The epic novel by Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace” is an outstanding work of Russian classical literature. In this essay we will try to understand why readers around the world love War and Peace so much and why the work is relevant for all of us even today.
The first thing you notice when you start reading this novel, its magnificent Russian language. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy so vividly describes each scene, so subtly conveys the mood of each hero that the reader involuntarily feels not just a witness, but a participant in the events described. The proposals that Lev Nikolaevich operates on are detailed and full of comparisons and metaphors, detailed descriptions, and in-depth discussions about everything that is important for each person. The liveliness and imagery of the language gives the work realism, fills it with bright colors and makes reading a real pleasure for the imagination. The more you immerse yourself in the action of the novel, the more realistic the pictures described there become, and the livelier the characters. Tolstoy’s language is really amazing, it is a real treasure for a modern person, spoiled and oversaturated with compressed information from electronic sources. But you just have to open “War and Peace”, as another reality captures you and plunges the works into the art world, temporarily becoming brighter, more tangible and more real than the surrounding reality. Here Natasha Rostova, as if alive, very close by, sits on a chair and begins to play a melodic melody on the piano. And now, suddenly and as if from nowhere, Andrei Bolkonsky, with whom you can dream, think about the meaning of life and just look at the sky:
“How have I not seen before this high sky? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him. Yes! Everything is empty, everything is deception, except for this endless sky. Nothing, nothing but him. But even that is not there, there is nothing but silence, tranquility. "
The second thing I would like to talk about is the scale of the novel. It is not for nothing that they call it an epic novel, because Tolstoy managed to touch on a huge number of problems, which for the most part are relevant to humanity today. For example, the role of the family in human life is discussed on the example of the Bolkonsky and Rostov families; we see the search for the meaning of life in the fate of Prince Andrei and Pierre Bezukhov; there is a place in the novel for the theme of war, which is also shown very realistically - with death, devastation, hopelessness and the inevitable defeat of both sides. This is just a small list of the main topics raised in the novel, in fact there are dozens of them, maybe even hundreds, if you look even deeper. This is the reason why, from year to year, the novel does not lose its relevance, but, on the contrary, grows with a new and new list of devoted fans. It is re-read again and again, translated into new languages, and, of course, every time they are delighted and find inspiration. “War and Peace” can be re-read from year to year and each time to discover new topics, new meanings and new problems.
The third thing I would like to note is Tolstoy’s reasoning about history. At first glance, it might seem that these are just boring passages of boring speeches that you can scroll through. But as soon as we open these pages, it becomes clear that these are really deep thoughts of Lev Nikolaevich about history and its role in the life of every person. The author also talks about the global impact of history on society as a whole. It should be noted that it is difficult to disagree with his views and they are close to many philosophers of both that time and the present.
I would like to conclude that Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is a truly great and amazing work. It will never die, it will never be forgotten as long as literature exists, because this is the pure heritage of not only Russian, but also world literature and even culture. This work made a deep impression on me personally, plunging into the wonderful world of the Russian language, full of beautiful metaphors and speech turns; text full of meanings, ideas and questions that have to be answered. The novel “War and Peace” allowed me to expand the boundaries of my consciousness, taught me to think more deeply about the meaning of being, and in many ways changed my attitude towards life and other people. I recommend reading it to absolutely everyone, especially my schoolchildren and my peers. This is like an adventure that will never be forgotten, or a journey that can be made without getting up from the couch.
