Mar 02, 2001 10:55 PM
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The novel ''War and Peace'' is very voluminous.It is the saga of a society in tumult.The setting is Russia.The cities of Moscow and St Petersburgh are the real dramatis personae in this book as is the whole country of Russia.The story opens from the first stirrings of Napoleon's assault on the country.The characters are the creme-de-la-creme,the so-called burgeosie.They talk endlessly on wars won and lost by diplomatic diplopia.There is romance and courtship,between the noble and the nubile.There are bethrothals and engagemnts.Social mores and the universal vagaries of youth are well highlighted.There are the dances in spacious ballrooms and skating on frozen lakes.However the central theme of this novel is the tragedy and pathos of human conflict.How easily human life may be lost and how luck makes a great soldier are aptly highlighted.Lastly there is no dearth of unrequited shows of affection,which keeps one guessing to the end.
