Aug 13, 2003 07:14 AM
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(Updated Aug 13, 2003 07:14 AM)
I was getting a week off from my normally hectic schedule, and my local book club guy suggested I do some more serious reading than Harry Potter or Jeffery Archer. He handed me a copy of Tolstoy's ''War and Peace''.
To be frank, the sheer bulk of the book was intimidating, and in the beginning the writing style seemed to be too drawn-out. But as I pressed on, the book took me along for a roller coaster guide through the depths and heights of human emotions.
Thus I mourned with Prince Bolkonsky and his ever vigilant sense of justice, struggled with impractical Pierre in his search for the correct path, and fell in love with Natasha and her indomitable spirit.
Through this journey into the deepest of human psyche, I encountered an arrogant Napolean Bonaparte, bound to his doom. I saw a Petya Rostov, with his blindly patriotic ideals. I met a taciturn Sonya, and her unquestioning love.
Amidst these myriads of characters, I pondered upon insightful commentaries about wars, and religion, and history, and the roles of world leaders.
The style of Tolstoy is at once simple and profound. The plot developes so easily that you accept contradictory qualities in a character as natural, as if anything else would have made that character that much less human.
In the end, it was well worth all the hours I put in reading it. I would hate depriving myself of this classic masterpiece and its colors!
