EPIC. That’s the most suitable word to describe this book. The amount of pages are enough to make most people runaway, methinks. The essence, however, with the details, the characterization, the plots, the parlance (with occasional French); this book has everything needed for a great literature.

The story is Russia during the Napoleonic War. The novel has two main plots. First, the historical description on the military (and diplomatic) effort conducted during the invasion of Napoleon to Russian soil, representing the titular “war”. The details presented by Tolstoy were incredibly vivid, comprising of battle tactics, debates between generals/marshalls, the heroic acts, the troops movement, all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things coming from a war; all will bring the reader into the front line, feeling what the soldiers feel at famous events like the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino, and of course the occupation of Moscow. Napoleon himself was one of the main characters and a lengthy analysis was given for his actions. Hence, a very enlightening reading.

Representing the titular “peace”, the second plot was about the lives of four families, most importantly the Rostovs and the Bolkonskis and how they, as part of the high society in Russia then, coped with the war situation. Romance, misery, and most importantly, both their internal and external struggles to face with the people surrounding them, I think I’ve never read an epic novel with this kind of personal touch before.

The readers will find themselves associated or symphatized with one of the characters. The noble one, the vivacious one, the idealist one, the pragmatist one, the nationalist one, the seductive one… just name it. Colorful and memorable characters, period.

Furthermore, this is not just a story-telling novel. Tolstoy has included some of his (philosophical) thoughts here. Do not hesitate to ponder them all. His analysis on historical events was extensive and has its own unique logical reasoning.

Was Napoleon a genius commander? Were his victories inevitable? Was the abandonment of Moscow the right call made by General Kutuzov? Back to basic, what is power? What force produces the movement of nations? Tolstoy had his own answers. Combination of all forces, no event can singularly affect another, no such thing as an isolated cause and effect, so says this maestro.

I applaud Tolstoy for this work of art. It took me almost years to "really" read this novel and to get a firm hold on its essence. I think I came into a moment of silence after finishing the last page. Not easy to describe what I felt at that time, now I can only say that I feel blessed to have such an epic ‘experience’ and will be glad if I can share it with everyone. ( )