Bucket List Check Mark: War and Peace

Over the past year I have been ‘chewing’ on Tolstoy’s War and Peace. I finished it on April 4, 2025, a major accomplishment and a long term goal to conquer this more than 500,000 word work. Much to say about it, but for now, I found interesting what Tolstoy himself had to say about the book as taken from the Appendix of the Oxford World Classics (2010) paperback edition, to wit: “it is not a novel, even less is it an epic poem, and still less an historical chronicle.” Instead, he continues “War and Peace is what the author wished and was able to express in the form in which it is expressed.” This is little bit of ‘so there, take that,’ and maybe a statement of transcendence. But it’s Tolstoy for crying out loud, and he gets to say what he wants to say and I’m all for it.