Why is it important?
Background on the book and Orlando Figes's Introduction
Orlando Figes's intro to the translated book calls War and Peace a "panorama of humanity," and says "the whole of life appears to be contained in its pages. despite there being over 550 characters in the novel, "to each one he brings such profound understanding of the human condition, with all its frailties and contradictions, that we recognize and love these characters as reflections of our own identity." He cites 1812 as being the moment of epiphany in the book, a significant role for a story with no clear beginning, middle, or end. This makes 1811, when Great Comet takes place, the precipice of change, the slow uphill climb towards the year when everything changes. Furthermore, while 1812 is primarily significant in the book because of the drastic political effects of Napoleon's invasion, Dave Malloy was correct in feeling that 1811 is when the characters experience the greatest emotional changes.
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War and Peace was Tolstoy's attempt to "engage with the truth of history," taking the historical facts and diving into the emotional experience and the infinite number of factors and variables that go into a historian's narrative. He was particularly frustrated by the lack of private thoughts and experiences in the historical account of this time. While War and Peace began being published serially in 1865 (ended in 1869), Tolstoy used his own experiences as an officer in the Crimean War, as well as his experiences and views as an aristocrat himself, to create these characters. The book was originally supposed to be about the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, in which a group of liberal revolutionaries aimed to overthrow the Russian government, establish a constitution, and abolish serfdom. However, Tolstoy didn't feel the Decembrists' story fit the time period he was writing about, and instead chose the period of 1805 to 1813, with 1805 being shortly after Russia was freed from French control, allowing us to see Russia grow into its own identity just like the characters.
Leo Tolstoy
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Born Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (that's right, he's a Count).
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Born in 1828, died 1910, lived to be 82.
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Born to an aristocratic Russian family.
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Nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906, and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909. He never won.
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His father fought in the French invasion of Russia.
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His parents both died before he was 10, so he fell under the guardianship of his grandmother, who died two years later, then his aunt, who died soon after. This means he lost 4 guardians before the age of 13.
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Studied law and oriental languages at Kazan University but eventually dropped out. His teachers described him as "unable and unwilling to learn." After he dropped out, he leaned into a leisurely and indulgent lifestyle, a period during which he started writing.
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Much like Pierre, he was consistently pursuing self-improvement, and much like the rest of the characters, he consistently indulged in questionable habits that he couldn't drop.
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Joined his brother in the army in 1851 after going into debt from gambling. During this time, his travels changed his privileged perspective, and he became a non-violent anarchist.
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War and Peace was somewhat inspired by Les Misérables, particularly the battle scenes and Tolstoy meeting Victor Hugo himself.
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In 1862, at 34 years old, he married 18-year-old prominent Moscow physician Sophia Behrs. Their marriage was fine at the beginning, but as he pursued spirituality and self-improvement their relationship got progressively worse.
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He founded a school for lower class Russian children following the 1861 emancipation of serfdom.
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The anti-government and religion ideals in Anna Karenina put him under police surveillance and got him excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church.
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His autobiographical essays and manifestos later in life cite him as opposing aristocracy, private land ownership, and marriage, and valuing chastity and abstinence.
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These views are reflected in several aspects of War and Peace: political leaders are portrayed as egotistical characters, combat is described chaotically, and no social organization is able to properly describe the complexity and individuality of human behavior.​
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