The novel 'War and Peace' written by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy b.1828 d. 1910 and first published in in 1869 is often regarded as one of the greatest works of European literary. Born, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, the writer himself is born into a world of privilege which quickly becomes consumed within a vast sea of social changes that led to the massive people's revolution of Russia and the rise of Communism shortly after the writer's death. War and Peace is an epic story set in four volumes. It tells the tale of Russian society and the struggle of the nation against the invading French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte. The story becomes a vast philosophical commentary where changes in the Russian world are forced upon people through warfare and how people's lives must change in order to come to terms with the natural necessity of change. It is a story where social order crumbles, where hierarchy comes under scrutiny and where love falls to ruin or embraces the sweeping changes of the times in order to succeed.
 |
| Natasha Rostova's first ball - 1893 - Leonid Pasternak |
The Rostovs are an aristocratic family from the world of the Tsarist society and who are torn apart and swept aside before the wrath of Napoleon. But through their troubles the events of 1805 to 1812 lead to eventual contentment through the changes.
Volume One begins in St. Petersburgh with a a soirée given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer who is the maid of honor and confidante of the Russian dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of the reigning Tsar, Alexander 1. here we meet the affable Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky who becomes disinterested with society as the talks of war rage on and who eventually takes the decision to flee the monotony of St. Petersburgh in the call for arms as he joins the army under Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich Kutuzov as aide-de-camp. The setting moves to Moscow where we meet the Rostov family, Count Ilya Andreyevich Rostov and Countess Natalya Rostova and their children, as Tolstoy portrays the typical confused financials of Russian gentry. The son, twenty-year-old Nikolai Ilyich, speaks of his love for Sonya (Sofia Alexandrovna), his fifteen-year-old cousin, who was an orphan but lived within their family household. Volume One then ends with the story of Austerlitz and the defeat of the Russian and Austrian armies.
 |
| The Battle of Austerlitz - 1830 - Gérard, François Pascal Simon |
Volume Two begins with Nikolai Rostov returning home on a sojourn form his regiment. The Rostov family are now financially ruined and his mother begs him to find a wealthy girl for marriage. Nikolai refused and pledges his love for the penniless orphan Sonia. Prince Andrei, terribly wounded, recovers his life, and meets Natasha and proposes marriage but the narriage is opposed by his father our of distaste for the Rostovs. Tolstoy tries to portray life as normal in spite of the defeat on the fields of Austerlitz with Russian society ill-prepared for the French invasion which is about to commence.
In Volume Three we are introduced to the main protagonist of the French, Napoleon. Tolstoy presents a great strategist at the head of some four hundred thousand men who march through the Russian country-side through the summer of 1812 until they reach the city of Smolensk. The battle of Borodino becomes a bloody stand-off with neither side able to claim a victory in the terrible slaughter of men on both sides. The wounded Russian army withdraw the next day and Napoleon decides to march on an undefended Moscow. Prince Andrei once again is among the wounded.
 |
| Battle of Borodino 1812 - 1822- Louis-François, Baron Lejeune |
On canvas the imagination of the epic story of the French invasion and eventual defeat has been captured and rendered unto the visual by many artists. In Volume Four we come back to the minutae of Russian society and witness the Rostovs abandoning Moscow ahead of the arrival of the French army. The French army burn and occupy Moscow but the Russian winter has already set in and with scarcity of food Napoleon is forces to realize that he must retreat or perish in hunger. In a skirmish with the retreating French army, the young Petya Rostov is killed. Prince Andrei is reunited with Natasha but succumbs to his wounds as the tragedy unfolds and takes it's toll with the human cost of war.
The final message of Tolstoy is one of hope through conflict; a message that took a further two world wars in Europe before a real chance of social peace and economic prosperity could grow and envelop all aspects of European society. In the Epilogue section to the great story the eldest son Nikolai is forced to face the reality of his family debts and then marries the unattractive Maria Bolkonskaya to save his family from ruin but in the process abandons his true love Sonya who becomes the pathetic subject discarded at the end of the novel although she is mentioned to have moved with the newly-weds and is supported financially. Here Tolstoy brings to force the true realism in a society trying to find a moral ground to stand on after all has crumbled into ruin. The only love left for the Rostovs is that which could stand the test of time through a material love built upon rational finances and which is contrasted to the mismanagement of the estates of the Tsarist Russian gentry as seen through the Rostovs by the critical Tolstoy. On a grander scale Tolstoy portrays how great historical events like Borodino come together through the countless threads of smaller individual characters and their experiences which sum together the final collective will to repulse the French aggressor from Russian soil. In a grand sweep and social commentary Tolstoy collects the conscious aspirations and pain of several individual stories of sufferings to finally relieve the protagonists through the entire experience of war and the eventual retreat of the French form Moscow.
Fine art discussions by Pieter Bergli
For my readers that love a decent cup of the world's most popular beverage with something to read then please turn to my other blog -
http://thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/
and of course for lovers of art
https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/
and then for readings in history please turn to my first writings on the histories of the Napoleonic military campaigns describing the three most famous battles of the French commander's military career.
http://austerlitz-borodino-waterloo.blogspot.com/
Thank you
 |
| French retreat from Russia in 1812 - c. 1874 - Illarion Pryanishnikov |
The final message of Tolstoy is one of hope through conflict; a message that took a further two world wars in Europe before a real chance of social peace and economic prosperity could grow and envelop all aspects of European society. In the Epilogue section to the great story the eldest son Nikolai is forced to face the reality of his family debts and then marries the unattractive Maria Bolkonskaya to save his family from ruin but in the process abandons his true love Sonya who becomes the pathetic subject discarded at the end of the novel although she is mentioned to have moved with the newly-weds and is supported financially. Here Tolstoy brings to force the true realism in a society trying to find a moral ground to stand on after all has crumbled into ruin. The only love left for the Rostovs is that which could stand the test of time through a material love built upon rational finances and which is contrasted to the mismanagement of the estates of the Tsarist Russian gentry as seen through the Rostovs by the critical Tolstoy. On a grander scale Tolstoy portrays how great historical events like Borodino come together through the countless threads of smaller individual characters and their experiences which sum together the final collective will to repulse the French aggressor from Russian soil. In a grand sweep and social commentary Tolstoy collects the conscious aspirations and pain of several individual stories of sufferings to finally relieve the protagonists through the entire experience of war and the eventual retreat of the French form Moscow.
Fine art discussions by Pieter Bergli
For my readers that love a decent cup of the world's most popular beverage with something to read then please turn to my other blog -
http://thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/
and of course for lovers of art
https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/
and then for readings in history please turn to my first writings on the histories of the Napoleonic military campaigns describing the three most famous battles of the French commander's military career.
http://austerlitz-borodino-waterloo.blogspot.com/
Thank you
