APS TOGETHER
Day 35
War and Peace by Leo TolstoyVolume II, Part IV, i-v. (From “Biblical tradition says that absence of work" to "shyly smiled his childishly meek and pleasant smile.")
October 19, 2021 by Yiyun Li
Before hunting, in Briggs: “when the hunters met they decided to rest the dogs for three days”; in P/V: “at a general council of hunters it was decided to give the dogs a three-day rest.” Love the latter, echoing the general council of war.
Tolstoy’s wonderful attention to a young dog among the high-speed excitement of the hunt. The entangled dog is a canine edition of Nikolai at his first battle.
Semyon...bent down to straighten the leash in which a young dog had become entangled.
Count Rostov, once the hunting master and now giving way to Nikolai: ”wrapped in his fur coat, sitting in his saddle, he had the look of a child made ready to go for a walk.” The moment when childhood and old age meet, in that singular image.
Daily Reading
Day 7
Volume I, Part I, xxi-xxiii. (From “There was no one in the reception room now” to “Go to the dining room.”)
Day 9
Volume I, Part II, i-iii. (From “In October 1805” to “the cornet turned and left the corridor.”)
Day 10
Volume I, Part II, iv-vii. (From “The Pavlogradsky hussar regiment” to “Put a stick between your legs, that’ll do you for a horse,” rejoined the hussar.)
Day 13
Volume I, Part II, xiv-xviii. (From “On the first of November” to “after the disordered French.”)
Day 16
Volume I, Part III, iii-iv. (From “Old Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky received a letter” to “raising her finger and smiling, she left the room.”)
Day 18
Volume I, Part III, viii-ix. (From “On the day after the meeting” to “remained for a time with the Izmailovsky regiment.”)
Day 21
Volume I, Part III, xvii-xix (end of Volume I). (From “At nine o’clock” to “handed over to the care of the local inhabitants.”)
Day 25
Volume II, Part II, i-iii. (From “After his talk with his wife” to “with joy and tender feeling.”)
Day 26
Volume II, Part II, iv-vii. (From “Soon after that, it was not the rhetor” to “an intimate of Countess Bezukhov’s house.”)
Day 28
Volume II, Part II, xi-xv. (From “Returning from his southern journey” to “Rostov noticed tears in Denisov’s eyes.”)
Day 29
Volume II, Part II, xvi-xxi (end of Part II). (From "In the month of October" to "’Hey, you! Another bottle!’ he shouted.”)
Day 40
Volume II, Part V, ix-xiii. (From "The stage consisted of flat boards" to "no answers to these terrible questions.")
Day 42
Volume II, Part V, xviii-xxii (end of Volume II). (From "Marya Dmitrievna, finding the weeping Sonya" to "now blossoming into new life.")
Day 45
Volume III, Part I, ix-xii. (From "Prince Andrei arrived in the general headquarters" to "'Here. What lightning!' they said to each other.")
Day 46
Volume III, Part I, xiii-xviii. (From "In an abandoned tavern" to "'And it seemed to her that God heard her prayer.")
Day 54
Volume III, Part II, xxv-xxviii. (From “The officers wanted to take their leave” to “worthily fulfilled his role of seeming to command.”)