APS TOGETHER
Day 81
War and Peace by Leo TolstoyEpilogue, Part I, x-xiii. (From “Natasha was married in the early spring of 1813” to “when the stockings were finished.”)
December 4, 2021 by Yiyun Li
I must confess I never understand some readerly complaints about Natasha’s domestication. She only focuses on what matters to her and what makes sense to her instead of pleasing others and obeying the “golden rules” of society. That’s happiness.
Pierre continues to have the best effects on people: from servants to family to the orphan Nikolai Bolknosky. But what’s best for Pierre is Natasha: “After seven years of married life, Pierre felt a joyful, firm consciousness that he was not a bad man.”
In this large family combined with several generations of Rostovs and Bolknoskys, we are missing Berg and Vera. I always wonder what they are up to at this moment. And Boris and Julie.
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.”)