Translated by Alexandra Kropotkin
War and Peace centers broadly on Napoleon s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the best-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves behind his family to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman, who intrigues both men. As Napoleon s army invades, Tolstoy vividly follows characters from diverse backgrounds —peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers— as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving —and human— figures in world literature. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace
Tolstoy understands human nature and is able to put this understanding into intelligible, spell binding print. He never lessens the consequences of the characters' actions, while at the same time allows the reader to view the thoughts leading to those actions and their consequences.The many moral and spiritual questions brought to the fore front of the reader's mind leads the reader to a new plain, as the soul of the characters in the story are displayed for all to witness which allows the reader to inspect his own heart as well.
Some interesting Quotes:
"Now, influence in society is a capital, which has to be economized lest it be exhausted. Prince Vasili understood this, and having once come to the conclusion that if he asked favors for everybody who applied to him, it would soon be impossible to ask anything for himself, he rarely exerted his influence. Princess Drubetskoy's last appeal, however, caused him to feel something like a pang of conscience."
"If all men made war only for their convictions, there would be no war," Said Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
"That would be splendid," said Pierre.
Prince Andrei laughed, "Very likely it would be splendid, but it will never be."
"Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky declared that there were only two sources of h uman vice, idleness and superstition; and only two virtues, activity and intelligence."
"The young princes had never seen the beautiful expression of her own eyes, the expression they had at times when she was not thinking of herself."
"We do not love men as much for the good they do us as for the good we do them."
"How still, calm, and solemn! How entirely different from when I was running," said Prince Andrei to himself. "It was not so when we were all running and shouting and fighting; how entirely different it was when the Frenchmen and the artilleryman, with vindictive and frightened faces, were struggling; the clouds then were not floating over those infinite depths of sky as they are now. How is it that I never before saw this lofty sky? and how glad I am that I have learned to know it at last! Yes! all is empty, all is deception, except to these infinite heavens. Nothing, nothing at all besides! And even that is nothing but silence and peace! And glory to God!..."
(Prince Andrei's thoughts) "To him at this moment all the interests occupying Napoleon seemed so petty; his former hero himself, with his small vanity and delight in the victory, seemed so sordid in comparison with that high, true, and just heaven which he had seen and learned to understand;"
"It would be good if everything were as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Maria Bolkonsky. How good it would be to know where to find help in this life, and what to expect after it, beyond the grave! How happy and serene I would be if I could say now, 'Lord have mercy on me!' "
"Is this right, or is it wrong?" Pierre asked himself." "As far as I am concerned, it is good, but it is bad for the next traveler; but the stationmaster can't help himself, because he has nothing to eat; he told me that some officer had given him a thrashing, because of a delay. But perhaps the officer thrashed him because it was necessary for him to hasten away. And I shot at Dolokhof because I considered myself insulted, and Louis XVI was beheaded because he was convicted as a criminal; but within a year those who had beheaded him were also put to death for something or other. What is wrong? What is right? What must one love? What must one hate? what is the purpose of life, and what am I? What is life, and what is death? What is the 'Power' that directs all things?" he asked himself?"
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