Book review (War and Peace):

Colossal in both scope and magnanimity. This is not a book on war; it’s definitely not a book on peace. Rather, it’s a book on everything that lies in between these two – it’s a book on hope, love, unpredictability of the future, and one’s very search for the ultimate purpose of their existence. Period. When I first started it I wanted to reach the end rapidly, but as I progressed I didn’t want it to end. I was inundated by its ideas, but it only ended by increasing my yearning. I witnessed a lot of War, but it showed me that peace prevails. I was dejected on numerous occasions, but it proved to me that hope is the ultimate winner. I cried when my favorite character died, but I was happy that he had left a wonderful posterity, and it taught me how we, humans, have out-survived almost everything else. I was bewildered when even after so may intermittent battles and incessant killings people still somehow managed to carry on with their lives, but it taught me that life doesn’t stop and one has no other option but to live.  Some books sink so deep in your heart that by the time you manage to flip the last page, and despite the numbness they had evoked in you in the first place, all you could do is ‘feel blithe’. Few books manage to show life in its entirety that you end up thinking of yourself as possibly better and more mature than others who have not read those books. And then there are books like ‘War and Peace’ that manage to do all the aforementioned- that is to say they leave you flabbergasted at their colossal size and scope, and bewilder you by their magnanimity, teaching you things that life would take years to, warning you about the fact that your life should not be taken for granted with; that you end up feeling both sad and happy. Happy that you have read it and learned all that it had to offer and that you are now stronger and better than the person who never started reading the book; and sad at the fact that- now that it has been read where will you find the same degree of consolation, and will there be any other book of such rare magnanimity. That being said, do not come to this book with the expectation of mind-blowing philosophical lines; rather come to this book as you’d accost a stranger without knowing what they have in store for you, and let it surprise you in the same manner as some strangers did in the past. Who knows this books could be the same stranger who’s now your best friend? Don’t be daunted by its size; rather think of it as a large sized pizza on a Sunday- where both the pizza and the day belong wholly to yourself. Savor it. It’s only until first 30 pages that you (non-native Russians, like myself) will think as if you are hanging from a cliff skeptical of falling down and with no hope of being pulled up but believe me once you get past these 30-40 pages, the book will pull you up and boy will it do the same in some fashion that is prerogative to the likes of Tolstoy. And above all don’t let anyone(yes, including this review) tell you if you should or should not read ‘War and Peace’. For no numbers of reviews and no numbers of filmography could ever reach the magnitude of greatness this book possess, and the treasure of knowledge it bears. No two persons ever read the same ‘War and Peace’. What a read! It was totally worth the last 41 days. So I’ll do what the book taught me best; I’ll sleep in peace. And probably dream about Wars. And above all will wake up with the hope of a better tomorrow.   Happy Reading!