War and Peace readalong thread 2022 - thread 3

[VikingNorthUtsire]

Welcome to the third thread. Please see the OP in threads 1 or 2 for the full info.on the readalong, links to different editions and translations, blog posts, etc.

I think most of us are established now so for this post I'll just re-shsre the reading schedule

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

18/10/22

Volume 4, Part 2, Chapter 13

The French soldiers gather their 30,000 prisoners of war and march them out of the city. Pierre tries to intercede for a prisoner who is too sick to walk, but the French officers cruelly ignore him. The sick man dies while trying to walk, which infuriates the prisoners.

We're back to Gradesaver chapter summaries, bizarrely Shmoop just stops their summaries at chapter 12 of this volume. Maybe they don't expect anyone to actually get this far and therefore no one will notice 😂

I didn't realise for Sokolov had died! Thanks, as always, for posting the summaries, Desdemona... always missing stuff!

I liked that despite knowing it would do no good, Pierre persevered on his behalf - he really is a good egg, is Pierre!

It's not you, SanFranBear, it doesn't actually say Sokolov has died, does it? At least in the Briggs version. I'm assuming he's not the dead man on the fence with soot on him: I assumed that was an illustration of the barbarity of the war that the prisoners are also now seeing in the suddenly changed faces/demeanour of the soldiers.

😅aw Schmoop!! Come on, nearly there!

It's not at all clear to me that Solokov was the dead man at the end of the chapter. It might have been Solokov or someone else. Perhaps the clue is at the start when Solokov declares 'I'm a dead man!' I suppose it was him, but it's not clear. That chapter is chilling, though. You can really feel Pierre's fear.

Apologies! I got the name wrong. Mangling the poor chap's name and him gone to his eternal reward (probably!)

I'm back after thinking about the dead man/men. I'm inclined to agree with musicmaiden's view on it. Is anyone who isn't reading Briggs able to shed light on it?

Just waving to say I'm still here but have fallen badly behind due to uni term time and a flood of work. Hoping to catch up within the next day or so!

I’m not reading Briggs and it wasn’t clear in my version that he’d died either.

I didn’t think it was him they saw on the road: I thought they’d probably left him behind because he was too ill to walk. Why would his face be sooty?

Hi cassandre 👋 Chat soon!

Exactly. I think he was left behind too.
Where did Gradesaver get the idea that he died? He probably did, but it's not explicit in the text.

Not explicit in the Maude version either

19/10/22

Volume 4, Part 2, Chapter 14

The prisoners are disturbed by the extent to which Moscow has been destroyed. Pierre laughs at the absurdity of the situation.

Phew, glad it's not me.. agree that I think he just got left behind to die. Still grim though, poor man!

The scale of the army and prisoners is just so hard to comprehend, isn't it! It said 30,000 prisoners alone.. how on earth do they realise that one is missing or has fallen behind or escaped?

I don't claim to understand Pierre much but I was quite baffled by his laughter and what he was saying at the end of this chapter... war is likely to send anyone a little off the rails though - I can't even begin to imagine!

I think he is suggesting that while he appears to have been deprived of every comfort and been made a prisoner, he is has experienced a renewal and is finally in tune with his spirituality. He finds this ironic and it makes him laugh. I think!

20/10/22

Volume 4, Part 2, Chapter 15

Napoleon sends a letter of surrender to General Kutuzov. Just as the letter arrives, the Russians see an opportunity to destroy a French regiment. Kutuzov doesn’t want to attack since the French have already surrendered, but the other generals convince him to attack with a small detachment. Tolstoy praises the actions of Dokhturovv_, the leader of the detachment, who delays the attack by sending a messenger to Kutuzov to tell him that the French have retreated from Moscow.

Dokhturov sounded like an absolute superstar... thing is, every army or organisation or company always has loads of Dokhturov's - quietly cracking on, getting the job done with no theatrics or noise! Made me wish he could be celebrated somehow - although expect he'll just be a footnote, 'who died', like poor Bagration!

Yes! Totally agree with you, SanFran.
The names are something else in this chapter; Dorokhov, Dokhturov and ... Bolkhovitinov.
Also, there is something kind of catchy about the line 'down the old Kaluga road'. It could work in a ballad :)

Love this post @SanFranBear , thank you so much for making the map and sharing with us here. The scale is huge. Can’t believe how far the French soldiers have walked from their homes.

21/10/22

Volume 4, Part 2, Chapter 16

Dokhturov’s messenger arrives at Kutuzov’s camp and informs the lower officers of France’s retreat.

22/10/22

Volume 4, Part 2, Chapter 17

Kutuzov is relieved when he hears of the French retreat and orders the troops not to attack the enemy unless it is necessary.

Hello everyone, I got very bogged down in this section. A few chapters of respite with Pierre but mainly war machinations.

Have finally caught up though. Hopeful we're due a chunk of peace now.

Hopeful we're due a chunk of peace now.

Agree - you can almost smell the defeat of the French and we can then get back to Anna's soirees, Nikolay & Marya's upcoming nuptials and maybe some Pierre redemption... does he even know his wife is dead yet?