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Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Nine (The Saga Concludes) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-03-18 17:32:48
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

'Love gets in the way of death. Love is life. Every single thing I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is bound up with love, and love alone. Love is God.'

It is with heavy hearts that we draw to the close of War and Peace. The close of this masterpiece, but certainly not the end of our loving engagement with Tolstoy.

In today's discussion, we are meditating upon circularity, the hero's journey, history, suffering, spirituality, meaning, love, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 the challenge of ending War and Peace
  • 1:30 thank you for reading Tolstoy with us
  • 2:30 why War and Peace is so powerful
  • 4:00 love, life, death & reading Tolstoy
  • 5:50 ancient vs modern historians
  • 7:30 Kutuzov & the significance of events
  • 10:30 ordinary/common vs great men
  • 11:45 Tolstoy decorates Kutuzov
  • 13:30 mass movement of men
  • 14:26 the secret/unknown multiplier
  • 16:00 what’s beyond the binaries?
  • 16:44 morale & guerilla warfare
  • 18:48 history, vision & moving to goals
  • 20:00 cycling through history
  • 21:30 on chaos & religious feeling
  • 24:00 the tragedy of heroism
  • 26:00 heroism in the present moment
  • 27:45 death & defamiliarisation
  • 29:00 freedom & spirit beyond reasoning
  • 30:50 who are the heroes of War and Peace?
  • 31:22 the circularity of the hero’s journey
  • 33:00 battle scars as spiritual wisdom
  • 37:30 finding meaning in suffering
  • 38:30 identity & outward vs inward change
  • 40:10 Pierre’s new sense of meaning
  • 42:00 being grateful for the simple pleasures
  • 44:15 Tolstoy’s gift of the lofty sky
  • 45:48 ‘to love life is to love God’
  • 46:30 Natasha’s loving response to suffering
  • 47:20 ending where Tolstoy began
  • 49:55 where to after War and Peace?
  • 55:30 Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov
  • 57:00 a note of thanks & gratitude for you
  • 58:00 a tribute to Tolstoy

Expanding Our Tolstoy Appreciation:

  • Short fiction: Focusing on Tolstoy's shorter fiction, from his parables to his novellas, is a rich and rewarding way to expand your appreciation and understanding of the great writer. In addition to 'How Much Land Does A Man Need?' I personally recommend 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' and 'Hadji Murat' as two works that are worth exploring.
  • Non-fiction: Tolstoy's non-fiction writings are another rich avenue to go down. From spiritual works like 'A Confession' to aesthetic tracts like 'What Is Art?' Then there is 'The Gospel in Brief,' and his 'Calendar of Wisdom' is a great way to keep him in your life for the rest of the year.
  • Film Appreciation: Once you've read War and Peace, you have a treasure trove of film and television adaptations to enjoy over the course of your life. We've spoken about Sergei Bondarchuk's 1967 version and the 2016 BBC version, so you might find the 1956 version starring Audrey Hepburn to be a interesting one to add to your watch list.
  • Novel Appreciation: Tolstoy asserted that War and Peace was not a novel, and that his first real novel was Anna Karenina. If you've enjoyed the themes and characterisation in War and Peace, you'll adore Anna Karenina and might find it rewarding to check out some of our lectures on this masterpiece too.
  • Music Appreciation: Why not celebrate your achievement by listening to some of Tolstoy's own favourite musicians? Chopin, Mozart, and Haydn were three of his favourites. Tolstoy also composed his own piece, a waltz, which you can listen to here.

Our Tolstoic Journey:

Our Next Masterpiece:

Congratulations on reading Tolstoy's masterpiece with so much love. Thank you so much for making this such an incredible experience.

Whilst we will have more Tolstoy discussions, our next lecture will be our 'how to read' for The Brothers Karamazov and our introduction to Dostoyevsky's masterpiece. So make sure you have your chosen translation ready for our next adventure through great literature.

Questions to Consider:

1) What will you remember most from your journey through War and Peace?

2) What area connected with Tolstoy are you now most keen to explore?

3) What did you make of the ending?

4) How would you persuade another to read War and Peace? And what advice would you give to facilitate a meaningful reading experience?

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

Congratulations on reading War and Peace, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Nine (The Saga Concludes)

0:00 the challenge of ending War and Peace 1:30 thank you for reading Tolstoy with us 2:30 why War and Peace is so powerful 4:00 love, life, death & reading Tolstoy 5:50 ancient vs modern historians 7:30 Kutuzov & the significance of events 10:30 ordinary/common vs great men 11:45 Tolstoy decorates Kutuzov 13:30 mass movement of men 14:26 the secret/unknown multiplier 16:00 what’s beyond the binaries? 16:44 morale & guerilla warfare 18:48 history, vision & moving to goals 20:00 cycling through history 21:30 on chaos & religious feeling 24:00 the tragedy of heroism 26:00 heroism in the present moment 27:45 death & defamiliarisation 29:00 freedom & spirit beyond reasoning 30:50 who are the heroes of War and Peace? 31:22 the circularity of the hero’s journey 33:00 battle scars as spiritual wisdom 37:30 finding meaning in suffering 38:30 identity & outward vs inward change 40:10 Pierre’s new sense of meaning 42:00 being grateful for the simple pleasures 44:15 Tolstoy’s gift of the lofty sky 45:48 ‘to love life is to love God’ 46:30 Natasha’s loving response to suffering 47:20 ending where Tolstoy began 49:55 where to after War and Peace? 55:30 Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov 57:00 a note of thanks & gratitude for you 58:00 a tribute to Tolstoy

Comments

Denise Powers

Here's to the end of the epic journey - just completed War and Peace. I read the Garnett translation and I do think that made it a bit of a tougher read. The language I noted in Ben's lectures was far more engaging and beautiful. Now, I can look forward to rereading the novel in the Briggs version. I know this is an unpopular sentiment, and I am still processing it myself, but I found the epilogue to be an intriguing way to end this novel. I did suffer through it a little in it. I liken it to climbing a massive mountain like Kathadin after hiking the 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. There was an excitement, egging me on and I wanted (desperately) to be finished. However, I have made a vow to myself to reread those last 30 or so pages again sometime very soon, because it summed up the sentiments and the philosophies the book was based on. It was like seeing all the breadcrumbs that had been dropped along the trail swept up into a big pile that you could sort through, if you had enough energy. I do love Pierre - I loved him from the start and marvelled at his transformation through the story. He is the 'bad boy' all grown up! I was happy to see how he and Natasha ended up together and that he found the happiness there he was searching for. I learned so much about a historical period I previously knew nothing about. I learned more about visions of God, about moments in time, about the concept and fallacy of free will (freedom has somehow become a buzzword today) and I was reminded through Tolstoy's incredible illustration and the brilliant use of the omniscient view that different people view the same situation differently. All in all, I loved the book. It has taken me a couple more months than the rest of the group to reach the end, but I do feel a sense of accomplishment and also a sense of loss that these people I have just travelled the last 6 months with are no longer with me. But, I promise to revisit them!

Xime Goka

1)What I will remember the most from this trip will undoubtedly be the first parts and chapters. The discovery of what this trip would be like with these characters, the ironic tone with which the themes of war, honor, love and duty were touched upon. The first parties, trying to remember characters and their characteristics. And then certain passages like the hunt for Nikolay, Pierre as a prisoner of war, Natasha and her *joie de vivre* which I found profoundly relatable and inspirational. 2) The wisdom calendar is definitely something I want to explore and read every day as part of my morning routine goals. I also want to read Anna Karenina now more than ever. One of the musts for 2024. 3) I would have preferred the story to close the epilogue and not the philosophy of war. The philosophy was interesting but it kind of killed the closure of the experience for me, in the emotional ride it was taking me. It was very nostalgic for me how the lives of Marya, Nikolai, Natasha and Pierre end, as the anxiety of Nikolay Jr., Andrey's son, is seen as a wonder of the next generation. 4) My first argument would be how easy the book is to read. There are many characters and story intersections, but in the end the language is approachable and everything flows like a beautiful story mixed with philosophy, spirituality, character development and history lesson and questioning of how we tell it and assimilate it. To facilitate a meaningful reading experience, I would advise reading it in a group or in a format where the context of both Tolstoy and the Napoleonic wars can be given, I feel that it enriches the experience and gives a whole new understanding of what this novel means.