I’m sitting in bed on a Tuesday afternoon reading this tome.

Here’s some initial thoughts:

• It’s easy to read because thankfully Tolstoy has short chapters that you can read when you want
• We are in all the characters: we see each of them in us. They are all going through major personal transformations and epiphanies in life to find meaning about life
• I’m stocking up on Tolstoy books. If he writes likes this, then I need to read his other books. Tolstoy, get thee onto my bookshelves pronto!
• I should have read this book in my late 20s and early 30s as I tried to naively please everyone and “do a Pierre”. In fact, Pierre is the one character who I wanted to shake him by the lapels and tell him to wake up because people who aren’t your loved ones do not have your best intentions. Now in my 50s, I see through the BS and I’ve come to War and Peace as a cynic. As someone who has been through “her own wars” and come out of them knowing more about true intentions of peoples actions. It’s hard not to read this book and roll my eyes at what some characters are doing. In my 20s, I would have taken them at face value, believed things on the face of what I saw but never questioned. Now, what they do is do blindingly obvious that you wish tou could yell through the pages and get them to see what you’re seeing.
• There’s a lot of French in it. Helps me with language learning. Even better.
• I’m Andrei. Oh I’m definitely Andrei.
• Fascinating to read how Napoleon is written about. I always thought of him as a hero of some sort but now I’m questioning that.
• When I read about Napoleon and his invasion into Russia, I can’t help but think Putin is like him. I don’t want to compare Putin to any of the flawed characters in this book because they are human. The only person derided in this book is Napoleon, he’s a joke. He’s hated by the Russians and yet Putin is “doing a Napoleon”. Ha! The irony.
• I have a feeling in my waters that this is going to be a book that I’ll read again and again.
• Themes? Well what’s NOT in it. Everything from love (all forms), honour, ego, pride, nationalism, envy, secrets, philosophy, mysticism, religion, death, war, status, privilege, gossip, gambling, duels, everything. Just read it.