War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (ebook reader for pc TXT) π
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Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, five aristocratic families in Russia are transformed by the vagaries of life, by war, and by the intersection of their lives with each other. Hundreds of characters populate War and Peace, many of them historical persons, including Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I, and all of them come to life under Tolstoyβs deft hand.
War and Peace is generally considered to be Tolstoyβs masterpiece, a pinnacle of Russian literature, and one of historyβs great novels. Tolstoy himself refused to call it that, saying it was βnot a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle.β It contains elements of history, narrative, and philosophy, the latter increasing in quantity as the book moves towards its climax. Whatever it is called, it is a triumph whose breadth and depth is perhaps unmatched in literature.
This production restores the Russian given names that were anglicized by the Maudes in their translation, the use of Russian patronymics and diminutives that they eliminated, and Tolstoyβs original four-book structure.
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- Author: Leo Tolstoy
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βTake this and deliver it,β said he to his adjutant, handing him the papers and still taking no notice of the special messenger.
Prince AndrΓ©y felt that either the actions of KutΓΊzovβs army interested the Minister of War less than any of the other matters he was concerned with, or he wanted to give the Russian special messenger that impression. βBut that is a matter of perfect indifference to me,β he thought. The minister drew the remaining papers together, arranged them evenly, and then raised his head. He had an intellectual and distinctive head, but the instant he turned to Prince AndrΓ©y the firm, intelligent expression on his face changed in a way evidently deliberate and habitual to him. His face took on the stupid artificial smile (which does not even attempt to hide its artificiality) of a man who is continually receiving many petitioners one after another.
βFrom General Field Marshal KutΓΊzov?β he asked. βI hope it is good news? There has been an encounter with Mortier? A victory? It was high time!β
He took the dispatch which was addressed to him and began to read it with a mournful expression.
βOh, my God! My God! Schmidt!β he exclaimed in German. βWhat a calamity! What a calamity!β
Having glanced through the dispatch he laid it on the table and looked at Prince AndrΓ©y, evidently considering something.
βAh what a calamity! You say the affair was decisive? But Mortier is not captured.β Again he pondered. βI am very glad you have brought good news, though Schmidtβs death is a heavy price to pay for the victory. His Majesty will no doubt wish to see you, but not today. I thank you! You must have a rest. Be at the levee tomorrow after the parade. However, I will let you know.β
The stupid smile, which had left his face while he was speaking, reappeared.
βAu revoir! Thank you very much. His Majesty will probably desire to see you,β he added, bowing his head.
When Prince AndrΓ©y left the palace he felt that all the interest and happiness the victory had afforded him had been now left in the indifferent hands of the Minister of War and the polite adjutant. The whole tenor of his thoughts instantaneously changed; the battle seemed the memory of a remote event long past.
XPrince AndrΓ©y stayed at BrΓΌnn with BilΓbin, a Russian acquaintance of his in the diplomatic service.
βAh, my dear prince! I could not have a more welcome visitor,β said BilΓbin as he came out to meet Prince AndrΓ©y. βFranz, put the princeβs things in my bedroom,β said he to the servant who was ushering BolkΓ³nski in. βSo youβre a messenger of victory, eh? Splendid! And I am sitting here ill, as you see.β
After washing and dressing, Prince AndrΓ©y came into the diplomatβs luxurious study and sat down to the dinner prepared for him. BilΓbin settled down comfortably beside the fire.
After his journey and the campaign during which he had been deprived of all the comforts of cleanliness and all the refinements of life, Prince AndrΓ©y felt a pleasant sense of repose among luxurious surroundings such as he had been accustomed to from childhood. Besides it was pleasant, after his reception by the Austrians, to speak if not in Russian (for they were speaking French) at least with a Russian who would, he supposed, share the general Russian antipathy to the Austrians which was then particularly strong.
BilΓbin was a man of thirty-five, a bachelor, and of the same circle as Prince AndrΓ©y. They had known each other previously in Petersburg, but had become more intimate when Prince AndrΓ©y was in Vienna with KutΓΊzov. Just as Prince AndrΓ©y was a young man who gave promise of rising high in the military profession, so to an even greater extent BilΓbin gave promise of rising in his diplomatic career. He was still a young man but no longer a young diplomat, as he had entered the service at the age of sixteen, had been in Paris and Copenhagen, and now held a rather important post in Vienna. Both the foreign minister and our ambassador in Vienna knew him and valued him. He was not one of those many diplomats who are esteemed because they have certain negative qualities, avoid doing certain things, and speak French. He was one of those, who, liking work, knew how to do it, and despite his indolence would sometimes spend a whole night at his writing table. He worked well whatever the import of his work. It was not the question βWhat for?β but the question βHow?β that interested him. What the diplomatic matter might be he did not care, but it gave him great pleasure to prepare a circular, memorandum, or report, skillfully, pointedly, and elegantly. BilΓbinβs services were valued not only for what he wrote, but also for his skill in dealing and conversing with those in the highest spheres.
BilΓbin liked conversation as he liked work, only when it could be made elegantly witty. In society he always awaited an opportunity
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