APS TOGETHER
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Day 43
October 27, 2021 | Volume III, Part I, i-v. (From "Since the end of the year 1811" to "Alexander had sent him off.")
We layreaders of history “can contemplate events with unobscured common sense” (P/V translation), or: “can review events with unclouded common sense” (Briggs). I love “common sense” in both translations; and love “unclouded” more than “unobscured.”
The tragicomedy of war: “Some forty uhlans drowned in the river” while crossing the Niemen to show their “excessive zeal,” only to realize Napoleon, the sole audience for this performance, has left during intermission and skipped the grand finale.
The French are crossing the Niemen while the Russians are dancing; Balashov is kept waiting for four days and is received by Napoleon in the same house from which Alexander had sent him off as the messenger. History is better at plotting than novelists!

Daily Reading
Day 7
September 21, 2021 | Volume I, Part I, xxi-xxiii. (From “There was no one in the reception room now” to “Go to the dining room.”)
Day 9
September 23, 2021 | Volume I, Part II, i-iii. (From “In October 1805” to “the cornet turned and left the corridor.”)
Day 10
September 24, 2021 | 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
September 27, 2021 | Volume I, Part II, xiv-xviii. (From “On the first of November” to “after the disordered French.”)
Day 16
September 30, 2021 | 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
October 2, 2021 | Volume I, Part III, viii-ix. (From “On the day after the meeting” to “remained for a time with the Izmailovsky regiment.”)
Day 21
October 5, 2021 | 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 22
October 6, 2021 | Volume II, Part I, i-iv. (From “At the beginning of 1806” to “Everyone was silent.”)
Day 25
October 9, 2021 | Volume II, Part II, i-iii. (From “After his talk with his wife” to “with joy and tender feeling.”)
Day 26
October 10, 2021 | 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
October 12, 2021 | Volume II, Part II, xi-xv. (From “Returning from his southern journey” to “Rostov noticed tears in Denisov’s eyes.”)
Day 29
October 13, 2021 | 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
October 24, 2021 | Volume II, Part V, ix-xiii. (From "The stage consisted of flat boards" to "no answers to these terrible questions.")
Day 42
October 26, 2021 | 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
October 29, 2021 | 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
October 30, 2021 | Volume III, Part I, xiii-xviii. (From "In an abandoned tavern" to "'And it seemed to her that God heard her prayer.")
Day 54
November 7, 2021 | Volume III, Part II, xxv-xxviii. (From “The officers wanted to take their leave” to “worthily fulfilled his role of seeming to command.”)