Blogging Tolstoy

This winter I shall attempt to read War and Peace.  As a creative exercise, I intend to blog my experience and my reaction to this epic.

Many years ago I realized I was reading too much indulgent trash (mystery, sci-fi/fantasy) and decided to force myself to imbibe some more serious literature as medicine.  I selected Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky  Somewhere along the way I’d picked up the idea this was a formidable work.  To my surprise and great pleasure I found the old Russian author captivating, if a bit wordy, and have enjoyed several more of his books. Last spring I finally picked up the other famous Russian, Leo Tolstoy, and found Anna Karenina, although darker, equally difficult to put down.  So here’s hoping that the negative foreboding I have about Tolstoy’s magnum opus is as ill-founded as my prejudice was against Crime & Punishment.

I still devour page-turners.  There’s something about reading ’till 5:00 AM or later on a weekend that feels like pure luxury, and I don’t expect War and Peace keeping me awake like that.  I will probably indulge in at least two pulps a month as a diversion.  Confession: I got totally absorbed in the story when I read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series.  I’m a hopeless romantic.  And then I found what has become my inspiration for this project, Dan Bergstein’s Blogging Twilight on Sparknotes.com.  It’s absolutely hilarious.  A definite must-read for both lovers and haters of the Twilight saga.

I don’t plan to condense or re-write the book I’m blogging.   Instead it will be my response or reaction as I journey through it.  I won’t consciously be trying to imitate Dan Bergstein’s derisive style.  My own blog will probably be much less consistent, but I am definitely going to avoid being stuffy.  I’ll poke fun at my ignorance, at the author’s bias, but also admit when I’m impressed or awed.  I already know I’m going to be confused at who is doing what.  Every Russian aristocrat (and I think all the characters are aristocrats) has at least five different names, and the author may refer to him/her by any one of them – Christian name, surname, patronymic, title, or nickname, plus any number of pet names used by various friends and family members.  I am often a long way into the story (I just go with the flow) before I realize that, lets say Peter and Nickelaevich are the same person as Macarov, who also happens to be “the General”, but may on another occasion be referred to in passing only as “Bodkin’s nephew”.  With all these names being tossed about, a tea party of five aristocrats can look like a gathering of dozens.

One more thing.  I’m reading War and Peace on my iPod.  I LOVE reading on the tiny screen.  It has become my preferred medium for anything I read front-to-back.  I don’t like it for textbooks or serious study though.  Digital eText is too linear for that. (Now isn’t that a paradox?)

My next installment will be Chapter 1.

About Jim

Faculty Developer at Aurora College's Centre for Teaching and Learning
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3 Responses to Blogging Tolstoy

  1. Pingback: Tolstoy …more | WayUpNorth's Blog

  2. Haley says:

    Okay, I recognize that I’m picking apart your post, which is awesome, over two little words, but you’ve just hit my berserk button. XD I apologize in advance, and hope I’m not being too rude here. Feel free to pop over to my blog or email me with a rebuttal if you want to!

    While I think it’s fantastic that you’re not only reading War and Peace as a project, you’re also blogging about it, I take exception to your dismissal of the scifi, fantasy and mystery genres as “indulgent trash.” I’m just an undergrad with most of an English degree under my belt so take my words with a grain of salt, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my college career it’s that so called “serious literature” is not nearly so inclusive as they could be. You’re an educator yourself, so I’m sure you’re aware of how much the canon of “academic” literature has expanded over the past few decades. Serious literature can be anything from your War and Peace to Toni Morrison’s works to Haruki Murukami, Paulo Cuelho, David Sedaris or the brilliant graphic novel Persepolis. Heck, even children’s literature can be “serious” if it is studied seriously. Come to think of it, Jane Austen’s works were considered something along the lines of “indulgent trash” when they were written, if I remember correctly.

    In defense of scifi, fantasy and mystery in particular: these genres are by far and away my favorites. I agree with the spirit of your post that much of what is written for those genres is often less dense than Tolstoy, and it’s good to broaden one’s literary horizons by reading more challenging works. However, those genres are also more accessible than Tolstoy could ever be, and they convey the same depth of feeling, the same lessons about being human, the same wonder and fascination with who and what we are. Those three genres hook people on reading and keep them reading. They change lives, encourage literacy and explore the way we feel about ourselves as people, and they do so with the fundamental assertion that our minds can do ANYTHING, craft any story with any premise, on any world, anywhere, and anybody with an imagination can participate in that, not just English majors. Furthermore, scifi, fantasy and mystery are constantly evolving genres. There’s a lot of chaff in there, but what emerges from the enthusiasm of all those writers is a clearer picture of what’s on our minds culturally, psychologically, and even globally, than novels from ages past, no matter how brilliant. Besides, you can’t completely discount Tolkien, Martin, McKillip, Heinlein, Card, King… what are they if not epic?

    Again, I apologize for getting preachy and probably even condescending here. I just can’t stand it when anybody knocks the genre that’s sustained me my whole life, and I end up getting a bit nuts. I DO hope you enjoy War and Peace, and I look forward to reading about it in your blog! But I hope you’ll give fantasy, scifi and mystery another chance as “serious” literature as well. I truly believe they are just as serious as any other genre, and sometimes they’re even more fun. 🙂

    • Jim says:

      Haley, thank you for your perceptive comment. I absolutely agree with almost everything you say. The sci-fi/fantasy and mystery genres (and probably horror which I avoid) are rich with explorations of serious topics, like what it means to be human. And I agree that just because a book is more accessible, does not mean it cannot also be serious. I will henceforth put “indulgent trash” in quotes – maybe with a smiley face, but I’m delighted to have provoked such a piercing response from you. I don’t mind you going “a bit nuts.” And no, I don’t think you were rude at all.

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