Tapestry

I think that the thing I love most about War & Peace is probably the richness of variety in the characters. There is a VAST range of personalities, motivations, attitudes, desires, and needs on display. Consequently, relationships as they are portrayed in literature are taking on whole new meanings for me. Indeed, it will be hard to ever look at a typical fiction's relationship dynamics ever again without feeling some hollow ring of sadness that Tolstoy is not writing it. I think this comes from the characters seeming to be in such relief against a theater that most authors find inaccessible. I think in the end, Tolstoy just committed to his story and his characters in a way few authors do (dare I say, "can"?). One would have to commit to this level in order to lay out such a staggering array of people and such a sprawlingly lengthy work. Every time I pick it up, I think "this is what it takes to commit and this is what happens when you do." In the end, I suppose that's the real root of my love affair with War & Peace. I do love the characters and the stories, and I'll discuss them more at length--but Tolstoy's commitment is inspiring and rewarding.

So this entry was short and rambly. I'm a rambly kind of guy. But not short. So you can usually expect me to be rambly. But if you see me, I won't be short. It was written in a cab at 12am. What do you want?

-S