1 Part Three (19 chapters): 16/2 - 6/3
DAY OFF: 7/3
Book 2: 1806-1812
Book 2 Part One (16 chapters): 8/3 - 23/3
Book 2 Part Two (21 chapters): 24/3 - 13/4
Book 2 Part Three (26 chapters): 14/4 - 9/5
Book 2 Part Four (13 chapters): 10/5 - 22/5
Book 2 Part Five (22 chapters): 23/5 - 13/6
DAY OFF: 14/6
Book 3: 1812
Book Three Part One (23 chapters): 15/6 - 7/7
Book Three Part Two (39 chapters): 8/7 - 15/8
Book Three Part Three (34 chapters): 16/8 - 18/9
DAY OFF: 19/9
Book 4: 1812-13
Book Four Part One (16 chapters): 20/9 - 5/10
Book Four Part Two (19 chapters): 6/10 - 24/10
Book Four Part Three (19 chapters): 25/10 - 12/11
Book Four Part Four (20 chapters): 13/11 - 2/12
DAY OFF: 3/12
Epilogue One 1812-20 (16 chapters): 3/12 - 19/12
Epilogue Two (12 chapters): 20/12 - 31/12

Phew!

I would suggest that we meet at the end of each section (so 17 times over the course of the year) to discuss what we've read, but with (non-spoilerish) chatter welcome at any time in between. According to my guru, Nick, each chapter is around 4 pages long, so it should be do-able.

1. Chapter "meditations"

This looks like another really interesting blog post from someone who has done it, with thoughts and meditations on each chapter: brianedenton.medium.com/a-year-of-war-and-peace-cc66540d9619#.yabefbbgz

Come and join me! This time next year we will almost have finished reading the finest novel ever written on the planet.

PS Some may feel that each day off deserves a shot of vodka or two. I couldn't possibly comment.

Goodness - what a chapter! It really brought home how terrifying invasion really is...

Volume 3, Part 2, Chapter 4
• Dessales finally takes matters into his own hands...and complains to Marya that Prince Bolkonsky isn’t organizing everyone to leave. They write a letter to the Smolensk governor instead.
• Alpatych leaves for the city, west of the estate. On the way he sees lots of troops and wagons of people going the other way. Um, bad sign? Rats, sinking ship, ringing a bell?
• In the city his innkeeper tells him that everyone is running away from the French. Alpatych is mostly ignoring this and goes about his business.
• At the governor’s there are crowds of people complaining about the fact that there aren’t enough vehicles to get everyone out of the city.
• Alpatych gives the governor his papers, and the governor gives him a letter in return. The letter says that no way is anything going to happen to Smolensk, which basically means that the crap is about to hit the fan.
• Alpatych goes back to the inn, where the innkeeper is beating his wife for wanting to leave and a crowd is yelling at him for being a horrible monster.
• Alpatych pays up, ignoring the whole situation, and gets his stuff onto his sleigh. Suddenly there is a crazy noise...and a cannonball lands in the middle of the street. Napoleon has ordered his army to bombard Smolensk.
• More and more projectiles fly overhead, and all of a sudden the inn’s cook has her leg blown off.
• There’s shelling and cannon fire for six more hours. Finally, Russian soldiers stream into the town, all broken and clearly on the losing side.
• Alpatych is all, hey, maybe I should get out of here already, and gets the coachman. As he drives off he sees some Russian soldiers coming into the inn and taking away food.

•	The innkeeper crazily tells them to take everything, then sets fire to the place rather than let the French get it. His wife and kids are waiting on a wagon.
•	More and more fires are being set.
•	As Alpatych drives along, suddenly he runs into...Andrei! Alpatych breaks down and starts to cry. Andrei ignores him and writes a quick note to his sister to leave for Moscow ASAP.
•	Out of nowhere Berg rides up and starts yelling at Andrei for not doing anything about the people setting fires. (Remember Berg? He’s married to Vera Rostov, Natasha’s robotic sister.)
•	Andrei ignores him and gives more instructions to Alpatych to make sure the Bolkonskys leave town.

This is an excellent chapter. It's so vivid.
I enjoyed Andrei giving Berg the cold shoulder.

"Goodness - what a chapter! It really brought home how terrifying invasion really is..."
And being dependent for choices around what you can do to escape on someone who is not able to make rational decisions

Exciting times! Yes, it really gave a feel for being a civilian when the war unexpectedly reaches your doorstep.

I just wanted to say the most enormous and heartfelt thank you to everyone keeping this thread going. I have been a very poor OP ☹️ Things have just not been right for me since Covid and I am struggling with work, and finding it very hard to read.

Good news, I am currently on hols and not that many chapters behind. I'll keep an eye on the need for a new thread. If I go AWOL, please tag me.

But mainly, just THANK YOU for not letting this thread drop off and for all of your interesting, erudite and funny comments on the book (it's good isn't it?)

Sorry to hear you've been feeling ropey since having Covid Viking, and many thanks to you for setting up the read along in the first place. It is indeed a very good book and deserves a wider audience. Everyone references it but not many actually read it!

Volume 3, Part 2, Chapter 5
• Russian troops keep retreating. French troops keep following. In August, they’ve cleared Smolensk, and on the 10th they get to the Bolkonsky estate. It’s hot – really hot. The Russian troops don’t have enough water.
• Andrei, meanwhile, is really feeling good at the head of his regiment. No one there knows about his past, and he can just focus on being a good leader and dealing with his men and not worrying about all the mess from his past life. And it probably helps that the soldiers love him.

•	Andrei got a letter saying that his family left their estate, but he still decides to go check it out.
•	The place is deserted and falling apart. The only person he sees is an old peasant fixing shoes on a bench.

•	Alpatych has stayed behind to take care of the place. All the valuables are gone, and everyone else is at the other Bolkonsky estate near Moscow.

•	As Andrei is leaving, Alpatych starts crying and clings to his leg. Andrei pushes him away and rides off.

•	As he rides, he notices some girls stealing plums from a tree in the garden. They see him but think he hasn’t seen them. He quickly rides away so they don’t get scared. Well, isn’t that thoughtful. Also kind of gross, since the text points out that they are just girls, but that Andrei finds the older one attractive.

•	Anyway, he rides off and finds his regiment near a pond. The pond is filthy, but the day is so hot that Andrei wants to go in...until he sees how many other naked guys are in there already.
•	Andrei has some kind of deep-thoughts moment. All those naked bodies flopping around in the dirty, muddy water gross him out in an existential way.

•	Meanwhile, in the big picture, we get to see a letter that Bagration writes to Emperor Alexander via the war minister.

Basically he says that splitting the army between him and Barclay isn’t working. Also that Barclay is an idiot and if Bagration had been in charge, they could have won the Smolensk battle. And also that Barclay is clearly the wrong man for the job because he’s not Russian and so doesn’t have the kind of patriotic feelings that are important to winning a war.

Enjoy your holiday Viking! I was a few chapters behind but have just caught up. Really enjoying it at the moment.

Hi Viking! Enjoy your holiday.

The rest will do you good.

Hope you feel better soon, Viking!

Sorry to hear Covid has left a bit of a legacy with you at the moment, Viking, but hopefully a nice, restful break with lots of reading will see you right!

I'm also really enjoying it at the moment, rifling... and actually, have done all the way so far. Reading with you lovely bunch has definitely made this a much more pleasurable read than when I did it solo. See, Viking, another reason you're a great OP 😁

Also sending wishes for a restful holiday Viking . I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the readalong approach, but I'm really loving it - it slows me down & means I pay a lot more attention, normally I have a terrible tendency to read too fast to find out what is going to happen next.

Sorry to hear about the ongoing covid effects Viking, hope the rest helps you get out the other side. I’m grateful to you and to everyone on the thread as I don’t think I’d ever have embarked on the book alone.

Am a few chapters into this section and it’s cracking!

means I pay a lot more attention

Absolutely, Sadik - I don't remember anything from my previous readthrough (other than I liked Pierre) but know this will likely stay with me this time. I cannot wait to get towards the final parts as I do remember finishing it and thinking 'wow - it really is one of the best books ever written' but couldn't tell you why now 😆

Get better soon Viking!

I love this readalong. It’s just a really perfect book for this sort of reading.

I’m almost caught up - on ch 4 which seems to be an uncharacteristically long one but judging from above and what I remember it involves Andrei, so I am here for it with my rose tinted specs.

Volume 3, Part 2, Chapter 6
• Hey, remember Anna Pavlovna and Helene? Well, they’re still in Petersburg, holding their same salons for the same people. Napoleon may come and go, but this kind of social life is forever.
• Anna Pavlovna’s salon is really anti-Napoleon and high on patriotism.
• Meanwhile, Helene’s salon is full of Napoleon apologists and Francophiles.

•	Prince Vassily goes back and forth between the two salons so much that he ends up getting confused and “said at Anna Pavlovna’s what ought to have been said at Helene’s, and vice versa” (3.2.6.3).  So, you know, he’s basically a human ping-pong ball.
•	At Anna Pavlovna’s, Prince Vassily complains about what an awful general Barclay is and demands new army leadership. Someone suggests Kutuzov as a replacement. Prince Vassily is all, um, he’s old and fat and blind and only good for desk duty.
•	But then, three days later, Kutuzov is indeed placed at the head of the army. Oh, snap!
•	But Vassily is too clever for this. That day, when he goes to Anna Pavlovna’s, he’s all over Kutuzov with praise.

Sorry, I got a bit behind, but let me add my thanks to you, @VikingNorthUtsire, and hope that your current holiday gives you a filip.

I liked the humour of this chapter, although life in the salons is very trivial compared to what is happening out in the countryside.

Are the serfs really all quite so devoted to the Bolkonskys?

Volume 3, Part 2, Chapter 7

•	Meanwhile, Napoleon is getting closer and closer to Moscow. Is he an awesome invader? Sure, in his mind. But in the future historians will show how he was lured there by wily Russians. So, you know, pick a side and go with it, we guess.
•	All we know is that the Russians retreated so fast that Napoleon couldn’t fight them until Borodino, 75 miles away from Moscow.
•	(Try to remember this name, Borodino. It’s up there with the most important battles, like Waterloo)

• While the French are making their way over to Borodino, they pick up a prisoner who tells them all about everything, including the news that Kutuzov is back in charge of the whole enchilada.
• Turns out that this guy is actually Lavrushka, Nikolai’s serf.
• Napoleon hears from his people that this guy has information, so he asks them to bring him up. Lavrushka immediately recognizes Napoleon but realizes that he’s not supposed to know who the down-to-earth man is, so he pretends he has no idea.
• He tells Napoleon some confused nonsense about a battle in three days, which is translated to Napoleon as “if there’s battle in three days, Napoleon will win, but if it’s later, then the Russians will win.” And for some reason, Napoleon apparently believes this. Um, OK.
• Then Napoleon reveals to Lavrushka that he is Napoleon.
• Lavrushka acts like he’s surprised.
• Napoleon frees Lavrushka, who rides back to his regiment and doesn’t tell anyone what happened.

Haha... what a daft chapter! I rather like Lavrushka 😆

A lighter interlude is nice (I’ve been reading ahead in preparation for my holiday); Tolstoy is good at varying the tone.

Definitely. I agree, Channel.
Enjoy your holiday when you get there!* *

Oh, poor Marya... it feels like Tolstoy perfectly summed up those feelings of guilt when someone who you love but who is very ill and a very difficult person to boot passes, especially someone like the Old Count. I think she wanted it over, not just for herself although I can't blame her for wanting that, but also because she knew he was never coming back from his strokes.

The moment of tenderness from him was very moving - he was finally able to say what I think we all knew... that he adored his daughter!

Yes, I agree. Tolstoy really captured Marya's confused mix of emotions between love, guilt and longing to be free from the burden of her father.

i agree Channel about how well Tolstoy varies the tone, and SanFran this chapter was really moving. It was the absolute definition of mixed feelings. I like how we revisit characters we perhaps disliked previously - like Mary’s reaction to Natasha being rooted in a jealousy she wasn’t even conscious of - and empathise with them.