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Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Seven (Vol. III, Part II ) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-28 17:20:25
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

'Is this death then? I can't die. I don't want to die. I love life. I love this grass, the earth, the air...'

War and Peace is becoming more profound, poignant, and painful by the page, and our discussion today is an emotional one. We're talking about love, death, war, history, sacrifice, epiphanies, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 breaching a painful part of the work
  • 1:50 a note of personal congratulations
  • 3:00 a meditation for our reading today
  • 3:20 Tolstoy’s writing on history
  • 4:20: rereading, journalling & difficulty
  • 6:00 Tolstoy’s defamiliarisation
  • 8:30 history, religion & fate
  • 9:54 inferring causation after the event
  • 12:00 on epics & the power of myth
  • 17:00 the heroes of War and Peace
  • 18:20 on retrospective arrangement
  • 20:40 why do we read history?
  • 22:30 imaginative literature & subjectivity
  • 23:30 from sweeping saga to small scale
  • 24:00 Marya & individual as universal
  • 24:50 Eliot, Hugo & Tolstoy
  • 25:00 Tolstoy’s writings on war
  • 27:00 denial & the stages of grief
  • 29:00 truthful trauma in Tolstoy
  • 32:00 Smolensk is set on fire
  • 34:30 a national identity crisis
  • 36:52 Andrei prepares for war
  • 39:00 on service as blessing
  • 41:00 on epiphanies in nature
  • 42:00 cleansing before Judgement Day
  • 44:40 the death of Marya’s father
  • 48:00 Nikolai, Marya & chivalry
  • 50:00 Kutuzov & instinct vs intellect
  • 52:00 Pierre, sacrifice & freedom
  • 55:44 the battle of Borodino
  • 58:00 the senseless nature of war
  • 59:30 Pierre and Andrei reunite
  • 1:05:00 Austerlitz vs Borodino
  • 1:06:10 on preparing for death
  • 1:07:00 Tolstoy vs historians (again)
  • 1:08:51 the uncanny depiction of battle
  • 1:10:57 ‘I don’t want to die. I love life’
  • 1:15:40 our next chapters

Our Tolstoic Journey:

Supplementary Resources :

  • Tolstoy Appreciation: You can keep Tolstoy in your life every day of the year by virtue of his Calendar of Wisdom. He thought this to be his greatest contribution to humanity. His curation and translation of profound words includes an extraordinary variety of scripture, philosophy, applicable life advice.
  • Spiritual Reading: For a fascinating account of near-death and out-of-body experiences from the point of view of Orthodox and mystical thought, you might like Fr. Seraphim Rose's The Soul After Death.
  • Recommended Viewing: To get a sense of one of the most devastating battles in military history, I highly recommend this video from Epic History TV. And here is how our recommended film version depicted the battle.
  • Musical Appreciation: Tchaikovsky composed his 1812 Overture to commemorate the battle of Borodino. I highly recommend you give yourself some dedicated time to listen through this extraordinary work.

Reading Assignment:

Congratulations for continuing to make such powerful strides through Tolstoy's masterpiece. The next discussion will focus on part three of volume three and the first part of volume four. This takes us up to page 1095 in the Briggs.

Questions to Consider:

1) What is the value of reading history?

2) Why does great literature have the power to evoke strong emotions? And what is the value in that?

3) What epiphanies have you had over the course of your life?

And please do share with us your impressions and favourite passages from these parts of War and Peace.

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Seven (Vol. III, Part II )

0:00 breaching a painful part of the work 1:50 a note of personal congratulations 3:00 a meditation for our reading today 3:20 Tolstoy’s writing on history 4:20: rereading, journalling & difficulty 6:00 Tolstoy’s defamiliarisation 8:30 history, religion & fate 9:54 inferring causation after the event 12:00 on epics & the power of myth 17:00 the heroes of War and Peace 18:20 on retrospective arrangement 20:40 why do we read history? 22:30 imaginative literature & subjectivity 23:30 from sweeping saga to small scale 24:00 Marya & individual as universal 24:50 Eliot, Hugo & Tolstoy 25:00 Tolstoy’s writings on war 27:00 denial & the stages of grief 29:00 truthful trauma in Tolstoy 32:00 Smolensk is set on fire 34:30 a national identity crisis 36:52 Andrei prepares for war 39:00 on service as blessing 41:00 on epiphanies in nature 42:00 cleansing before Judgement Day 44:40 the death of Marya’s father 48:00 Nikolai, Marya & chivalry 50:00 Kutuzov & instinct vs intellect 52:00 Pierre, sacrifice & freedom 55:44 the battle of Borodino 58:00 the senseless nature of war 59:30 Pierre and Andrei reunite 1:05:00 Austerlitz vs Borodino 1:06:10 on preparing for death 1:07:00 Tolstoy vs historians (again) 1:08:51 the uncanny depiction of battle 1:10:57 ‘I don’t want to die. I love life’ 1:15:40 our next chapters

Comments

Tatiana

I am a little put off by the look Buzukhov gave Pierre and Andrei gave his son on their deathbeds.

Emily F

Wow the scene you shared of the Battle of Borodino from the Bonderchuk adaptation is incredible. It was so chaotic brought to life Tolstoy's descriptions of the confusions of battle. It also made me think about how pointless war is. Napoleon didn't need to invade Russia. Men are running around killing each other -- those thousands of lives ended, and for what? What did it accomplish? Tolstoy shows us Napoleon's writings about the war at the end of this section "The Russian war…was a war of good sense and tangible benefit fought for the peace and security of all; it was purely pacific and conservationist." What a wild thing to say -- that you are going to war in order to bring about peace -- and Napoleon was the aggressor! Regarding the question of what we gain from reading about history -- it is helpful in understanding the context for current events. For example, reading W&P is helping me understand Russian history in light of the current war of Russian aggression against Ukraine. In W&P Russia was the victim of a narcissistic and selfish dictator, and today they under Putin are the perpetrators. The irony is stark and upsetting. Obviously not all Russians are like Putin and in reading Russian history, I can gain a bit of understanding for who the Russian people are given where they have come from, and their rich history of nobility/serfdom to revolution, Communism, and beyond. W&P is just one small snapshot of their history, and there is so much more to learn. In this section, we also get our first real look at peasants and servants in W&P. I’m confused if Tolstoy is sympathetic or condescending to them. Or maybe both. They are portrayed in a wild and silly manor, but their plight is also sympathetic. 797 - "Prince Andrey’s last stay…and his innovations - hospitals, schools and rent reductions — far from mollifying them, had intensified those aspects of their character that the old prince had identified as uncivilized. Rumour-mongering was rife amongst them [as if the nobility never does that!!]…the peasants of this this locality were especially prone to these mysterious undercurrents of Russian country life which have origins and meanings that baffle the modern mind." p809 - Marya invites the peasants to go with her, but they protest: “Follow her - and give up your freedom! Burn your house down and go and be a slave. Nice idea, that! ‘Have some grain,’ she says!” We get the sense that they are finally fed up with being seen as owing something to the nobiles. We see here examples of locals who have an intense pride in their work and what they have.