/wprg/ Day 14: War and Peace Reading Group

The reading for day 14 is B3 Part 1 Chapter 14 through and including Part Two Chapter 4, pp. 697-752.

>Ebooks and audiobook
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>Once when making such calculations he wrote down his own name in French, Comte Pierre Besouhoff, but the sum of the numbers did not come right. Then he changed the spelling, substituting a z for the s and adding de and the article le, still without obtaining the desired result. Then it occurred to him that if the answer to the question were contained in his name, his nationality would also be given in the answer. So he wrote Le russe Besuhof and adding up the numbers got 671. This was only five too much, and five was represented by e, the very letter elided from the article le before the word Empereur. By omitting the e, though incorrectly, Pierre got the answer he sought. L’russe Besuhof made 666. This discovery excited him. How, or by what means, he was connected with the great event foretold in the Apocalypse he did not know, but he did not doubt that connection for a moment.

Freemason autism is a strong variety.

>it's a Petya chapter

pretty cute

who /readingW&Puntilthepolinvasionsubsides/ here?

Finished yesterday's reading.

Words read for day 13: 22,063
Time taken: 57 minutes

Total words read so far: 299,464
Total words in book: 563,286
Total time taken so far: 12 hours 42 minutes
Approximate total reading time: 25 hours

Now read as much as A Game of Thrones

>How, or by what means, he was connected with the great event foretold in the Apocalypse he did not know, but he did not doubt that connection for a moment.

>“Anybody can shove,” said the footman, and also began working his elbows to such effect that he pushed Pétya into a very filthy corner of the gateway.

Its interesting to think how the 2 characters described as atheists have had miracle-like experiences throughout the novel and how theyve been affected by it.
Pierre had his revelation after winning the duel with Dolokhov (a miracle since he didnt even know how to use a pistol) and joined the freemasons and tried to repent for his sins.
Andrei somehow survived after being injured in battle (Austerlitz i think?, also when Napoleon saw Andrei, he said that Andrei wouldnt survive. Napoleon was described in this segment to be the antichrist, so it plays into the miracle aspect), but he did not see this as an act or God and it further cemented his idea of focusing on self and family and avoiding negativity.

Now Pierre has become engrossed in his ego and inflating his self importance, which is incompatible with what he was striving for with the freemasons.
Andrei is returning war, even though he had not wanted to be involved in fighting after he was injured. It really feels like Andrei is done with life, hes depressed and angry with his situation. Last time he joined the army it was for excitement and glory, this time it seems like a way to get back the feeling he had when he was dying (when seeing the beautiful sky, etc.).

I think Tolstoy is going to get pretty heavy with religious undertones pretty soon, the 2 atheistic characters are gonna get punished for their actions and failure to live in accordance to religious principles, and i think Marya, who has constantly suffered due to being too nice while being devout, will soon get her time to shine.

Im nervous bros, this book got me hooked and im too invested in these characters, i just want them all to be chillin ;_ ; (except Anatole and Helene, they can die.

10/10 book, thanks op for the reading group or else i wouldnt have read it.

Don't forget Dolokhov, user. Total sociopath.

> like a way to get back the feeling he had when he was dying
Yes. I was trying to understand exactly why he was coming back to the army, but i think you managed to pinpoint the cause.

Also, i don't get this religious vibe from the book. What i get is more a connection of nature to the transcendental. If Tolstoy is going to show religious undertones, probably will be by placing nature on the central point, like god is in the nature or something like that.

But yes, i'm invested in the characters too. I hate some, i love others. This guy knows how characters work.

...

One reference Tolstoy keeps on making is to people of "Catherine's time" (e.g. pages 428 and 453 or the beginning of Part III, Chapter 14 for non-P&V users). Obviously he's referring to Catherine II, but what about her time is he talking about? Is it her noble reforms that gave landowners insane amounts of power, a complaint about their warmongering akin to when millennials complain about baby boomers, or something else? A lot of the other symbolic references make sense, but this one has me kind of stumped.

>Karp, thrusting his fingers into his belt and smiling a little, walked to the front.

He's just referring to people that were adults and active in the world (like Pierre and Andrew are now) during her time, i.e. the older generation.

>that last chapter of today's reading
Shit's getting real: the chapter.

Was 6 (!) days behind this morning so I downloaded the audiobook and listened to it all day at work. Almost caught up now, will do the same tomorrow and I'll be out front.

I have to say this book is a grower. The first 200 or so pages of dinner-party prattling were a slightly tedious (though not difficult) read. However the development of a fuller picture of the political climate along with the spiritual and philosophical dialogues have got me hooked.
I know I'm meant to marvel at the character development but I don't really give a shit. To me they're almost just random names assigned to the ideas and events Tolstoy was trying to portray. I'm not a Veeky Forums native, perhaps that's the problem.
>inb4 pleb

Anyway I'm happy this group exists, I bought W&P from a thrift store years ago and this has given me the motivation to finally get through it.

>Also, i don't get this religious vibe from the book. What i get is more a connection of nature to the transcendental. If Tolstoy is going to show religious undertones, probably will be by placing nature on the central point, like god is in the nature or something like that.

Not sure what I think of this personally, but an interesting thing to add to this is that I remember something about George Steiner saying that the difference between Tolstoy and Dostoevsky was that God was a necessary part of Dostoevsky's outlook, while this was not the case with Tolstoy, who he saw as being more "pagan" in his attitude to the world.

And I can see that in the treatment of nature that you describe.

>There are always so many conjectures as to the issue of any event that however it may end there will always be people to say: “I said then that it would be so,” quite forgetting that amid their innumerable conjectures many were to quite the contrary effect.

pol was right.

>His satellites—the senior clerk, a countinghouse clerk, a scullery maid, a cook, two old women, a little pageboy, the coachman, and various domestic serfs—were seeing him off.
>His daughter placed chintz-covered down cushions for him to sit on and behind his back.

>tfw you will never have a daughter lovingly place down cushions on your carriage for you.

Finished today's reading.

Words read for day 14: 24,590
Time taken: 63 minutes

Total words read so far: 324,054
Total words in book: 563,286
Total time taken so far: 13 hours 45 minutes
Approximate total reading time: 25 hours

Stay strong, best user.

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